clutching the blanket she had wrapped around herself to her chest. “What have you done?” She raised an accusing glare at Wyck.
She saw him holding a motionless woman and assumed it was his fault she wasn’t moving. Of course, Svetlana would think that. She must have heard about what the errocks of the Dark Anomaly did to women. After the way Crux and the others had treated her, it was no surprise she’d assume the worst about him.
He had no time and no desire to explain himself, though.
“The new ship hasn’t settled yet,” he said to Vrateus, turning to leave. “Your room may not be safe either.”
“Hey, where are you taking her?” Svetlana yelled at his back.
Where hopefully no one would find her.
“Vrateus, who is that woman?” Svetlana wouldn’t give up.
“Wyck!” Vrateus’s commanding tone made him pause for a moment. “Is she okay?”
“She will be,” he said over his shoulder, heading down the corridor in wide strides.
She’d better be.
He let Vrateus explain to Svetlana the things that the captain should’ve probably explained long ago.
Wyck had something else to worry about. Someone else.
Nadia had to be okay.
As he passed her old room, Lesh rose to his legs, all four shaking. Unfortunately, the animal still wouldn’t be able to keep up with him, and he had no time to wait.
“I’ll come back for you Lesh.” He kept going.
As he’d hoped, the mess hall was almost empty by now. The few crew that still lingered around were too far away to notice his precious cargo or to even pay attention to him as he quickly sneaked by the entrance on his way to the vasai farm.
Once safely in the room behind the cages, he carefully laid Nadia down on the floor. A faint light filtered from the farm, barely enough for him to inspect her face. She was breathing. It took him a few moments to detect her pulse, but it was there.
“Nadia,” he said softly, touching her cheek. Her skin felt cool and soft under his calloused hand. “Please, wake up.” He gently slid his thumb along one of her eyebrows, the short hair rather coarse but silky. She parted her lips, and the hope in his heart grew. He never forgot the taste of her mouth when she kissed him—sweet and intoxicating. “Open your eyes, my sweet pollen sugar,” he cooed in a voice softer and more tender than he’d ever thought he was capable of.
Her features crinkled into a frown. She rolled to her side.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, shifting closer. “Anything hurt?”
“My head...” she groaned.
He sympathized, despite feeling almost hysterically happy at finally hearing her voice.
“And my throat... Thirsty.”
“I’ll get you some water.” He moved to leave.
She caught a hold of his wrist.
“Wait... What happened?” She blinked her eyes open. “Where are we?”
“In a safe—” He winced and corrected himself, “well, safer place. Your room got destroyed by a ship crashing into it.”
“Why don’t I remember it?”
“You went to bed. There was a crack in the wall. A small one, but it sucked out enough oxygen to make you pass out.”
“How did I get out, then?”
“I got you.”
She blinked again, taking a moment before replying.
“You got me? From my bed? I thought errocks couldn’t enter that room.”
“It wasn’t fun,” he admitted, cringing inside at the memory of that nauseating place. “But I had to enter, to get you out.”
She studied his face for a second, then closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead with a grimace of pain.
“I’ll get you water.” He shifted toward the exit to the farm. “I’ll need to get Lesh, too. Would you wait here for a few minutes?”
She nodded, without opening her eyes.
“While I’m gone, you’ll need to wait there.” He touched her shoulder, prompting her to look at him, then gestured at the narrow passage that led to the small room with the window. “None of the crew can fit through there. You’ll be safe until I come back.”
She nodded again, gingerly as not to aggravate her headache, he guessed. She then crawled to the tunnel, without arguing or questioning his request.
He waited until she was safely on the other side before leaving her.
There was no door to lock. The only protection was the smell of the centipedes that overpowered Nadia’s scent and the noise of their chitin-covered bodies as they scurried in their cages that drowned out other sounds.
He hoped that would be enough to keep Nadia safe and undetected until he came back.