vein on her arm, and she gasped in shock. Almost as quickly as the pain registered, sleep claimed her. She fell into a bizarre world of fever dreams she couldn’t escape, like a trapped miner in a cave-in. Desperate and terrified, she struggled through a black void of pain and heat.
In her delusional mind, she crawled through a maze of small and dark tunnels before dropping into a pit of snakes and spiders. Her body slid down through the pile of creepy things, and she dropped out of the bottom, falling and screaming and flailing until she hit a deep pool of filthy water. She fought her way to the edge of the pool and climbed out of the water onto a ledge of sharp rock that cut her hands and knees.
Stumbling forward into another tunnel, she emerged into a room filled with shiny canisters. The scent of hay and grass overwhelmed her, and she staggered forward, desperately searching for a way out of the room. When she found it, she tripped into the next space and landed at the bloated feet of a corpse. She scrambled away from it and out through the open door opposite.
In the shadows, a man held out his hand. He was trying to help her, but she couldn’t reach him. He started to ascend, lifted by a harness toward a light in the sky, and she screamed for him to wait, to not leave her behind. In the last glint of light before he disappeared, his scarred face came into view. The one-eyed man waved at her before disappearing.
With an agonized shout, Brook bolted upright. She panted, clutching at her chest and trying to make sense of her surroundings. Sick. Hospital. Spaceship.
“Easy,” Cipher urged in that commanding yet gentle way of his. She glanced to her left where he sat in an uncomfortable looking chair and held her other hand. “You’re safe.”
“Cipher,” she croaked, her throat raw. “Sir.”
His eyes closed briefly and then he was moving, sliding into the bed beside her. He shifted her so easily, lifting and arranging all the tubes attached to her arms and tucked into her nostrils. As if they had been cuddling together every day of their lives, he cradled her close and pressed her ear to his chest, letting her hear the soothing thud of his heartbeat. Ever so carefully, he brushed his hand along the tangled strands of her hair. “You gave me a terrible scare.”
“I’m sorry, sir.” She breathed in the clean, fresh scent of him, wondering whether it was his soap or aftershave that made him smell so good. “I didn’t mean to drink that awful water or get kidnapped.”
“Hush,” he admonished gently. “None of that was your fault.” He shocked her by pressing a fleeting kiss to her forehead. “You’re a hero now. Everyone on the ship wants to meet the miner who saved Terror.”
“I’m not a hero.” She swallowed nervously at the thought of anyone thinking she was special like that. “You’re a hero. The men who fight beside you are heroes.”
“You can’t argue your way out of this one.” He swept his fingers down her cheek. “You’re a hero. Accept it.”
She didn’t know how to accept that sort of praise. Uncomfortable, she changed the subject. “His name is Terror?”
He pulled away enough to meet her curious gaze. “They didn’t tell you when you took the job?”
“No.”
“Oh. Well—yes. His name is Terror. He’s arguably the greatest Shadow Force operative in this lifetime. He’s also the best friend of the general of this ship, of our commanding officer. Vicious would have done anything to get him back.”
“He must be very special,” she decided. “Terror, I mean.”
“He is,” Cipher agreed. After a few heartbeats of silence, he said, “But he’s in a lot of pain right now.”
She understood Cipher wasn’t talking about the physical sort of pain that was easily deadened with the miracle medicine they had on their ship. It was something else, something deeper and impossible to cure. After what she had seen happen to him, she couldn’t imagine him rebuilding his life with the memories of surviving that hellhole forever reminding him of what he had endured.
Next to her, Cipher relaxed, his muscles losing all tension, and his breaths deepened. She slowly tilted her head back so she could see his face. Smiling at the sight of him fast asleep with his arms around her, she studied him for a moment. He looked absolutely haggard, with dark circles under his eyes