Kovas

KOVAS

"Come sit down," Mera said, patting the makeshift pallet she'd managed to put together from a pair of folding tables and the pieces of clean fabric she'd scavenged. "I should change your bandages while we have a chance."

I couldn't think of the last time I'd been challenged to a fight and had been so utterly defeated.

She'd been right in front of me, sassy grin on her face, hands on those tempting hips, that dress only teasing me with what I knew lay beneath.

And I couldn't do a thing about it.

Worst of all, she had known it.

It was for the best. I knew that.

With no way to contact Alkard or the rest of the Fangs, I couldn't rely on getting backup any time soon.

While I was no longer bleeding, I needed to heal more before our enemies found us again.

But with every delicate touch of her hands on my chest as she tended to my injuries, I cursed myself.

Mera deserved better than this.

Better than me.

"You should lay down," she said as she finished. "Get some rest."

"I should stand watch." Taking a deep breath, I pushed myself up from the table, but her hand on my wrist stopped me in my tracks.

"You don't have to do everything on your own, you know."

A bitter laugh burst through my lips. "I'm a soldier. This is my job."

She frowned. "You're a lot more than that to me. And if something needs doing, we should do it together."

Strong, beautiful, and utterly adorable.

If I wanted to win this next round, I'd have to be clever.

"Then help me clear the area," I told her. "Let's make sure there are no other entrances."

At first glance, the back room had nothing other but more fabric in heaps on the floor and outdated machinery. But then I saw it.

A comm unit.

But my elation crashed to the deck when I got a better look.

It was wrecked, the components smashed long ago.

"I had a friend teach me a little about those things," Mera said softly. "Back when I thought I could be something other than a dancer. But I wouldn't even know where to start repairing it."

Taking a deep breath, I calmed myself, then her words hit me.

"You're smart enough to be anything you want," I argued. "And it's because of you that my people are aware of the extent of human trafficking."

She stumbled back, eyes wide. "What do you mean?"

"Your tablet," I explained softly. "Tessi tracked you to the first building in which you were held. When our people tore it apart, we found your tablet with the video you took."

Mera shook her head, her hands clutched before her chest. "I didn't think it had done any good," she whispered. "I thought I'd just gotten my friend into trouble for nothing. That I'd thrown everything away, just sticking my nose into some place I didn't belong."

She wasn't crying, not really. Still, tears spilled out, making me want to kiss their shimmering trails down her cheeks.

"I think I'm not the only one who's tired," I said instead, wrapping her in my embrace. "I'll rest if you will."

Which is how we ended up like this.

I stayed sitting upright, facing the barricaded door, knife at the ready. Mera curled up next to me in a nest of fabric, her hand resting on my thigh.

Even as I monitored our surroundings, I couldn't help but gaze at her sleeping face.

She amazed me with everything she did.

From healing me, to bravely offering up her blood, to staying by my side through all of the chaos and blood.

She captivated me.

It wasn't only due to her mental fortitude and quick thinking, either.

She was the most beautiful person I'd ever seen.

I brushed my fingers over the mark of my teeth on her shoulder.

Not a claiming bite.

But I wished more than anything that it was.

The laundromat was quiet, with the exception of water occasionally running through the pipes in the ceiling, condensation dripping from a bend in the corner.

Mera was exhausted, barely moving beside me, and in time, I dozed off.

"Hmmm…" At the sound, I snapped back to wakefulness, but it was only Mera stirring in her sleep to pull my free arm.

My heart leaped in my chest at the feeling. She wanted me close to her.

No one had ever felt that way about me before.

And I'd certainly never felt this way about anyone, either.

So what did we do about it?

My ears perked up at the sounds of tapping claws and hissing coming from the corridor outside, and a part of me was relieved.

This was something I knew how to handle.

I slowly slid my arm out from Mera's grasp, trying to remain as quiet as I could while getting up from the pallet. "He's in there, he'ssss in there!" the voices chanted from the corridor outside, thin talons tapping at the window.

And that confirmed it.

"Mera, Mera wake up!" I whispered.

"What?" She jerked awake before I covered her mouth and mouthed ‘don't speak.'

It seemed likely someone was going to track us down here. We'd been too tired to cover our tracks well.

While we'd rested, I'd had plenty of time to think of a few plans, able to move around the room just enough to set a couple things up.

If we'd been lucky, all that effort would be a waste of sleeping time.

Somehow I didn't think luck would be on our side.

It all depended on who found us first.

And now I knew.

"Get behind those dryers." I pointed to the stack against the wall. "When you get my signal, flip the large blue switch."

Her face crumpled in confusion, and despite the danger, I couldn't help but take a moment to steal a kiss.

"I promise, you'll see it." Pushing her away, I turned back to face the door. "Go, now. It'll be all right."

Her arms stole around my waist, carefully hugging me. "You better be right. I'm not letting you go this easily."

As she slipped away, the washing machine I'd set in front of the door flew to the side and a crowd of rat-like Ewani pushed through.

Through the mass of bulging eyes, buck teeth, and coarse fur, stepped an abnormally large one, who searched around the laundromat while sniffing the air.

Tamlit.

That bastard was supposed to be dead.

He'd led an attack on Alkard using Tessi as bait months ago, but his body had never been found.

I guess I knew why, now.

"Hello, hello," he called out mockingly. "Conii was right, you did end up in our territory."

Dammit.

"What do you want?" I growled, keeping a careful watch. Ewani were little better than animals, but they were nasty, and when they moved as a pack they were particularly vicious.

And Tamlit had a grudge.

The group snickered, the sound like a rusty bolt stuck in a turbine.

"I want vengeance," Tamlit stated, walking closer to where I stood. "For my son."

My fingers twitched around the hilt of the knife. I could take him out now, but there was no guarantee I'd be able to get through the rest of this crowd before they found Mera.

"Your son was a piece of trash who was stupid enough to try assaulting Alkard's mate."

Technically, Tessi wasn't Alkard's mate when Tamlit's son attacked her, but that didn't seem relevant now.

"He was just playing with a human female," Tamlit snarled. "Everyone of Vinduthi blood should pay the price."

I eyed his group as they cheered, throwing their various weapons in the air. Ewani crafted whatever weapons they could from machinery or metals they found in the passages of the Under or sewers beneath Thodos III.

Some of their contraptions had wrench heads attached to long rods or jagged pieces of old metal screwed onto long pipes. If there were only three of them, I could have probably taken them on.

Unfortunately, there were at least thirty crammed into the room.

But now I couldn't hear the steps of anyone else outside.

They were all in here.

Trapped with me.

"Mera! Now!"

The horde charged me, but with a thump the row of dryers came to life.

And while I might not be skilled enough with electronics to repair a destroyed comm unit, reversing the airflow on a dryer was a simple enough task.

In seconds, the air was filled with decades of lint and dust, blinding the Ewani, filling their sensitive snouts.

The weaker ones fell to the floor, choking as I slipped around behind them, blocking their escape.

And then I got to work.