In a crouch, Buroudei dragged me over to the irkdu, settling me against its body before whirling, spear and axe drawn. His tail thrashed back and forth in the sand and his breath came in a feral hiss. I panted, trying to regain my breath and some semblance of understanding of the situation. But my brain was clearly two steps behind Buroudei’s. I hadn’t even focused my eyes when he’d located the threat and had gone stalking out over the sands toward it. He was growling and roaring, bitter, sharp words I didn’t understand. The irkdu snuffled, and I stood, staying somewhat bent, clutching at the animal’s side as I tried to gauge just what the fuck was happening.

Buroudei jerked, and a knife thudded to the ground behind him. I cried out without meaning to. The darkness was lit by this planet’s spinning belt of asteroids, glowing like moons, and I could see the blade had grazed his shoulder. Black blood streamed down his arm, but Buroudei didn’t seem to notice. His entire focus was on the man approaching us from the ship.

I said man, but it was another alien. The same kind of alien as Buroudei, but I realized that I didn’t recognize him at all from Buroudei’s tribe. This was a stranger. A threat. My pulse thundered. If Buroudei gets hurt because of this, because of me... The thought was too painful to bring to completion.

They moved so quickly I could barely register what had happened. One moment they were moving towards each other, weapons drawn, the next they were locked in brutal battle, limbs and tails flying, blades flashing. I froze in horror, watching them. This wasn’t some schoolyard scuffle. It was plain as day that this was a fight to the death. My fear was explosive and overpowering, and I screamed Buroudei’s name.

And he looked. Of course he looked. Because he always looked at me, for me, after me. Because, for some reason, I was dear to him. Beyond measure. Beyond words. So when I called for him, he looked. He looked at me like I was the only thing in the world.

But clearly he was looking at a complete fucking idiot, because that one single stupid scream of his name changed the tide of the battle. Changed the tide of everything.

Because of the distraction, the other alien got the upper hand, managing to wrestle Buroudei down to the ground. Animal snarls and the thud of muscle on muscle and blade on bone crashed through the air. The other alien’s knife was stuck in Buroudei’s shoulder, and he’d managed to work a second knife up under Buroudei’s chin. Buroudei was gripping the blade, blood gushing between his fingers as he pushed upward, but the other alien had the full force of his body weight pressing down. And every second, that blade was inching closer to Buroudei’s throat.

I was about to watch Buroudei get slaughtered. And it was all my fault..

No. No no no.

Too much had been taken from me already. But not this. Not him. Not today.

Before I knew what I was even doing, I was up and running, my breath coming in sharp gasps. My vision swam as my legs pumped, and I vaguely remembered the colonel saying something about reduced oxygen in this atmosphere. But still I pressed on. Because there was no other choice.

I had no plan of attack. I just knew I needed to get this other alien off of Buroudei, at least long enough to give him the chance to recover and regain the upper hand. Panic swelled inside me, but I forced it down, sweeping my eye quickly over the situation, trying to grasp at anything that could help. Then it clicked. His tail.

There was no time to think my plan through. With a shriek, I grabbed onto the thick, muscled tail of the other alien, pulling with all my might.

It didn’t do much. This guy easily had 180lbs on me. But it did enough. The alien jerked back in surprise, and I cried out triumphantly as I saw Buroudei rip the knife from his grip, spinning it and plunging it into his enemy’s chest. But the other alien still had some fight left in him, and he gnashed his teeth, swinging his powerful tail and throwing me off of him.

I flew through the air, tumbling into the cargo bay. I smashed into a row of crates, and there was pain everywhere, everywhere. I was on my back, unable to move, even as I saw the heavy metal box teetering on the shelf above me. The last thought I had before it fell and threw me into darkness was of Buroudei. And the thought was so vivid that, even as I got ripped down into bloodied unconsciousness, I swore I heard him call my name.

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CHAPTER TWENTY Buroudei

I heard Zeezee’s body collide with the hard shell of the fallen thing, and I was filled with such rage that for the first time I saw my enemy’s sight stars pulse in fear. He had one knife lodged in his chest and had fallen back, but that was not enough to fell a warrior of the Sea Sands. It did not matter. I would be victorious. I had to be, because that was how I would get to Zeezee. Baring my fangs, I pulled the other warrior’s knife from my shoulder, blood pouring. But there was no pain. Only blinding oblivion. The pulse of hungry vengeance pulled to a harrowing point. The need to kill.

He had hurt my Zeezee.

It was time for him to die.

The warrior scrabbled back on the sand, out of weapons.

“Gahn Fallo will know of what you’ve done. He’ll come and take your female, just like he took all the others.”

I leaped forward, the knife slicing up through the air to his throat.

“Let him try,” I snarled.

With a flick of the blade, I ended him.

I sprang up and ran, back into the fallen thing, to the side of my mate. Fear impaled me when I saw she was not moving. Her head was turned sharply to one side, having been hit by one of the strange square jars. Her beautiful, terrible blood was streaming down her face and dripping from her ears. For the first time in my adult life, or maybe ever, my hands shook from fear. I knelt, bringing them to her perfect, bloodied face. There was the barest hint of breath.

She’s alive.

There was no time to waste.

I collected her, as gently as I could, in my arms, bounding out of the fallen creature and leaping up onto my irkdu. My own blood was shockingly dark on her skin. We were too far from the tents, too far from the healers. Clenching my jaw, I realized there was only one choice now.

I cried out, and my irkdu groaned, its many legs working to bring us to the Cliffs of Uruzai.

WE CAME UP ON THE CLIFFS quickly, and I launched off of the irkdu before it had even stopped moving, cradling Zeezee against my chest. I hated her limpness and the blood blooming on her face. The blood coming from her nose and ears was terrifying. I wanted to say so much to her. There was so much she did not yet understand. But all I could choke out were the words, “Do not die.”

I sprinted along the cliffs, approaching the entrance to the Lavrika Pools. The Lavrikala there looked at me sharply, drawing her spear, entering into a defensive pose. Without the Lavrika’s invitation, there was no reason for me to be there. It was forbidden. But it was the only way.

I did not want to kill the Lavrikala. Such a thing was blasphemy, an atrocity of the highest order. I bit back nausea at the thought that I might have to betray the most sacred ways of our people to save my mate. But I would do it. I knew I would. I just hoped I would not have to.

I skidded to a stop before the Lavrikala, raising my tail before my eyes and dropping to my knees in a show of submission unheard of for a Gahn of the Sea Sands. But I did not care. Not now. Not while Zeezee bled in my arms.