Chapter 18

Xivthar woke up with a sour taste in his mouth. Was it blood? His own?

It was pitch black and silent, except for a consistent scratching sound. He realized the sound was coming from his wrists.

As he regained control of his faculties, the regent concentrated on activating his bioluminescence. Before long a soft glow suffused his skin, giving him enough light to see.

Delicate white hands were busy scratching at the seaweed bindings around his wrist. He gently pulled his wrists away and brought them up to his mouth. Biting on the seaweed, he sent a small pulse of energy through the bindings. It was enough to loosen them.

"You're awake."

The Earthling female was in front of him, her face anxious.

He unwrapped the cords from his wrists, then pulled off the binding around his neck. His throat was sore, and he bet there would be a hell of a ring of bruises there soon. "What happened?"

"We're adrift with no power. Your guards tried to kidnap us. I think I figured out who the Hareema operatives are, er, were."

"What are you talking about?" He got up and headed to the console, his legs weaker than he had ever remembered them being. He glanced down as a cloud of black dust lifted in the air around him.

Sylvie spoke up, her voice soft and timid. "The Hareema operatives. You're stepping in them, or what's left of them."

He glanced at the console, noticed the open panel and the wires strewn around the cabin. "What did you do?"

She blinked up at him, perhaps confused by his brusque manner. "The guards were tying you up. I started looking for weapons. I pulled open this panel, figured I might be able to turn off the power or something--"

He remembered the struggle now. One guard had kicked her hard enough to knock her to the floor. "I told you to call for help!"

"And how was I supposed to know which of the hundred buttons was for communications?" Her expression was angry, her lips tightening as she crossed her arms over her chest, the movement accentuating her breasts.

Xivthar ignored the desire that raced through him and instead grabbed her roughly by the shoulders. "You could have been electrocuted!"

"Would it have been any worse than what your people would have done to me anyway? Or the Hareema?"

She had a point.

"So one of these wires knocked out the power?"

"Yes, but only after I used it to fry the Hareema."

He bent before the console and spent a few minutes reattaching the conduits she'd pulled apart. The lights flashed back on, and he let out a heavy breath.

Sylvie was dusted with black powder. So was the floor. And his legs.

"My guards?" He indicated the largest concentration of black dust left on the transport floor.

"Yes. When I found a live wire, by reflex I stabbed it into the guards. I didn't figure it would have an effect, since you guys generate electricity anyway, but they started to melt. Then they turned into jelly and just... burned to a crisp."

She was shaking. He was far too used to understanding the emotions of others due to the shifting of their skin color. He would have to use other means with her.

Xivthar took her into his arms, pulling her close and angling her head up to watch her expression. “It’s okay. We’re okay.”

"I guess the oracle was right. There were people close to you that you shouldn’t trust." She glanced down, her lip trembling subtly.

"I hope those two were the ones it meant." He couldn't get his mother's words out of his mind. If there's one, there's bound to be more.

He didn't want to think about it now, not when the female was so warm and soft in his arms. If only he could give in to distraction.

His lips inched closer to hers, seemingly of their own accord. He paused just before pressing a soft kiss to her lips and let his eyes move around her face. He needed to memorize every inch of her – wanted to explore her. She had saved his life. Something about the very fact left him needy for her.

She turned her head away, burying it in the crook of his arm and letting out a soft sound of exhaustion.

He loosened his hold on her and placed her in her chair before taking his own seat. Grabbing the gear stick, he pointed them toward home and glanced over at her, not quite sure how to thank her for her willingness to put her life at risk for him. Perhaps it was best to say nothing at all.

They were quiet on the ride back, each seemingly lost to their own thoughts. Xivthar couldn't believe that the little Earthling female had managed to destroy two Hareema agents, kept him from getting kidnapped, and saved his life.

Dr. Sylvia Cohen of Earth might have just saved his entire planet.