Alec knew she would be interested in the Sarazen technology and the layout of the ship later, but now that everyone was safe and off the surface of Moika, her concern was only for Meg.

Whatever a regeneration chamber was, if it helped Meg and stopped the infection, Alec wanted her inside it now.

Zhenya had reluctantly allowed Liliya to take him along with the other children, but Alec could feel him watching Kalix take her and Meg down another corridor to what Alec could only assume was their medical ward.

Alec looked around at the alien technology, certain if there was anything to be done for her sister, it would be done in a place like this.

Their tech was so advanced Alec didn’t recognize any of it past the enormous medical beds.

“Put her on the table and move back,” a large, unarmored man ordered. 

Kalix stepped into a starkly white room to lay Meg flat on the padded surface. Three men started to work on her immediately, the one issuing orders slapping his hand down on a flat screen on the wall to lower a clear glass barrier, separating Alec from her sister.

“No.” Kalix blocked her from trying to jump under the partition before it completely cut her off from Meg, holding her back with his armored arm.

His eyes were hard, but compassionate, nodding to the room where the medics were working quickly.

“The barrier is to protect her and everyone on board. We don’t know how the parasites will react to our medicine.

“If the medics become infected, the quarantine shield will keep the rest of the crew from also becoming infected. Everything they need to help her is within that chamber.”

Alec tried pushing his arm away, but it was like trying to push a felled tree all by herself. He didn’t budge an inch.

“I’m not leaving her!” Alec almost screamed it to the room, panicked she would be taken away from Meg.

Kalix frowned at her like he was confused. “I had not intended for you to. We will remain here until a diagnosis is determined.”

The wall holding Alec’s emotions at bay fractured into dust when the green light of their incredibly advanced medical scanner moved over Meg’s body.

A hologram appeared above Meg, a rendering of her physical body, revealing just how much damage had been done to her internally.

Even the medics made sounds of disbelief at the devastation.

The hologram showed the mess that should have been Meg’s stomach. Her completely ruptured spleen and liver. The shredded tissue-paper looking stuff where her intestines should have been.

Black sludge covered everything and was starting to eat away at Meg’s bones as they watched. There, right before Alec’s eyes was proof there was no way Meg could survive.

The tears came in gut wrenching sobs, screams when she beat at the barrier keeping them apart.

“That’s my sister, goddamn you! Let me in there! I want to be with her!”

Alec fought when Kalix tried to pull her back from the glass partition, but he was just too strong.

Even wearing the armor he’d given her, he immobilized her and stepped back, hugging her arms to her sides until all Alec could do was hold on to his metal covered wrists and watch.

*****

The defeated keening of the female Kalix held tore at his heart. It roused his beast to pant and claw at his insides in an effort to soothe her.

His rumble changed to a pitch Kalix couldn’t ever recall it being, and it took only a moment for him to recognize the sound for what it was.

Recognize it and be infuriated by it.

His beast was rumbling to comfort his mate, having accepted her without Kalix even noticing or agreeing and gods damn him, he did not want her.

She represented an end to everything he had fought so hard for.

“Please. I don’t want her to suffer alone.”

Kalix winced at her hoarse plea. The fight drained out of Alec until he had to follow her down to the floor because her legs would not keep her standing a moment longer. He put aside his selfish anger for now, and did what his honor demanded.

Kalix comforted the human female that would someday be his mate. “I vow to you, no matter what happens, she will not suffer and she will not be alone.”

Alec’s tears hit his armor with soft pings, her head dropping forward while her body trembled with the cries she tried to choke back.

A medic came close, stopping with in respectful distance to address him in their native tongue.

“Commander, does your female require medical attention?”

“She is not mine!” he snapped hotly at the male.

The medic’s brow slid up skeptically, though he said nothing to contradict Kalix.

“Apologies, Commander. As she is already here, perhaps she will allow us to scan her and clear her of any infection?”

Kalix grunted, knowing the medic had meant no insult. Kalix’s reaction was unwarranted when no doubt the male had heard him rumble for her. But apologizing would mean he had accepted he was doomed.

“Alec, release your armor. There will be news on your sister’s condition by the time you are cleared by medical. You will not be far from her. Touch the neck, that’s it.”

Alec’s hand weakly lifted, clumsily touching the sensor on her torc. Kalix got her up so he could release his own, fighting the instinctual growl that rose in reaction to her leaning against his bare chest. She didn’t even seem to notice she was doing it. Or care, if she did.

“I have a table right here. You need not leave sight of your sister,” the medic murmured kindly, and Alec nodded.

The scent of her embarrassment was ripe in the air while she tried to compose herself. She stumbled when she made to walk forward, so Kalix did what just came natural, not even having to think about it as he lifted her up to carry her to the waiting table.

The medic grunted at him with a brief, droll look, but lowered his gaze when Kalix curled his lip to furiously bare his teeth.

The medic smiled kindly at Alec, and it was Kalix’s first urge to slash that smile from the other male’s face with his claws.

See how willing he was to smile at Alec again with his jaw half gone, but he forced himself to shake it off.

Kalix was not taking this human for his mate, therefore he had no reason to become proprietary or territorial.

“I am called Beric. A green light will shine down on you and scan your body. While it does so, is there anything you can tell us about the infection that will aid our medics?”

Alec turned her head to look to where her sister lie, almost a perfect mirror image. As though the two could feel the presence of the other and were turning their faces toward one another.

“None of us have any medical training. Our doctors all died before anyone could pass on anything other than the most basic first aid. What we know about the parasites is mostly due to the research Sage was able to do before she died.

“Sage left notes to suggest the chemicals found in the native waters were too hostile for the larvae to grow in, so we guessed that’s why the Scylla were so hard up to infect us.

“Human bodies are made up of nearly seventy percent water, with all the protein and nutrients needed to sustain the larvae.”

Kalix’s fingers moved without his permission, brushing away the tears that slid down her cheek. Alec blinked her spiky wet lashes, glancing at him quickly with eyes so blue they looked like gemstones.

“How did your sister come to be infected?”

She sniffled at his question, smiling sadly in the other female’s direction. “She was an idiot and disobeyed my orders. The boy who was beside us the whole way here, we took him hunting with us.

“Meg, me, and a handful of others. He fell while we were running from that last raiding party. Meg heard him cry out when he hit the dirt, and she went back for him. Took down two of the Scylla before the third spit on her. What are they doing to her?”

Beric looked from Alec’s scan to glance into the quarantine room, his tone soothing and kind when he answered.

“They are injecting the regeneration serum directly into her body. Typically one is submerged in the substance to heal any bodily injury from the outside in.

“It is derived from a plant on our world, that when positively charged, creates rapid cell regeneration. But as the damage is so extensive, the gel must be introduced through a vein.”

Alec frowned, the thoughts playing so clearly across her face while she stared at her sister. She licked her lush lips when they wobbled, more tears falling.

“Regenerating her internal organs, even if that were possible at this point, would just prolong the pain and give the larvae more to eat. Please, please don’t do that to her.”

Beric’s brows slammed down, looking from her, then up to Kalix. “You have not told her about the potential for her sister to be healed by her mate?”

Kalix jerked his chin at the younger male, indicating where Alec lay on the table between them,

“Do you wish to tell this female there is a chance her sister can be saved by her mate, give her that hope, only to see it wither if that mate is not among the warriors on board?”

“Hey! English, asshole. What aren’t you telling me?”

Kalix blinked at the punch of Alec’s little hand against his chest, clearly hearing something crunch when her fist met the hardness of his chest. She didn’t even give so much as a hint of scent to indicate she felt the pain.

Beric cleared his throat and continued to speak in the Sarazen tongue, “No, Commander. I would not wish such pain on your... uh, this, female.”

Kalix grunted at the medic, catching Alec’s hand when she made to hit him again.

“Stop that, you’ve hurt yourself.”

Alec scowled at him and used the hold he had on her arm to pull herself up so they were almost nose to nose, the scent of her grief giving way to the undeniably arousing scent of her rage.

Clearly there was something wrong with his beast if he found that scent desirable.

“I will rip you and any other man who gets in my way apart with my bare fucking hands, if it means sparing my sister another second of pain.”

Deranged. His beast clearly was deranged.

Alec was as magnificent as any Sarazen female, though he hadn’t ever encountered one who would have dared speak to him that way.

Perhaps the Asho’na? But she was not here at the moment, and Kalix rather doubted his beast would find such words from her to be amusing. Let alone arousing.

Kalix cleared his throat and noticed how seriously Beric was looking at his wrist unit, trying his best not to smile.

Without taking his eyes from her, Kalix called out to the medics working on Meg.

“Reykar, do you have an initial report to make? The female’s sister is concerned for her comfort.”

Alec looked over his shoulder when the primary medic answered, his tone distracted while he and his assistants worked diligently to save the female.

“As expected, her condition is severe. The gel will not be able to sustain her for long, and getting a pure blood sample is going to be difficult as her blood is almost completely overcome with the parasitic organisms.

“She is feeling no discomfort at this time, as we have given her a tonic to ensure she feels no pain. I am still gathering data. I have never seen such a devastating, widespread infection, but I will not give up.”

Kalix raised his brows at Alec, asking her softly if she was satisfied with Reykar’s answer. She gave a tight nod, and Beric asked her to resume her position on the table.

“Why, is something wrong with me?”

Beric lifted his chin at the hand Kalix still held in his grip, the medic’s lips ticking at the edges with his continued struggle.

“Not infected. But you may have broken your hand striking the Commander’s chest.”

Alec winced as she was made aware of the potential break, as though until this moment she hadn’t felt it at all.

“Wouldn’t be surprised if I busted a knuckle. What are you made of? Rocks?”

Her sarcasm was no cover for the scent of her pain, and the scanner did indeed indicate she had broken her hand. Kalix appreciated the strength it must have taken to accomplish that from a sitting position.

“Sinew and bone, just as you are. Only larger.”

“Put your hand in this, please.” Beric held a pouch of regeneration gel out for Alec and with a skeptical frown she put her hand in it, gasping softly when the warm gel began to do its work.

“This is what’s going in my sister?” she asked.

Beric confirmed with a sound, and asked him in Saraz if he wished to have Alec implanted with their language converter. Kalix shook his head, choosing to ignore the disapproval in the medic’s expression.

Thankfully Alec was lost again in staring at her twin, so did not see his dark look and ask questions.

Kalix waited beside her while the gel finished its work, pierced again by the sharpness and the hard edge of determination in her gem bright eyes.

Alec sat up on the table, flexed her hand and looked back to her sister. Her chin lifted bravely, the scent of her grief wafting around her like dying flowers crushed underfoot.

She stilled the trembling of her lips with steely determination, while the tears that pooled in her eyes made them sparkle even brighter. It would have made her seem even more beautiful if not for the scent of her grieving.

“If they can’t do anything for my sister within the next twenty four hours, I want your word you’ll let me put her out of her misery.”

Kalix crossed his arms over his chest and rubbed at his jaw while he tried to think on the best way to tell her, no.

First, he would never allow her to carry the responsibility of her sister’s death by her own hand. And second, he could not in good conscience allow Alec to end her sister’s life until there was no other option left.

Kalix did his best to think on what Brennaugh might have said to Alec. The elder male had remarkable skill with words, which at the moment Kalix was clearly lacking.

“Though I understand why you make this request, I have not the authorization to give you such a promise. I can contact the Asho, our pride ruler and you may make the request of him.

“You would have to leave the medical bay to do so, as the connection between galaxies can only be made from the command level.”

Alec licked her lips, uncertainty flickering as she looked from him to the quarantine room where the other female lay. But after only a moment of delay, Alec took a deep breath and nodded.

“As long as they contact you if there’s any change, good or bad.”

Kalix inclined his head. “Of course. I imagine the rest of your people would also like a reassuring word from you.”

“After I speak to the person in charge,” she stated stubbornly.

Beric chuckled from the other side of the table, taking a towel to wipe the remaining gel from Alec’s hand.

Even though the medic was very careful not to let his bare skin touch hers, Kalix was choking on a snarl.

“Commander Kalix is in command of this ship. The person in charge, as you say, and his word is law. But for such a grave request, the Asho must make the final decision.”

“She’s my sister, my responsibility, Alec insisted hotly.

Neither of them could deny that as truth. But neither had they told her exactly what it meant if her sister died.

It infuriated Kalix that his beast would not be silent, or understand he was not interested in taking this female as a mate. Not now, not any time soon.

Deranged, stubborn beast.

Kalix touched his fingers to his com, Dax’s voice filling his ear as he responded immediately.

“Prepare the holo-room on the command level for communication to Saraz.”

“Preparing the holo-room,” Dax confirmed. “Shall I make contact on your behalf?”

“No. I would speak directly to the Asho.”

“Yes, Commander. Anything else?”

Kalix helped Alec off the table, “Alert the warriors guarding the humans. Once the communication is complete, their leader will come to give them an in-depth status update. If asked, the warriors may say the infected female is stable and resting comfortably at this time.”

“It will be done, Commander.”

*****

Though Kalix could scent her exhaustion, Alec kept pace with him in the hall, stepping into the transport with a curious expression but asked no further questions.

The holo-room was cleared for their use, and Alec sat when he nodded to one of the waiting chair.

Kalix paused, hesitating when he moved to make contact via the secured channel on his wrist unit.

“Alec, I do not yet known how far into the recordings the Asho has gotten. I would ask that you not yet mention the deaths of Lieutenant Commander Sully, or his mate, Sage.

“It is likely the Asho will have his mate present with him for this communication, and I would like to notify him first so he may be prepared to offer her comfort.”

Alec frowned in confusion, so he explained quickly Clary was the mate of their pride ruler. She seemed baffled, her mouth working, swallowing audibly while she gave off the scent of nervousness and uncertainty. Sadness too. But after a moment, her jaw snapped shut and she nodded, dropping her gaze to her lap where her hands twisted and knotted together.

“Believe me, I’m not eager to tell Sage’s daughter how she died. Sage and Sully took Meg and me in when our parents took the crew back aboard the Sestrenka. They raised us.” Her voice hitched, and Alec shook her head roughly in order to regain composure of herself.

When she steadied, she lifted her chin again and met his gaze, asking him a question he now wanted to answer even less.

“Did you find any evidence to say where the Sestrenka might be?”

He took in a deep breath, held it for an uncomfortable moment, and gave a tight nod.

“We did. We will speak of it after we have contacted the Asho.”

She quivered, gripping her hands together so tightly they blanched of all color, but not a single tear fell, and not a single protest left her pinched lips.

He took her silence as permission to continue, sending a request to Tarek to speak immediately.

It was late on Saraz, and he hoped he was not interrupting, but for this, Tarek would answer. Kalix offered Alec food and drink, but she declined, saying she was too ‘wound up’ to eat.

He was uncertain what that vernacular meant, but he did not have time to ask, as suddenly the space before them was filled with the image of the pride ruler.

“Commander Kalix, I assume as you have a human female beside you, your mission has been successful.”

Alec’s jaw dropped at the sight of the Asho, but Kalix was uncertain why. Whatever the cause, his beast was irritated by her appreciation of the pride leader. He cleared his throat and stood, inclining his head respectfully.

“We have recovered seventy five humans, males, females and young. The situation is—”

“Wait! Wait, I’m coming, hang on!”

Alec stiffened at the sound of Clary’s voice, he could not help but duck his head to hide his smile while Tarek gave a chuff and turned to speak to his mate, who was yet concealed from their sight.

“My One, I asked you to wait in our quarters.” There was no mistaking the fact Tarek cared deeply for his mate, and neither was his current exasperation with the feisty female who ruled at his side.

“Like I would miss this, jerk. Oh, wow. Hi.”

Clary burst into view, and no doubt to Alec’s eyes it must have seemed as though she was there in the room with them.

The scent of her sadness deepened, but she stood up on steady legs and greeted the Asho’na with respect.

His beast intensified his protective nature tenfold, and before Clary could launch into the thousand and one questions he could see on her face, he interrupted.

“Forgive my rudeness, Asho’na. There is one female infected in the infirmary. She is for the moment stable, though her condition remains critical. Have you read my last report?”

Tarek inclined his head, reaching out to curl his arm around his mate, who was no less lush, but several times smaller than she had been last time. The birth of her cubs made her seem even more radiant than before.

“We have. How far has the infection spread within her?” Tarek demanded, and at his side, Alec swallowed thickly.

“It is in the final stages, but my sister...” she had to pause, unable to continue speaking, her jaw clenching to no doubt hold the sounds of grief at bay.

He set his hand on her waist, knowing Tarek did not miss the gesture, but Kalix was too distracted by the scent he was coming to decide was the most terrible he had ever experienced to care what his Asho assumed.

“The parasites have begun to cannibalize her internal organs. The medics have streamlined regeneration gel directly into her system, but the damage is extensive and gaining a viable blood sample is difficult due to the volume of parasites flowing through her veins.”

Clary made a sound of distress, clutching at Tarek’s tunic and letting him pull her closer to his side.

Alec proudly lifted her chin and faced the pair boldly. “If they can’t find a way to stop the infection within twenty four hours, I want them to stop.

“She’s my sister, and I will not allow her to endure a single moment of pain longer than necessary. If they can’t fix it, I want to end her suffering. It’s what she wanted.”

She made her request, her demand, quickly and concisely, standing tall in the face of Tarek’s stone-faced expression and Clary’s one of pained shock.

Alec did not look away or back down under the powerful stare of the Asho, impressing upon the elder male the strength of her resolve.

Tarek did not blink or break away from her gaze, but he sighed and shook his head, taking his mate with him when he sat and rubbed his hand through his mane roughly.

“Her end, if it must come sooner rather than later, will not come by your hand.” He continued louder, speaking over her when Alec made to argue, his tone hard, yet compassionate.

“I understand how difficult this has been for you—”

Alec threw her hand up and her grief turned to rage, a teeming sea of emotion that ebbed and flowed with startling strength.

As overwhelming as it was for him to scent, Kalix couldn’t imagine how overwhelming it was to experience such a surge. If she had been hybrid, he would have been bracing to face a beast in full bloodlust.

“You stop. Right there. I’ve watched people I loved, people I grew up with, whose dirty diapers I changed, become ravaged with an infection I had no power to cure.

“I had to listen to them screaming and crying, begging for water. For death as the pain of that infection literally tore them up inside.

“And because I got the short end of the stick, the illustrious honor of being the first one born on that god forsaken planet, I was chosen to lead. Me, and not my sister who came out of the womb two minutes after me.

“It was my responsibility as the oldest, the one in fucking charge, to hold them in my arms and shove a knife into their hearts to put them out of their misery.

“To keep their bodies from being desecrated when the product of that infection oozed out of them to make more of those things.

“I stood there and ordered their bodies to be burned, the smell of it permeating my hair and skin while I watched, because it was the only way to be certain the infection didn’t spread to the rest of my people.

“So unless you can tell me you’ve experienced that, that you know exactly what I had to do for my people, I don’t want to hear you say you understand how difficult it’s been for me. That is my sister down there, and I will decide when it is time to end her suffering, not you.”

Her chest was heaving with her rage, her voice having risen until she was almost shouting while tears wet her reddened cheeks.

Clary was crying with her, while Tarek sat with his jaw locked and his eyes steady on Alec.

All three of them, silent and astounded, absorbed the enormity of what this female and her people had struggled through. What they had overcome.

Clary had told them of the resilience of humans, their unwavering determination to survive, but until this moment Kalix shamefully had to admit he had not understood.

Tarek finally spoke, interrupting his thoughts on what it must have been like for Alec to take the lives of her own people in order to end their suffering.

She had made such brutal choices for the good of all, the responsibility of it forced upon her when she was little more than a cub herself, and had carried the burden of it alone to spare the rest.

The only being who she might have been able to lean on, to trust with the truth of how difficult it had been for her, was the sister who now lay dying in the medical wing.

Truly, Kalix had no words to describe how in awe of her he was.

“If her suffering becomes too great, at your decision, the medics will administer a fatal dose of sleeping tonic.

“Your sister will be delivered into the hands of your ancestors, painlessly, and with honor. Do you agree?”

Alec’s hands curled into fists at her sides, but she gave a jerky nod and finally lowered her eyes.

“Has a potential mate for the female been identified among your crew?”

*****

Tarek’s question had Alec jerking back to attention beside him, surprise and confusion plain on her face.

Kalix grimaced when she wasn’t looking at him, reaching up to rake his fingers through his mane, addressing the ruling pair in Saraz instead of the human’s tongue.

“No. I did not tell her of it, did not wish to give her hope if her sister’s mate was not on board.

“And in truth, as the medics are having trouble taking a pure blood sample from her, it is unlikely their beast would recognize her scent in her current state. I carried her on board, and her scent was extremely muddied with pain and decay.”

Alec snarled at him with all the potency of a Sarazen female, “If I have to break my fucking hand again, this time I’m doing it on your face. Speak. English.”

Clary rolled her lips together to keep from giving a watery smile, he rolled his eyes to the ceiling, and Tarek choked on a snort.

“The menfolk are discussing whether or not to offer you hope, in a situation where there might not be any,” Clary told Alec.

Alec gave a little hiss, raking her hands through her wealth of tight curls, fisting them tightly in the spiraled mass.

The three of them watched her pace angrily back and forth, and finally when Kalix’s beast was beginning to grow agitated within his fleshy cage, she stopped and spun on her heel to face the ruling pair.

“Whatever it is, just tell me.”

Clary nodded with a sound of approval as she dashed the tears from her cheeks. It was almost obvious how both he and Tarek were to glad to allow the female to explain.

Kalix prepared a chair, just in case Alec needed to sit down after the Asho’na was finished.

“As time is of the essence, I’ll break it down in small pieces. Later, I would very much like to sit down with you and your crew to explain in depth.”

Alec nodded to acknowledge the other female and hugged her arms around herself tightly, her feet braced as though ready to take a hit. Clary took a breath, and plunged headfirst into her explanation.

“When we first encountered the Sarazens, it was under battle conditions and I was wounded when Tarek brought me and my crew aboard his ship.

“I was given his blood, and it not only healed the wound to my shoulder, but caused my body to completely regrow my reproductive organs. I’d been sterilized at age nineteen, and I now have a pair of five-month-old twins to prove it.”

Alec sat down heavily in the chair he had scooted closer to her, for just this purpose, her jaw slack while she stared at the smiling image of the red-haired female.

“Before you ask, no, it can’t be just any Sarazen blood that does the trick. We did determine that much.

“Longer explanation for later, but humans are compatible partners to the warriors. Males and females both.

“They shift shape into what we can only compare to an ancient sabre tooth tiger, and for lack of a better explanation, the animal within chooses its mate based on scent and it bonds to that person. Forever. Instant husband and wife, and there is no such thing as divorce.

“It is possible your sister has a potential mate on board the warship you’re on now, and it is possible that the aggressive regenerative properties of his blood can eradicate the infection and repair the damage to her internal organs.

“Kalix and Tarek are reluctant to offer this possibility on the chance your sister’s potential mate is not on board, and due to the critical nature of her condition, she may die despite all attempts to heal her.”

Kalix wasn’t certain Alec was able to process all that condensed information in her current state. She was silent for long enough that he became concerned, but with no warning, she surged to her feet and drilled her finger into his chest, furious determination replacing the sickly sweet scent of her sorrow.

He hadn’t known it was possible for a human to feel so many emotions, all at the same time.

“I don’t give a shit if every warrior on this ship has to go in there and sniff Meg’s pits to identify her scent properly.

“If one of them can save her life, you get your men off their furry alien asses and exhaust every possibility there is to help her. Do you get me, soldier?”

He licked his lips and looked down at where her finger was stabbing uselessly against his chest, the surge of animalistic desire almost too strong to deny.

His beast was not, and never had been submissive, no matter what some of his fellow warriors thought.

The gods-cursed thing was all but vibrating inside him with the rumbles of pleasure Alec’s challenging tone brought.

Clary cleared her throat softly, murmuring to her mate, “I like her.”

Tarek snorted in response, “Of course you do, my One. Commander Kalix, you heard your female. Get your warriors off their furry alien asses.”

Kalix did not correct the Asho’s amused usage of the phrase ‘your female.’ He did wrap his hand around Alec’s finger, not interested in having to take her back down to medical and tell Beric she had broken her hand on his chest again.

“Apologies, Asho, but we are still uncertain of whether or not the infection can be spread through contact—”

“It is spread by bodily fluid. So as long as no one is sucking her blood or getting spit on, they’ll be fine.

“Not one of my people has contracted an infection via touch. Or smell. I have fourteen years of experience to trump your uncertainty.”

Tarek cleared his throat, not smiling, because this was not a time for smiling, but his appreciation for Alec’s commanding presence was obvious.

“Put medical on screen,” he ordered, so of course Kalix had to obey, standing beside Alec while Tarek gave the medics orders to give Alec full authority to decide her sister’s fate if her mate was not found among the warriors on board.

“Her status?” Alec demanded.

The medics seemed taken aback by the same tone of command he and Tarek used, but like them it came naturally to her.

Reykar cleared his throat too when Tarek didn’t interject or take her to task. “The regeneration gel is having little effect. The parasites consume the water of her cells almost as quickly as they are replenished.

“I cannot explain why as of yet, but the brain is not being consumed along with the rest of her body’s internal organs and muscle.”

Clary made a soft sound of sadness. “No progress at all has been made?”

Reykar swallowed thickly, his gaze dropping to obviously look down on Alec’s sister with a mix of pity and bafflement.

“I am ashamed to admit this is unlike anything I have ever seen. It may be beyond my skill and I was about to ask for contact with Ga’rae, Asho’na. Perhaps with his expertise we may be able to find a cure. Until then, I can only make her comfortable.”

Before Alec could demand Ga’rae’s presence, Tarek was barking the order into his wrist unit for the primary medic to attend him immediately.

“Bring Gwen, too!” Clary added in a rush.

Tarek muttered a curse under his breath, confirming the command to Ga’rae. “They will arrive soon.”