Chapter 13

Chapter

Thirteen

M yrria fought the urge to heave her guts into the sink, as she watched Rixx walk toward the table with only the moonlight peeking between a gap in the front window curtains highlighting his tall form. She'd been unable to say anything as they'd hurried through the tight passageways, her stomach roiling from the shock of being attacked and the greater shock of Rixx appearing and nearly killing her assailant. She still wasn't sure if they'd left him alive.

Part of her was embarrassed that the Dothvek had been forced to pick her up, but another part of her was still livid that he'd left in the first place. She knew that chasing after him in the middle of the night had not been the smartest thing she'd ever done—it might have been the most foolish, come to think of it—but she never would have been outside in Kurril alone if she hadn't awoken to find him gone.

"Well?" she snapped, her voice louder than she'd intended it to be. "Aren't you going to explain yourself?"

Rixx stiffened, turning before he reached the table. "Me?"

Myrria hated the tone of his question, as if she needed to explain herself to him. "Yes, you. I woke up and you were gone. Were you really going to sneak out without a word of explanation?"

The faint light fell across the side of his face, highlighting the curve of his full lips and his square jaw, which tightened at her rebuke. "I did not think my departure needed explaining. The Zevrians are hunting me. That puts you and Zala in danger. It is safest for you if I leave."

Myrria huffed out an exasperated breath. "That's not a choice you get to make. I accepted the risk when I took you in. So did Zala."

He frowned. "That was before the papers on the doors and the house-to-house search. I cannot ask you to continue to put yourself in danger for me."

Myrria matched her frown with her own. "So what was your plan? How did you expect to stay alive in Kurril on your own? You have no coin, no credits. You have a bounty on your head. The first mercenary who lays eyes on your gold skin will know who you are and will turn you in. You would not have lasted until daybreak."

Rixx folded his arms across his chest. "You did not last that long. What were you thinking running through the city at night alone?"

Shame flooded Myrria's cheeks. She hated that he was right. Her actions had been just as stupid as his, and she had no right to scold him for being impetuous. "I was looking for you."

He shifted and dropped his gaze. "You should not have come after me."

"You should not have left."

Rixx raised his head, his pained gaze meeting hers. "What if I had not reached you in time?"

Myrria's heart twisted as she recognized the agony in his eyes, and for the first time she allowed herself to think about what would have happened if Rixx had not found her, if he had not fought off the man. Her stomach lurched, and she ran to the sink, heaving into it as the terror resurfaced as bitter bile.

She had always thought of herself as strong and capable. After all, she had survived her husband leaving her. She had survived on Kurril as a single mother for years. She had survived on her own hard work and frugality. And she had done it alone.

A hand touched her back as she hung over the sink after purging herself of every ounce of the sharp bile that had burned the back of her throat. She should have been humiliated that the Dothvek had witnessed so much weakness from her, but instead, she felt comforted by his presence. Even if she was still angry at him—and at herself.

If she was being honest, she was more angry at herself than she was at him. She should have known better. She knew Kurril. She knew the dangers. But she had been more afraid of losing him than of the Den of Thieves at night. And that should have terrified her.

Myrria flipped on the cold water, rinsing the sink and her mouth before she righted herself. "You can't do that again."

He dropped his hand from her back. "Save you?"

Myrria pivoted to face him and gave him a withering look. "You can't run off again. It will break Zala's heart, and I can't see her lose anyone else again."

Rixx's handsome face was stricken. "A broken heart is better than what the Zevrians will do to you."

Despite the strange sensation that she could feel his torment, Myrria's determination returned to her and she straightened. "I have no plans for them to catch you or us."

Rixx released a mirthless chuckle. "I had no intention of being abducted by the Zevrians."

"But you were new to Kurril. You did not know the dangers." Before he could remind her that she had ignored the dangers by running out into the night, Myrria held up a hand. "Despite tonight's evidence to the contrary, I do know this city and how to evade its danger."

"I am too much of a burden," he argued. "I cannot take food from your table when you barely have enough for yourself. I must leave and find a way to summon my ship."

Myrria shook her head, frustrated by the Dothvek's stubbornness but touched by his selflessness. "You have already saved my life once. Having a male protector for me and my daughter is something I have not had for a very long time."

"You do not owe me for saving you," Rixx's voice was husky, as he held her gaze with molten eyes. "I am only sorry I did not get there soon enough to stop that vile creature from touching you at all."

Myrria wanted to ask how he'd known she was in trouble and how he had gotten to her so quickly, but another part of her wasn't sure of she wanted to know the answer. The Dothveks were a curious species who appeared to have abilities that humans did not.

"You stopped him," Myrria whispered, her throat tight. "That is all that matters."

The air between them bristled as Rixx locked eyes with her. Then Myrria snatched her gaze away. "How are you at fixing things?"

He blinked at her in clear confusion by the abrupt change of subject, but before he could answer, a sound came from the loft above.