"We believe there might be Bordash troops moving in the rain." Cassala's words were flat as if she were trying not to give an opinion, but it was clear she didn't think we should risk going back to get Vania.
I just looked at them. I didn’t need to give an order twice, did I?
"Lead the way," Axis said with a nod. I turned back the way I had come, and the team followed my steps, leaping from boulder to boulder. Good Axis. He understood. He was a good soldier. Cassala and LeiLei were so suspicious of the Earthling; why was that? At least Aimer had been trying to bond with her… I trusted my Trio beyond any others, and I knew I would die for them. But, now I had this Earthling, and my pull to her… But was it only because of the connection to my family's ring? Would the intensity fade once she took it off? I did have to consider that as a real possibility…
The rain seemed to intensify as we got closer to the caves, and the thunder and lightning cracked down harder. I picked up my pace. It would be good to get inside for a bit and perhaps wait out the storm.
“They’re here!”
Vania’s scream through my mind was the most terrifying thing I had ever heard. Her fragile experience with telepathy meant she poured her every emotion into the Will. So, I felt her true fear in her words. It echoed through my body and seized my soul.
I turned to the Seawards. Axis, Cassala, LeiLei, and three others were within hearing, the others would be passed the message quickly enough in the line. We still feared using telepathic communication.
“The Bordash have found the cave where I was with the Earthling. We must hurry.”
“How do you know?” Cassala asked.
I tapped my head with my finger.
“I didn’t know she had learned how to do that yet.”
“She is working on it.” But, we were hiding in the salt hills… So she must have managed to get outside to send me that message… Did that mean she had been captured? Did that mean she had gone outside and seen them coming and could be running? Was it safe for me to respond?
“I’m coming for you. Be brave.” It was all I could think to say. I hoped it would be enough. She was a good fighter. I knew she was… Or, at least, I had been confident enough that she was to invite her on this mission in the first place, but I had only ever seen her sparring in the training rings… No. I know she is. She has to be. She can hold them off until we get there.
We just have to hurry…
Eleven
Vania
I twisted the ring back and forth on my finger, the seven carbon halos slipping in and out of each other, gleaming carbon circles that entwined gracefully. I could still feel the taste of Jase's lips, and my fingertips were burning with the tingle of the strange spark between us. How much of that was due to the ring, how much due to the Curan magic from Kajo, and how much from some other bizarre reason? Was I somehow connected to Jase, in a similar way to how Daphne was connected to Kajo? Was that possible? Or was it just a weird circumstance between Earthlings and Curans, perhaps?
Maybe that's why there had been no connection between me and Rhone, that evil son of a bitch who had captured me and brought me to Farian in the first place six months ago—nothing between Earthlings and Bordash, but something between Curans? I had, of course, touched a few other Curans during my six months here, but only in the training ring, or passing by them in the market, and hadn't had any supreme spark of this sort. The ring had certainly ignited this intensity between Jase and I… Would it remain when I took it off?
Did I want it to…?
He had been taking care of me so well… So genuinely, so gently… and then, good God, that kissing… That was intense. I wanted more of that.
He had been gone about thirty minutes at this point and I had re-wrapped my leg with the last bandage we had in our packs. It was hardly bleeding, and the ring seemed to be restoring my strength. I felt so much better than I had been. No longer delirious, no longer seeing bat guano as stars… though that was admittedly poetic…
I walked around the cavern and stretched my leg, testing it, jumping around. I tested my telekinetic floating abilities a bit. Tossed and caught and zipped knives around the cavern with telekinesis. I was getting pretty good at it. I wondered how everyone off the crashed transport was doing. Aimer had been so nice to me, not like LeiLei and Cassala and the other men, with whom I still clearly needed to earn a place. Which made sense; of course, I needed to still earn my spot on the Crew. I was going to, too. Now, more than ever. I didn't know how Jase was going to treat me once we were back with the rest of his people…
Should I ask him? Was that pushing things too quickly? I felt like that was a third or fourth you-chose-to-save-my-life conversation, at least. Or at least a second-stranded-in-the-middle-of-the-desert experience. I mean, relationships borne out of extreme circumstances didn’t always have the depth to go the distance… Depending on the extreme circumstance.
What the hell was I talking about? Just a day ago, I was totally turned off by this guy, this dark, brooding, tyrant Alpha Warlord who was dismissive of me, a cocky asshole who I would never have dreamed of dating…
There wasn’t going to be more to it than that…
But, my fingers still tingled, my hair was still messy, and my finger was still circled by
