Krayter held still as the vehicle settled onto the ground, fearing that if he moved, he’d send them toppling back over the space where the bridge used to be. His arms and legs strained to wedge himself in place so he couldn’t be thrown about, and his muscles screamed from the force. But when they came to a halt, he was unscathed.

He threw the blanket off. If they were past the force field, what was the use in hiding any longer? Besides, he didn’t like the silence coming from the front of the truck. Neither Resa nor Nicole had stayed quiet for long, but now he couldn’t hear anyone moving.

Slowly, he raised himself up to his knees, aware of the window broken behind him and the shattered glass all along the metal floor of the truck. A glance back showed the blue force field lit up with red laser blasts. The force that kept enemies from firing in seemed to be stopping the drones from firing out.

Thank the gods.

He bunched one of the blankets up beneath him, using it to avoid the glass on the floor, and climbed over the bench. From the silence, he expected to find Resa unconscious. She hadn’t quieted throughout the entire drive. But she sat in her chair, all tangled up in the restraints, her right arm jerked at an awkward angle and a small cut on her forehead. Her eyes were open and wide, but she wasn’t crying. Good.

Krayter didn’t pause to free her. He needed to check on Penny and Nicole first, and from the slight rocking of the vehicle, he worried that they could tip backwards and fall down the gorge the old bridge used to cross. At the moment, that worry wasn’t helping, and he pushed it aside to focus on what was important.

He squeezed through the space between the back and front of the car and wedged himself in between Penny and Nicole. Half of Penny’s face was covered in streaks of blood and a dark bruise circled her right eye. A fist clamped down around Krayter’s heart and froze him in place. He couldn’t reach out and touch her, too terrified that if he did, he’d find her cold and already gone.

No.

If she were dead, he wouldn’t still feel the denya bond. They may not have sealed it, but it was there and as strong as it ever had been. He reached forward and took her pulse, gratified to find its strong beat under his fingers. Next to her sister, Nicole looked better, but she was still unconscious. At least she wasn’t bloodied and bruised, though one of her tablets had shattered when it hit the floor.

Krayter slithered back to Resa, who was looking at him with fathomless brown eyes full of worry and more than a little hatred. “Are they…?”

“They’ll be fine,” he promised, hoping it was true. He’d turn back the course of time to force the issue rather than accept grievous injury or death for his denya or any of her sisters.

Resa didn’t look like she believed him, but all tangled up in the restraints there wasn’t much she could do to stop him. She struggled against the bonds and a distant part of Krayter knew he’d be amused by this if it weren’t for the threat of the drones and the injured women.

He glanced out the shattered window behind them and saw that the drones still fired on the force field. He would bet that meant that they were following a program, rather than being guided by guards from the Settlement. Even so, those guards would come soon and they needed to get away. Thinking people wouldn’t be dissuaded by a weak force field.

His knuckles itched as he almost unsheathed his claws, but a second glance at Resa made him pause. She was ready to scream and panic and one false move from him would trigger it. She reminded him a little of his middle sister, Kinsett. They were both full of fire and energy and spite and ready to bite as quickly as smile.

Gods above, he missed his sisters.

But he wasn’t Resa’s brother, and a lifetime of training urged her to distrust him. He couldn’t fix it all today, but he could start. “Do you want to see a trick?” he asked, turning his full smile on her and blocking out the drones behind them.

She narrowed her eyes, and after nearly a minute of studying him nodded her head once.

He grinned. “Great!” He reached out slowly. “I’m going to try and unwrap the worst of this, okay?” He didn’t want to touch her without her permission. But Resa nodded again and he took hold of her arm, detangling her as best he could. “You’re not hurt, are you?” She seemed mostly fine, but her clothes were dark and the sun was starting to set.

She shook her head and whispered, “No.”

“That’s good,” he said softly. “You’re still caught pretty bad, so I’m going to cut you out. But you’ve got to hold still.”

“What’s the trick?” she asked.

Krayter held his fist towards her, a foot in front of her face. “Watch carefully,” he warned.

Her eyes focused on his fingers like she could freeze him with her mind.

Despite the urgency, Krayter struggled not to laugh. She was so serious that he feared she’d never been given a chance to develop a sense of humor. Well, not one that didn’t revolve around making fun of Penny. But making fun of an older sibling was an inborn trait.

In a flash, he snapped out his claws, the wicked lengths more than half as long as his fingers. When he made a fist, they were as thick as a thumb and sharp as knives.

Resa’s eyes widened and she bit her lip to keep from gasping.

“Cool, huh?” he asked, careful to remain still. He didn’t want her freaking out on him.

Her fingers jerked where they were stuck up near the top of the seat. “Can I touch?” she asked shyly.

And there it was. His in. He nodded and reached out, letting her fingers brush against the outside of the claws. After a moment, she curled her hand back, either satisfied or scared. But some of that resentment in her eyes had been replaced by wonder. And maybe, just maybe, she’d show a little mercy to Penny next time she caught them kissing.

“I’m going to use these to get you out, so I need you to stay still, got it?” he asked. Someone in front groaned and started to move, but Krayter didn’t look away from his charge. Even Penny could wait for a minute right now. But only one minute.

Resa held still and Krayter swiped, cutting the bonds and letting them sag against her. Once he pulled away, she extracted herself and shook her hands in front of her. She licked her lips and wiped her hair out of her eyes. “Thank you,” she said, not quite looking at him.

Krayter took a chance and placed his hand, claws sheathed, on her shoulder. “Grab your bag and wait outside the car. I’m going to need your help.”

She nodded and once she had the door open, he tossed Nicole’s, Penny’s, and his own bags out beside her.

The thumping of the lasers still had his attention. “Can you move to the front of the car?” he called out to Resa. If that shield failed, she’d be in the line of fire standing where she was.

She glanced back at the shield and nodded. Stooping over, she hooked two of the bags on one arm and two on the other and dragged them around the front, forcing her to bend over and move awkwardly. Only once she was relatively safe did Krayter climb out of the car after her.

His first instinct was to see to Penny, but he knew exactly what she’d say if she could. Nicole first. He would have done the same. So he went around to the passenger’s seat and opened the door carefully from the outside, unsure if it was supporting any of Nicole’s weight.

But the teenager stayed seated, her eyebrows furrowed and lips drawn tight. Krayter reached in and unfastened her restraint. She groaned as he brushed up against her and started to move her shoulders as if she were waking up from a long nap.

“Shh,” Krayter cautioned. “Stay still, it’s okay.” He kept his voice low, trying for comfort.

But Nicole stiffened and her eyes snapped open. The black of her pupils was ringed by only a small circle of brown and she hissed in a tight breath. “Penny. Resa.” Krayter backed out of the car and let her move.

“Resa’s in front,” he said, pointing. “I’m going to get Penny out. Find a med kit.” If she wouldn’t agree to it, he’d force a health scan on her later. But right now, if she could move, she needed to get out of the car.

He left her there and went around to Penny, who was starting to come to, though she was moving even slower than Nicole. By the time Krayter had her door open, she’d undone her restraint and was holding a hand up to her forehead.

“We got hit?” she mumbled, the words fuzzy around the edges and disbelief rich in every syllable.

“I think so.” Krayter took her arm and guided her out of the vehicle and to the front, where her sisters were waiting, Nicole ready with the first aid supplies. “Do you have regen gel?” he asked. It was worth its weight in diamonds out in space, but he didn’t know if the all-purpose healing cream was common on Earth.

He found a relatively large rock and eased Penny down, but didn’t let go. The girls were out of the car, and they were all safe for the moment, despite the ever present threat of lasers behind them.

Resa came over with a small tube of regen gel and handed it to him with a tentative smile. Krayter nodded his thanks. He squirted some of the cool cream onto his fingers and smoothed it over the gash on the side of her face. She flinched at his touch, but her fingers tightened where she clutched his arms, not letting go.

“We’re all okay?” she asked, cracking her good eye open and meeting his.

Words fled Krayter and all he could manage was a nod. Out of the corner of his eye he saw one of the girls set a small med kit down beside him. She offered a moist cloth to him before backing away. Krayter used it to wipe the blood off of Penny’s face, careful to avoid the regen gel.

“I don’t think the truck is going to make it,” he said. Even now smoke was beginning to billow out from the engine. “We’re going to have to continue on foot.”

Penny leaned her head against her shoulder for a long moment before rolling it to the side and taking stock of the vehicle. She sighed. “Great.”

***

Penny’s face ached and she wanted to lay down on the nice soft dirt under their feet and take a long nap. But she put one foot in front of the other and hitched her bag higher on her back, regretting that she hadn’t taken Krayter up on his offer to carry the burden. But she’d already handed over her blaster and gun. He couldn’t defend them and carry extra weight.

Or maybe he could. But he shouldn’t need to.

He covered their rear, the danger more likely to come from behind than in front. They were outside of Highland Settlement territory now and while the guards did some level of surveillance out this way, they rarely ventured beyond the force field.

She’d let Nicole and Resa lead, giving them a list of landmarks to look out for. While Penny had hoped they’d be able to take the vehicle all the way to her mother’s property, she had memorized the lay of the land a long time ago just in case she ever had to cover it on foot.

“How’s your head?” Krayter asked, walking beside her. This old road was broad enough for two people to walk side by side, which made for a much more pleasant journey than the single file hike they’d been forced into on the way to Murphy’s.

“I don’t think I have a concussion,” she said, “but I’ve been better.”

He raised a hand as if to squeeze her shoulder, only remembering he was holding the blaster once it came into sight. Krayter smiled, abashed, and Penny’s heart did that little flip thing she was coming to associate with him. “You have used a blaster before, right?”

He puffed up, chest sticking out and expression affronted. “Of course! Did you know I was attacked by pirates on my way to Earth?”

“Really?” She turned towards him and almost stumbled, but did a little hop to catch herself. She winced as the hard impact against the dirt jostled her wounds. “You fought off pirates?”

“Well…” he grinned, “fought off might not be the right word. I guarded the civilians in the engine room. But I have shot a blaster before. In a range. When I was eleven. I even won a competition.”

Despite the danger, Penny laughed. “Please tell me that’s a joke.”

Krayter shook his head.

“Maybe I should have you give the gun to Nicole,” she muttered.

“What?” Nicole snapped her head back at the sound of her name.

“Nothing! Mind your own business.” She said it loudly, but there was no heat in the remark. When she glanced back at Krayter, his face had lost its light expression. All at once, she remembered that he had a whole passel of siblings many light years from here. “Do you miss them?” she asked.

He nodded and holstered the blaster. “How far away is our destination?” he asked, changing the subject.

“If we’re very fortunate and don’t run into trouble, we should be there by tomorrow night.” This part of Earth was hardly a war-torn wasteland, but it was sparsely populated and some of the people who lived out here didn’t take kindly to strangers.

“You anticipated losing the transport?” he asked. “I can’t help but notice that you didn’t hesitate once the engine started to smoke.”

Penny rubbed at the dull ache in her temple. The regen gel had done a lot of work, but she had a while until she was at 100%. “I have twenty three contingencies,” she told him. “But seventeen are moot now. No, eighteen. We don’t have access to a zeppelin.”

Krayter stopped moving and Penny made it a few steps before she realized. She turned and looked at him, eyebrows raised.

“That is very… thorough,” he settled on. “How long have you been planning this?”

“Didn’t I tell you? Since I was sixteen.” Now that she’d remembered the zeppelin, she wished they had access to something that could fly better than an old truck. But that contingency had never been serious, though she had once mused they could also use a hot air balloon.

“Most people don’t come up with two dozen plans for a moment that might never come. Not unless they’re locked in a cell.” He didn’t quite ask why, and Penny didn’t know what to say in response.

They walked on and caught up with her sisters. After several more minutes, he asked, “A zeppelin?”

Penny laughed. “One landed in the settlement when I was a little girl. I can’t remember why, but it always stuck in the back of my mind.”

“You’re amazing.” He didn’t say it with a laugh, and the sincerity in his voice scared her a little. She wasn’t anything special, just a girl stuck in a place she didn’t want to be with responsibilities she couldn’t give up.

“I just did what I had to do,” she deflected.

For a moment she expected Krayter to say something else. Instead, his fingers tangled with hers, light enough that she could easily pull away if she wanted. She squeezed tight and kept hold, not letting go for a long time, until the path narrowed and they needed to walk in single file again.

Before he let go, Krayter raised her hand up and kissed it, dropping it before she could react. Penny rubbed her own fingers over the spot his lips had touched, her skin burned, marked with the imprint of him.