THOUGH HER HEART THREATENED to pound out of her chest every second they were underground, they made it to their stop without an incident. Two stops away and it might have been a different world. The streets practically gleamed in this neighborhood and clean, expensive cars hovered in the air around them, the suited passengers on their way to office jobs uptown.

When they reached R&R Fitness Suites, Tessa let Kayleb do the talking. He’d known about the place and was apparently a member. Though the receptionist gave her a funny look, she let both of them through with a somewhat pointed comment that the showers were on the third floor.

As they walked down a plushly carpeted hall, the walls lined with marble, Tessa couldn’t help but gape. This wasn’t a gym, it was a resort for the rich who wanted to sweat a little. “How much does this cost a month?” she caught herself asking before she remembered that she wasn’t making small talk with the alien beside her.

Kayleb shrugged. “I can’t remember. I live further north and go to a different location. It’s not as...” He waved a hand around and she understood his meaning. Not all of the locations were fancy.

In the elevator he pressed the button for the fourth floor and the lights shifted from the standard yellow to a soft purple. An electronic woman’s voice came over the speaker. “Hello, you have chosen the relaxation suite. Remember that you will not be able to access any communications network outside of the clearly marked communication zone. If you have need of an attendant, use the call button located on the wall of your suite. May your day be invigorating.”

The elevator opened with a chime and the woman’s voice faded.

As she stepped out of the elevator, Tessa noticed there was no hint that they were in a super fancy gym. With no windows, the city melted away and they might have been anywhere: a luxury space station, a fine hotel, Kansas. Something deep inside of Tessa unclenched for the first time since she’d set foot on solid ground. She didn’t for a second think that she was actually safe, but the subtle scent of eucalyptus and the gentle glow of the lights lulled her into something like comfort.

There was no one else in the hallway, and it was early enough in the morning that she could believe the gym was deserted. Kayleb found them a room and entered a code on the panel by the door, waiting for it to slide open and then motioning her inside.

Once inside, she spotted what looked like a massage table, a plush loveseat, and a rectangle of padded flooring not much bigger than a yoga mat. There was no window, but where a window should have been there was an electronic panel on the wall glowing with faint light, the colors shifting through the rainbow almost imperceptibly.

Tessa sank down onto the loveseat and tossed her backpack next to her. Kayleb took a second to look around and chose to lean against the wall opposite her. Despite the furniture, the room wasn’t really designed for two people and she could feel him in the air with every breath she dragged in.

This was a bad idea. She probably should have told him to get lost. But the loveseat was comfortable and the temperature verged on a little warm, a luxurious indulgence after days on the run.

“So what happened?” Kayleb asked, arms crossed, pose deceptively casual. He’d never said much about what he used to do on the planet he came from but she was beginning to wonder if he had experience in interrogation.

Tessa thought about her choices, and this time she forced herself to examine them honestly. The pirates were closing in. She’d had enough lucky breaks in the last week to know that she couldn’t last much longer on her own. She’d made no progress in getting the tech to anyone who could do anything with it. All she’d managed to do was evade capture.

Her bones lay heavy with exhaustion and it weighed down her eyelids. She wanted to curl up into a ball and sleep for a month, after enjoying a two day long hot shower and a nice bowl of soup.

If she was going to survive this, she needed help. Kayleb was offering and though something seemed... off... about him, he was in better shape than she was.

What’s wrong with him? her mind wanted to ask, but she squelched the thought before it could grow. She wasn’t going to let herself care.

Tessa took a deep breath and told the story, looking down at the pale carpet on the floor the entire time. She couldn’t quite manage to look at Kayleb while she spoke. “Not long after you and Krayter left, I was captured by pirates. When they found out I had medical training, they decided I was useful to them as more than a slave.”

Kayleb cursed under his breath but didn’t interrupt her. Tessa’s heart squeezed and she kept her head down. If she allowed herself to feel, she wouldn’t be able to say enough.

“They got sloppy and I was able to escape. But I took something with me. At first I thought it would work as insurance, make sure that they didn’t kill me while I ran. But when I realized what I had, I knew I had to get it to someone who might find it useful.” She risked a glance up at Kayleb, curiosity for his response overwhelming whatever else she felt.

He studied her, expression carefully blank. Tessa gulped; she didn’t like not knowing what he was thinking. He’d been so easy to read when they first met.

She cleared her throat. “Something in the major interstellar shipping lanes is compromised, making it easier for the pirates to prey on cargo ships. Whatever that is, it’s on the tech I stole. I figure someone in this city could use it. My sister is a prosecutor, she would probably know, but I didn’t...”

“You didn’t want to risk getting her hurt,” Kayleb finished for her when she trailed off.

“Yes.” Her family had been through enough. Tessa didn’t need to bring them any more grief. “But I don’t know who to trust other than Tamara.”

Kayleb flicked his eyes down to his watch. “It will be a few hours before she’s in her office. They can’t track us here. Why don’t you give her a call this morning and see if she can help?” he suggested. “There’s no reason we can’t crash here for the morning.”

Was it that simple? Tessa felt like she’d been sprinting through the woods for days and suddenly come to a cliff, the path dissolving without warning. But with Kayleb’s suggestion, the race might be over. “That is actually a really good idea,” she said.

He gave a hollow laugh. “I’ve been accused of having one or two in my life.” Before she could respond, he straightened and pushed off the wall. “Get some sleep, I’ll keep watch. You’re safe now.”

And for this one moment, Tessa let herself believe that might be the case.

***

KAYLEB LEFT TESSA TO her sleep and wandered to the second floor of the gym where the building directory promised a food station. Luckily it was manned by an android rather than a person, so he was able to get provisions despite the early hour.

As an afterthought, he checked his communicator and his eyes bugged out when he saw that he had seventeen messages from Krayter and three from Penny. He read through the first couple and when it became clear they were all variations on the same theme, he found a private nook to use to call his brother rather than wade through an additional fifteen messages.

Krayter answered before Kayleb even realized the call was engaged, his brother’s voice hanging on the edge of panic. “Kayleb?” he demanded, “are you okay?”

Kayleb could hear someone in the background who he thought was Penny, but her words were too faint to make out. “I’m sorry for disappearing,” he said. “It’s been a busy day.”

“Where are you? Do you know what time it is?” Now that he knew Kayleb wasn’t dead somewhere, Kayleb could hear the censure seeping into Krayter’s voice. Maybe he should have waited to call.

No, this was too important.

“I found her,” he said.

“Found who... oh.” The line went so quiet that Kayleb thought they might have been disconnected. But a moment later, Krayter spoke, voice tight but composed. “I’m glad.” Kayleb knew his brother well enough to hear the hidden layers under those two words, the questions he wouldn’t ask until Kayleb was ready to answer.

“Her name is Tessa, we met on the Kella, and she’s in trouble.” He didn’t go over the whole story, his own mind was still processing. But Krayter wouldn’t need it. If Kayleb asked for help, it would be there for him. It worked the same for Krayter.

“Tessa?” Krayter sounded surprised. “I remember her. You never said anything.”

And why in all the hells hadn’t he? Kayleb growled, more upset at himself than anyone else. “That’s a mystery for another time.”

The silence hung between them, and Kayleb wasn’t sure what to say. He’d met his mate, kept it from his brother, and forgotten about her. Now that the reality was settling in, he found it came with a healthy dose of shame and he wanted to hit something. Or to be hit by something, he definitely deserved a few blows and a bloodied nose.

“She’s in trouble?” Krayter finally asked.

“Yes.” He gave a quick summary, trying to keep his emotion out of it. “We’re in a safe place now, and I think we can end this soon. I’m... she doesn’t really like me and I’m not sure what happens next.” It hurt to admit it, but if Kayleb had made the mistake of not talking to his brother once, he wouldn’t do it again.

“Give her a little space,” Krayter suggested. “But not too much. Not enough to run again. And find that NaMoren charm that I’m sure is buried somewhere in there. Deep, deep inside of you.”

Kayleb barked out a surprised laugh. “Bastard,” he said, smiling.

“Love you too, bro.” His tone became serious. “Do you need anything from me—what?” the last wasn’t directed at him and voices whispered on the other end of the line. “From us, I mean. Penny says that her mom can help and that woman is scary.”

That kind of help wasn’t something that Kayleb would dismiss. Penny’s mother, Jacinta Morales, ran a mercenary crew out of upstate New York and she wasn’t a woman to be trifled with. If the authorities in the city couldn’t help, she had the resources to fight off a few pirates who weren’t on their own home turf.

“I’ll let you know.”

Krayter sighed. “I know that you’re going to do your own thing. But don’t disappear on me,” the again went unspoken, “and bring your girl around. I want to meet her.”

“We’ll see about that. I’ll get in touch.”

They disconnected and Kayleb took a seat in a small lounge by a water fountain fixture, the burbling spring the only company for his thoughts. He tried not to imagine what horrors his mate had endured at the hands of pirates in deep space. Unfortunately, his mind unhelpfully reminded him that if only he’d remembered her than she would not have had to endure the hardship. She would have been safe with him.

He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to force memories to the surface. He could almost picture the look of the med bay, the shadowy form who’d treated him for his wounds almost coalescing into a real person. A sense of safety and belonging imbued him as he conjured the thoughts, telling him that he was on the right path.

But she still wasn’t there.

Now that he knew what he was missing, Kayleb thought he should be able to find it. There was a Tessa shaped hole in his mind that he needed to fill, but he had no tools to use to dig.

Why hadn’t he told Krayter about her? They’d all met on the ship and there was no reason to keep his denya a secret, not unless she’d asked him to remain silent. And given everything that Tessa had said so far, he didn’t think that she’d asked that of him.

Krayter couldn’t take it.

The thought swam up out of nowhere and Kayleb straightened in his chair. What? Krayter was the strongest man he knew, what couldn’t he take? And then Kayleb remembered.

***

SIX MONTHS AGO

“Where were you?” Krayter asked the moment Kayleb stepped into their quarters, still glowing from the time he’d just spent in paradise.

The anti-grav wasn’t strong enough to keep his spirits grounded and he wanted to sing. He felt drunk, light, and happier than he’d ever been before. This harebrained scheme wasn’t so harebrained after all and he could prove it. He couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.

But his brother’s arms were crossed and his toe tapped against the floor in impatience. “You told me that you’d be back three hours ago.” Panic edged his voice but he hadn’t started yelling, not yet. That was bad. Krayter didn’t normally get mad.

“Where could I go?” Kayleb asked. “We’re on a ship, it’s not like I can get lost.” The glow was fading and something darker was seeping in, something that wanted to keep his discovery to himself until she was fully his. Something that didn’t trust another Detyen not to try and take her away.

“I already almost lost you once!” Krayter clamped a hand to his mouth and looked away.

The darkness evaporated at once. Kayleb stepped forward and clamped a hand on his brother’s arm. “You’ll never lose me, I promise. My wound is healed. I simply wished for some time for myself.” It wasn’t a complete lie and Kayleb had plenty of experience of bending the truth with his family, especially when it came to his own well-being.

Looking at Krayter, he wasn’t sure that his brother would be happy for him if he said that he’d found his mate. Things were bound to change between them once she came to light and though nothing could ever cause him to forsake her, to push her away, a small part of Kayleb mourned the loss of the life he and his brother had lived before.

He’d tell him soon, Kayleb decided, just not yet. They had plenty of time before the ship reached Honora Station where he and Krayter would disembark to meet their cousin Ruwen. So Kayleb would keep just a little more time to himself, time to get to know his denya, and time to steal with his brother before the world changed for good.

What could go wrong?