I sense my brethren approaching but they keep enough distance to not get into the fight.

From behind, I sense my womb mate, Ga’Var, but San’ten does not realize he is approaching. His complete focus is on me.

“We must kill it,” he repeats.

“I agree,” I say. “But not yet.”

San’ten bares his fangs even more. “You will let it grow?”

I am disappointed.

San’ten knows better than to react like this.

His hackles rise even more as he prepares to launch himself at me and I know that if I allow him to, we will fight to the death, or until one of us yields.

I am bigger than he is. Stronger.

But I know, without a doubt, that San’ten is not in the frame of mind to yield.

He will die.

“Now!” I shout and there is only a moment of surprise on San’ten’s face before Ga’Var crashes into him.

The force sends them backward and Fi’rox joins in to restrain the crazed male.

San’ten is struggling and cursing in our native tongue but my focus is no longer on him.

Instead, my gaze sweeps toward where the females were resting.

We had tumbled quite a bit away from where they were, but even with the star going down and visibility lowering, my ba’clan bristle.

The females are not there.

“Restrain him and head back to the ship. We are done here,” I say as I head toward where the females had been.

We had finished scavenging the Scrit earlier. The plan had been to leave anyway.

“Where are you going?” Ga’Var clicks, and that’s when he realizes too. “Where are they?”

“Gone,” I say.

No one was guarding them.

There are a few concerned clicks as more of my brothers rise from the water and head toward us.

But the females couldn’t have gone far.

“I will find them.”

ADIRA

I have one of Mina’s arms draped across my shoulders while Sam has the other.

Together, we support her weight as we hobble away.

I’m still aching from all the injuries I’ve received. I don’t think Fer’ro and the others realize just how wounded we are. We hide it well. But, supporting Mina’s weight, we’re feeling it now.

Sam winces as much as I do as we try to hurry under the cover of the trees.

“Shit. They’re going to find us aren’t they.” Her voice comes out with a hiss of pain.

I grunt before answering. “Most definitely.”

I don’t have any doubt they will. “But maybe we can buy some time while we come up with some sort of plan.”

I glance behind me but there’s only the growing darkness and even though we’re supposed to be in a forest, we’ve already ran into two spots of trampled trees from where the machine had walked.

I’m just lucky I’m wearing boots.

I’d found them in that same cellar I’d been hiding in when the machine had taken me. They’d been better than the running shoes I’d been wearing on D-Day.

Mina and Sam aren’t so lucky.

They’re both wearing flats.

I glance behind me again as we try to hurry away. That dark-eyed one had scared the shit out of me and if Fer’ro hadn’t appeared when he did, I shudder to think what would have happened.

“He said he wanted to kill her,” Sam said, glancing behind her too. “We have to find somewhere to hide her at least.”

“No,” Mina croaks. “You don’t…” She takes a breath. If not for me and Sam, she’d have collapsed already. “You don’t have to do this. I’ve accepted my fate. I did so a long time ago.”

There’s that tone in her voice, one I’ve had many times.

That tone you get when nothing matters any more.

But I refuse to let her give up.

I don’t know if that makes me selfish. If I was in her shoes, I’d have wanted her and Sam to allow the dark-eyed alien to kill me.

I gulp as I force my gaze forward and scan what’s left of the forest around us.

I’d felt the thing against my back.

It’s grown so much in just over a day. No way is that normal.

Before, in the machine, the others didn’t grow so fast.

Or did they?

I never touched their stomachs to find out.

Mina shudders against us and we stumble.

She pulls her arms from our shoulders and braces on the ground as her body heaves.

She’s going to throw up, trying to at least, but nothing is rising from her stomach.

“Let him,” she says between breaths, “let him kill me.”

No.

I stare at her stomach before my wide eyes find Sam’s.

Something unsaid passes between us.

Understanding. Realization.

“We could try and take it out,” I blurt. My own chest is heaving with the rough breaths I’m taking but now with the words out my mouth, my heart is hammering for a whole other reason.

We could.

We could take it out.

“We have to at least try.” I stare at Sam.

Her dark hair is curly and a hot mess on top of her head. She nods, her hair bobbing and her eyes wide as she stares back at me.

It’s a ludicrous idea. A dangerous one. But I think I can do it.

My gaze drops to Mina and she lifts her head to meet my gaze.

There’s hope there. Hope that hadn’t died.

“Are you sure you can do it?” It’s Sam that’s asking that instead of Mina.

For as I hold Mina’s gaze, I know she knows the risk.

She’s just hopeless.

And…she believes in me.

“I’m a vet. Was a vet,” I say, but it’s more for my own benefit than theirs. As if I’m convincing myself that I can do this. That this isn’t a crazy idea. “I’ve never operated on a human before, but I’ve done surgeries.” My voice quivers a bit as I take a breath. “I can do it.”

Mina’s body heaves once more as her stomach tries to expel nothing.

“I can do it.” My voice is surer this time and I glance at Sam, unable to meet Mina’s gaze for what I’m about to say next. “But there won’t be any anesthetic…she’ll feel everything.”

I wait for Mina to protest. To tell me this is a bad idea and that she’d rather not.

But she doesn’t.

“Do it,” she croaks as she slowly raises her head to look at us. “Do it.”

Chapter Sixteen

ADIRA

The darkness comes in quite quickly.

One moment, we’re trying to get Mina to a safe spot in the forest and the next I can hardly see my hand as it moves in front of my face.

I struggle through the woods, an arm gripping my stomach as I walk alone.

I left Sam guarding Mina as I headed back to camp. Hopefully, I can get a knife or something and talk to Fer’ro.

Hopefully, they haven’t all turned against us.

My body aches as I walk and though the fish I’d eaten has given me some energy, that energy is fast waning.

I worry I will collapse before I reach my destination.

As I pause to lean against a tree, I remind myself that I’m not doing this for myself.

This is for Mina.

She is counting on me.

I’m just about to lean off the tree again when the darkness moves at my side.

Terror tears through me like a spike of ice up my spine and I freeze just before lava eyes come into my view.

Fer’ro.

My shoulders relax a little but my breathing is still coming hard.

He doesn’t say a word, he simply approaches me and I freeze again for a whole other reason.

This isn’t like the first time that he came after me in the woods.

He’s not keeping his distance, watching for my reaction anymore.

He comes right up to me till there’s no space between us and I suddenly forget to breathe.

I hear him sniff, his gaze moving down my face, and although I can hardly see a thing, I’m once again reminded that he is different.

It feels like he can see every line on my face. Every detail, even with the darkness around us.

I do not dare to blink.

“You are…” His voice vibrates the air around me, and at the back of my mind, some small thought says I should be afraid. But I am not. “…not afraid anymore.”