Mera

MERA

I stayed crouched behind the dryers until the screams stopped.

"Mera?" Kovas called. "It's clear now."

Standing up, I stared at a room painted red. Kovas bent over the largest body, riffling through its pockets.

"He won't be coming back from the dead this time," he muttered.

Tiptoeing through the gore, I peered over his shoulder at the corpse, then looked away quickly.

I don't know. Maybe I'd thought that after the last few days I was getting used to this, but I hadn't quite been prepared for the Ewani's head to be completely missing.

"Sorry," Kovas said gruffly. "I should have cleaned up more before calling you out, but we need to get moving."

Dammit. I shouldn't have flinched.

"It's my own fault," I said lightly. "You did it to protect me, right? I don't have any business being weirded out by a little blood."

Okay. It was a lot of blood. But I was pretty sure my theory was still right. "I'm just glad you weren't hurt."

A smile flicked over his lips. "Nothing more than being worried about you." Straightening up, he handed me a pile of credit spikes.

"Once we're out of here, we're going to need money. It only makes sense for these bastards to pay for scaring you."

Right. Totally logical.

Maybe I was just sleep deprived, but I didn't argue, just slipped the spikes into the bag we'd taken from Garlku's quarters a million years ago.

"Let's head out." Kovas kicked a clear path through the bodies towards the door, but I held back.

"You can't go out looking like that," I argued. "We need to at least wipe the worst of it off of you."

He glanced down at his arms as if just now seeing the blood. "If you think it's important."

"I do."

He seemed confused by my insistence, but didn't argue with me spending a few precious minutes scrounging through the piles of clothing to find a replacement for the ruined shirt.

"Here's a vest that should work, but I'm not sure about any pants."

I turned to find him wiping his chest down with a length of fabric we'd moistened with the dripping from the pipes above us, and fell silent.

How could anyone be so handsome?

He'd taken off his bandages, and now there was nothing in the way of me seeing those broad shoulders, the sharp cut of his muscles in his back flexing with every move, arms like steel.

He must have sensed my eyes on him.

He turned, crimson eyes narrowed. "Are you all right? Are you hurt?"

Hurrying over to me, he dropped a kiss on my forehead. "You'll feel better if you wash off, too." He waved a hand at the lint all around us. "This can't be good for you either. I should have thought about that."

I had lots of things to think about while I sponged myself, changing towels midway as the layers of grime rubbed off.

My brain kept circling, even as we left and headed back into the tunnels.

Handsome and kind.

Caring and protective.

Unbelievably sweet.

But once we got back to the real world and he'd completed his mission, how long would this last?

Lost in my own thoughts, I barely noticed when Kovas paused. Looking around, I realized we were at the edge of an alleyway opening out into a busy market.

"People!" I gasped, then froze. Did that mean we were finally safe, or in even more danger?

The Ewani who'd attacked us back had made it clear he was an ally of Conii's. Who else did she have on our tail?

As we passed through the crowd, I couldn't help but look at everyone with suspicion.

Was every Fanaith an enemy? Did every Nazok swear loyalty to Conii's gang?

Thankfully, Kovas wasn't plagued by such concerns as we wound through the bazaar, the noise and smells of so many sentients almost overwhelming.

Further into the maze of booths we went until finally, he stopped.

"Clothes for me and my pet," he barked at a short fuzzy being with purple fur and extra arms.

The creature tittered, its three black eyes wide. "That kind doesn't need much, do they?"

A low growl started deep in Kovas's chest, but stopped as I squeezed his arm.

"Please, master," I whined. "Kitten wants to play dress up. You promised, if I was good."

The purple pile of fur kept laughing. "I guess you need to keep your word." One set of arms pulled out a pink frilly off-the-shoulder dress, holding it in the air in front of me. "This should fit her well enough." A wink from the center eye. "At least for as long as I suspect she'll wear it."

Dammit. If the stupid rug kept talking, Kovas was going to kill it.

We didn't need the attention.

"It's pretty," I lied. I'd never cared for pink, feeling like it was a bad contrast with my hair. But if it got us out of here faster, I'd paint myself fuchsia.

"Fine, we'll take it." Kovas paid for the dress and some shoes for me, as well as an outfit for himself with one of the credit spikes we'd taken from the Ewani.

Like they say, money has no past.

Another stop at another booth for a jacked percomm. I looked away from the seller, my chest feeling tight.

What was wrong with me?

Staying pressed to Kovas's side, we turned into a quiet corner to make a call.

He squeezed my hand. "The sooner we report in, the sooner we can get help and stop running."

I glanced at him while we walked, his gaze fixated on what was in front of us.

We can stop running. We wouldn't be looking over our shoulders. We could have time to talk, get to know each other…

I stopped the thoughts before they went any further. We were acting. We weren't a ‘real' couple. He was probably going along with the act to make it out of there alive.

Even with the bite and amazing sex, he was a Vinduthi.

Being a human, I was at the bottom of the totem pole on Thodos III. Surely he had better options waiting for him once we got out of the tunnels.

My stomach clenched. I'd never even asked him if he already had a girlfriend. I had just thrown myself at him.

Why choose a human when you could have a gorgeous Vinduthi woman by your side?

The voice coming from the percomm startled me.

"I don't know who you are or how you got this contact but you have five seconds before I send someone to your location and have your spine removed."

"I'm usually the one you send for that job, Alkard." Kovas wasn't smiling. Were all of his friends like this?

"Kovas? Where the hell have you been? Do you know--"

"I have Mera. We're at the end of the Serpentine, and need pickup."

"You what?" A harsh laugh. "Of course you do. I should know to never assume you're dead."

The sound of other excited voices came through in the background.

"Unfortunately, we have a problem. Conii's forces are running wild over here. Wouldn't be a problem, but she's got someone from the Alliance forces in her pocket. We're all under surveillance right now, confined to the Fallen Star. Lay low for a few hours, and I'll message you when it's clear."

"Understood."

Kovas cut the connection without another word, and turned back to the marketplace.

"What's going on?" I asked, hurrying to catch up.

Kovas tapped the bag I carried, now bulging with our purchases. "She could just be mad that we escaped, but it would make more sense that there's something on that percomm that she doesn't want my people to see."

"So what do we do now?"

He blinked slowly. "Lay low. That was clear enough." He pointed to a large structure further down the path, the faded markings on its side labeling it as a hotel despite its run-down appearance.

"That should work."

"Good idea," I responded cheerfully, although my heart sank in my chest.

I knew I had to back off the emotions I felt toward him. The adrenaline and life-and-death matters of those last few days were enough to make anyone feel close to another being.

In the ‘real' world of Thodos III, we didn't stand a chance when it came to being together. My chest hurt at the thought, but I needed to pull myself together before my feelings got the best of me.

A night together in a hotel wasn't going to make anything any easier.

When I glanced at the clock on the wall, I saw it was around ten. There was no way to tell time those last few days, and at that point, I wasn't even sure how many days we had been running.

"Room for two," Kovas said as we approached the host.

The Mondian glared at us beneath his red, scaled head. Cocking it to the side, he licked his lips and looked over the bite on my shoulder. "Odd pair to be traveling together, no?"

Kovas rolled his eyes and took his arm off me. "Just give us a room."

"We don't rent to humans."

"Kovas…" I grabbed onto his bicep, my heart starting to race from the interaction. "Come on, let's go."

"No." Kovas refused, keeping his eyes on the Mondian. "Surely you've had battles of your own, Mondian. Times when you wanted to unwind after a long day of fighting." The Mondian's face softened as Kovas spoke. "Haven't you ever wanted to see how flexible these bitches really are? You know, how much they can help you relax?"

I bristled at the anger in his voice. I had never heard Kovas speak of humans that way, or about me.

He always seemed different than the other beings who treated my kind like trash.

The Mondian stared at me before nodding. "I have had the pleasure of testing her kind on a few occasions, yes."

"Then you'll let me continue what I started," Kovas said, gripping my arm hard and pulling me close to him, showing off the bite mark on my shoulder.

The Mondian nodded with a smirk before sighing. "I hope you get your fix." He stared back at Kovas and handed him his percomm. "Just don't let her dirty the sheets too much."

Kovas plugged in a fresh credit spike, and I noticed he gave the innkeeper 500 credits more than requested. When he handed it back to the Mondian, the creature looked at us with surprise.

Kovas nodded at him. "For your discretion."

The Mondian smirked before handing Kovas a passcard. "311," he said cheerfully, as if he hadn't just dismissed my entire species. "Third floor to the left."

With another nod, Kovas escorted me through the crowd, jerking me along like some toy. I began to think this wasn't an act.

Was everything before, all of his tenderness, just part of the mission?

Did I mean nothing to him now that he was in contact with the Fangs?

Uncertainty rippled through me as we climbed the stairs and turned down the hallway to our room.

Kovas swiped the card on the panel and shoved me inside before looking around the hallway and entering after me.

The room was nicer than I'd expected. A bed, a desk, a couch, all worn, but serviceable.

Once he closed the door, he gently pulled the bag from my shoulder, then touched my arm where he had grabbed it.

"Are you hurt?" he asked gently.

And there he was. My Kovas.

"No," I replied softly, mesmerized by his stare.

"I had to…"

"Blend in," I said, smiling. "I know."

I couldn't stop myself. My fingers lifted to the markings and ran along the red lines on his face and neck, tracing them like I was painting a picture with the colors.

"I should really thank you for saving my life so many times," I whispered, getting lost in his eyes.

His lips parted, and he shook his head before pressing me against the wall. "Mera," he moaned. "My Mera. I will always save you."

Our mouths pressed together, tongues already exploring each other's mouths as my arms wrapped around his neck.

His large hands moved down the sides of my body and grabbed onto my hips as he pressed harder against me.

Fuck hiding my feelings.