There was something feral about Ty. She’d say he was not quite human, but since he wasn’t human at all, that didn’t really fit. He’d torn her guard apart, attacking with relentless force, completely oblivious to the injuries being inflicted upon himself. And then he’d stood before her, drenched in blood, chest heaving, claws out, and promised to protect her.

She should have run away a long time ago.

But Dorsey had no interest in running. Not from him.

They didn’t have enough uninjured parts between them to add up to one uninjured person, but together they stumbled out of the guard room and down the hall. If Droscus had control of the cameras, they’d be caught in an instant. But a spark of hope resided deep within Dorsey.

Ty had come for her. They were alive. They were going to make it.

Her left arm was on fire, pain radiating up from her dislocated and possibly broken thumb. She cradled it against her chest, trying to shield it from any further injury, but when she bumped into a door frame, she gasped.

“What happened to your hand?” Ty asked gently, though the knife’s edge came out with the next question. “What did they do to you?”

“Did it to myself,” she gritted out. If she kept her teeth clenched, it hurt a little less. “Had to get out of the bindings.” But it hadn’t been intentional. She’d tried struggling to get loose as soon as Ty started fighting. Then her thumb had cracked. How Dorsey tore her hand free without screaming she didn’t know.

“We’ll get it seen to first thing on the ship,” he promised.

“No,” Dorsey protested, “you’re bleeding from everywhere! The docs will see to you first.”

Ty actually growled. He stopped them where they stood and turned, looming over her. “Doctor. For you. First,” he bit out.

She shivered at the command in his tone and she didn’t try to fight it. He needed treatment, and if he was going to insist on waiting for her, then she’d act quickly. But as they stumbled down the hallway, the entire encounter with Droscus knocked around her head.

Why come to Nina Station? The only thing here were people and the ships that couldn’t break atmo. “Lex’s ship,” she realized.

“What?” Ty asked.

“He wants something on Lex’s ship. Nina must have brought it here.” As she spoke, she became surer that it was the case. “We need to find Max. Droscus can’t get whatever he’s after.”

Ty’s entire body stiffened and he took a deep breath. She thought he was going to tell her that they needed to get off the station, that they were too injured to fight. Instead he nodded. “I don’t want that bastard to win.”

They moved faster, heading back toward the terminal. It was the most likely place to find friendly guards, but they tried to keep to lesser traveled hallways. There was no way to know who would hand them over to Droscus for the bribe of a few credits.

Turning a corner, they came face to face with three green clad guards. Station guards, they hadn’t come here with Droscus. But one of them raised a blaster and commanded, “Stop right there!”

They stopped. Dorsey sized up the three guards. She didn’t recognize any of them, but they were all human and each clearly belonged to Nina Station, not Droscus’s contingent. Ty and Dorsey were no match for them, especially not with their injuries. Though only the center guard, a tall man with a hard face and blond hair, had his blaster pointed, the other two were armed and could take them down.

Her veins froze and Dorsey didn’t know if it was fear or the shock from her injury finally settling in. Please be a friend, she thought. Please be loyal to Max.

Ty was a coiled spring beside her. She knew that if the guard made a move against her that he would block her with his own body, protecting her to the last. She couldn’t let that happen. She wouldn’t let him sacrifice himself, not until all hope was lost.

“For the gods’ sake, stand down!”

Max came up behind them, his stride long and certain. He stepped in front of his guard and stared at him for a moment before the guard sheepishly lowered his weapon. Max nodded in approval. “Go tell Hovan to hold his ship,” he said.

The guard retreated, running down the hallway. Max turned back to them.

“How did you find us?” Ty asked, panting.

Max’s eyebrows shot up and he gave Ty a strange look. “We do have security cameras here, and my people are more than capable of tracking two injured civilians.”

“You didn’t stop him from taking her,” Ty sneered, leaning forward as if to lash out at Max.

Dorsey gripped Ty’s waist. “Don’t,” she whispered.

Ty didn’t relax, but he didn’t snap again.

“The General is after something. Is Lex’s ship here?” she asked. The light in the hallway brightened and Dorsey’s head spun. She felt bile rise in her throat. That wasn’t a good sign. If she hadn’t had her arm wrapped around Ty, she would have toppled over.

Max held up both hands. He took a step forward but stopped himself when Ty’s arm tightened on her. Pain was bringing something wild out of Ty, an animal close to the surface. Max spoke quietly, “I have it under control. Come with me and I’ll get you both off this ship.”

“And back to Nina?” They shared no love for Droscus, but that didn’t mean their goals aligned.

But Max shook his head. “There is only one ship that’s been given the all clear out of the station. It’s not going back to Tarni.”

Max led them down the hall, but turned away from the terminal and took them through a door marked “Authorized Access.” There were no decorations on the walls here and the ceilings were low, the entire feel dark. It was chillier too, but again, that might have been the shock.

Ty’s breaths were ragged, and she knew he couldn’t go much longer before falling. His shirt was wet with blood and it was starting to drip in a trail behind them. The hallway terminated at a giant airlock, a service entrance.

A ship was docked to the airlock. A tall purple man stood on the other side, his arms crossed and foot tapping. Max punched the giant blue button against the wall and the doors opened with a hiss and a groan.

“Put them in your smuggler’s hatch until you’ve left the system,” Max commanded of the impatient Oscavian.

That Oscavian’s mouth dropped open and he made a sound of affronted innocence. “How dare you—”

“Ambassador Hovan, I don’t care what you’ve got in there right now. I will consider it a personal favor if you see these passengers safely to Honora Station.” He wasn’t quite deferential, but the ambassador’s metaphorical feathers were soothed.

Hovan’s phosphorescent blue eyes narrowed. “I will call you on it one day,” he warned.

“I would expect nothing less.” Max waved Dorsey and Ty forward. “Now go. Droscus won’t stop you once you’ve left, but he can prevent you from leaving. The window is closing.”

Dorsey wanted to hug Max, but if she let go of Ty, one of them was going to fall flat on their face. She wasn’t sure which. So she nudged his shoulder with her injured arm, wincing as the movement displaced her thumb even more, and nodded. “Thank you. Your friendship has meant a lot to me over the past few years.” Many wouldn’t have recognized it. They’d argued more than they agreed and had gone months at a time without speaking. But with some people, a person just clicked.

Max reached up a hand but pulled it away before he touched her. He nodded sadly. “Make this chance count. I wish you all the happiness in the galaxy.”

“Save some for yourself.” There was a sadness to Max that she’d never been able to cut through. She hoped he could find someone or something that made her feel as good as Ty did.

“Really,” Hovan cut in, “we must go.”

Ty and Max shared a nod. They weren’t friends, but she could see in Ty’s red eyes that he understood exactly what Max had done for them. And if Max ever needed Ty’s help, it would be his. Ty reached into his pocket and held out an old fashioned key. “One of the guards had this. It might help you.”

Max took the key and studied it. “Thank you.”

They stepped onto the ship and walked down a narrow hallway as the airlock closed behind them, separating them from Nina Station. Hovan called for attendants, his tone crisp and commanding, no longer the affronted civil servant.

He stopped them before they reached any of the main pods of the ship and stooped down, pressing his hand against the corner of one of the floor tiles. Something beeped and the tile retreated, exposing a deep hole big enough for ten people to stand in with room to spare. A small cot was pushed to the side.

It looked like the ambassador practiced smuggling people in addition to goods.

A bot floated by and Hovan pushed it down into the hatch. “Med bot,” he explained. “Now get down there if you don’t wish to be discovered.”

They maneuvered themselves down and as the hatch closed over the two of them and the bot, Ty’s energy gave out and he collapsed down to the ground.

“Ty!” Dorsey rolled him from his side onto his back and smoothed his hair back. “Stay with me!” She waved down the med bot and watched it scan him, sinister beeps and whistles indicating when it sensed injury.

Ty groaned and tried to wave the bot away, but she didn’t let him. She grabbed both of his hands, sucking in a harsh breath when his fingers brushed against her injured thumb. The bot whirred, and a sharp needle shot out and pricked him in the arm.

“Hey!” Ty tried to attack it, but Dorsey kept him in place.

When he wouldn’t stop moving, she laid her body over his, trying to avoid the worst of his wounds. The ship rocked and her ears popped. They’d disembarked and engaged the FTL. Dorsey smiled and let out a breath.

“We’re safe,” she said.

“Are we?” Ty asked. His voice was a little hazy from the medicine, but his eyes were clear. Even better, the lines of pain around his eyes were dissipating as the bot worked on him.

“Yes,” she replied. “First stop Honora Station. Then we’re going to a sandy beach, grabbing frothy drinks, and I’m going to have my wicked way with you.” She paused and saw the machine blink blue twice. It had sealed Ty’s wounds, now the healing was up to him. “How does that sound? I know you said you wanted the most beautiful woman in the galaxy by your side, but you’re going to have to deal with me instead.”

Ty waved the bot towards her and Dorsey held up her hand for inspection. Under the yellow light of the molecule enhancer, she could feel everything knitting itself back together. The light also served as an anesthetic, and it itched rather than hurt.

“As far as I’m concerned, you are the most beautiful woman in the universe.” He said it with such conviction that her heart stuttered.

Before she could object or thank him or even properly think, the machine beeped, signaling it was done, and Ty pulled her forward, covering her mouth with his own. To hell with it. Dorsey threw her arms around him and gave herself over to the kiss.

She was in the arms of her alien mate. What more could a girl want?