the outside seeped in.
“You,” she heard Kyro growl.
“Who is it?” His form was filling the doorway and she couldn’t see who was outside.
“I just came to see if the human was all right, okay?”
“You are not welcome here.”
As she neared the entrance, she saw who it was. How could she have forgotten him?
Shive’s eyes slipped to her as soon as she came into view.
“You.” She scowled.
“Friendly couple you two are.” He smiled, a movement of his lips that promptly dried up when his eyes fell back on Kyro.
“How did you know we were here?” Kyro took a threatening step toward the other male then stopped when Shive lifted his hands in front of him.
“I was waiting for Xul to return. Saw the ship land. Saw them take you here.”
“Creeping in the shadows as usual.” Kyro took another step.
“I meant no harm. I just wanted to apologize to the human.”
Kyro didn’t move. “Then do it.”
Shive seemed to sigh but he didn’t press to enter the room.
“You must have been wondering why I was following you around, watching you. We didn’t get off to a good start.”
“I wonder whose fault that was?” Kyro cut in, eyes narrowed.
“I was just trying to get solid evidence on M’Agunt. I’d been trying to pin him as a traitor for months,” Shive continued, glancing at Kyro. “So, I apologize. For everything.” His gaze returned to her. “Not all of us are bad.”
Evren only nodded. It was all she could do. The memory of M’Agunt’s body ripped to pieces came back to her as a vivid memory.
“You’ve apologized. Now leave.” Kyro closed the door, locking it in place.
The chuckle that tumbled from her came almost immediately. “You can be so rude sometimes.” She laughed. “He deserved it though. He scared the shit out of me when I saw him watching me from the alleyway.”
“He won’t come anywhere near you again.” Kyro turned, pulling her into his arms.
“Mmm,” She planted a kiss on his lips. “No, he won’t because we are going away to our abandoned station.”
A light sparked in Kyro’s gray eyes just as the door made another sound.
Kyro cursed under his breath and he released her.
“Leave us alone,” he growled as he pulled the door open.
“I told you they weren’t ready for visitors.” It was another male voice and the horns that pointed up into the air told her who it was.
She saw Kyro’s shoulders relax as he greeted his friend and captain, resting an arm on Xul’s shoulder as they touched foreheads.
“Good to see you brother.” Xul grinned.
Behind him were several other heads.
As Kyro moved to let them all in, Athena rushed inside, her arms outstretched.
“Evren!”
She was promptly embraced and before she knew it, Piper, Diana, and Song were joining in.
All his brothers had come too, Crex, Yce, Kyris, and even Rokan was there.
Greetings abounded along with oohs and aahs, expressions of being thankful it was all over and that she’s safe, and expressions of how happy they were that Kyro was back on his feet.
Evren glanced at Kyro and their eyes met. It was going to be hard telling all their friends that they planned to leave.
These people were like family to them.
“I still can’t believe this actually happened. I’d thought we were safe here,” Piper said.
“You are mostly safe here, but we still have to be vigilant,” Xul replied.
“We’ll all keep you safe,” Crex said.
“And now that you’re leaving, you will always be safe,” Yce said, looking at Evren. “You too, brother.”
Evren paled.
“Leaving?” Diana turned to her, her red hair flying around her shoulders at the force at which she spun her head. “You’re leaving?”
Evren met Kyro’s eyes once more. “Yes. We are.”
Xul cut Yce a look and Kyris hung his head, his wings jerking as he laughed silently.
“What?” Yce asked. “They were going to let you know anyway.”
“You’re leaving?” Song turned to her, sorrow immediately in her eyes but then she smiled brightly. “It’s for the best. We will miss you though. Where are you going?”
“It’s a place Kyro knows,” she replied, taking the woman’s hand in hers. “I will miss you too. I will miss all of you.”
“Yea,” Athena spoke up. “It is for the best though, as Song said. We could all probably keep busy and not think about losing you with all the humans that we will have to onboard. They still haven’t been able to open the container with the stasis pods yet.”
Evren’s eyes widened. “Still? I mean, I totally forgot about that with all that’s been happening.”
“We