Chapter 15

The jungle was a riot of noise, the air thick and heavy. Rhys wiped sweat from his brow, leaving a streak of mud behind.

They"d moved as fast as they could, and they were catching up to their quarry.

If only they could find them.

It was a beautiful day. Sunlight streamed down through the thick canopy overhead, dappling the path ahead of them. Birds called, and somewhere far off, Rhys could hear the sound of a waterfall. It was the kind of day that should have been perfect for a hike — not a desperate race against time to stop a bombing.

"Do the Borraq have a word," he said, panting a little, "for when you"re happy and sad at the same time?"

Taryn considered. "I think our equivalent would be… "sarrill.""

"Yeah? That"s a pretty word."

Taryn smiled one of his frustratingly tiny smiles. "We have poets as well as warriors, you know."

The warmth of the moment was nice, but underneath it all, Rhys couldn"t shake a feeling of unease. His memory was full of warring moments, a dozen different scenes from the past few days. Tense standoffs, shared meals, the press of Taryn"s body against his...

"Alright. What about…" Rhys looked away. "When you want something really badly, but you know it"s not good for you?"

Taryn"s brow furrowed in thought. "I do not think we have a single word for that. We would simply say, "to crave the unwise.""

They walked on in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Taryn spoke up again. "I believe there is a Borraq concept that does not translate well to your tongue," he said slowly. "It means... an inescapable bond, forever forged."

"We have those too. You try wriggling out of a contract payment down on Ilvar Station, and you"ll find how bound you can get."

"Not like that." Taryn indulged Rhys"s nonsense with a quick shake of his head. "For matters of the heart. Once joined, we do not leave our mates."

There was feeling in Taryn"s voice. Rhys felt his heart skip. He swallowed hard. "I… Yeah, I don"t think there"s really a human equivalent," he admitted. "There"s wedding vows and all, but I"ve seen enough cases where they were just pretty words. We can be a real love-"em-and-leave-"em kind of species."

The very idea of a love like that… It was utterly foreign to Rhys. His life had been a constant struggle, any bonds eventually ground down by poverty and hardship. Lovers came and went — and sometimes they went to come with someone else.

To imagine an unbreakable bond was almost impossible for him.

"So you"re telling me," Rhys said, ducking under a low-hanging branch, "that when two Borraq fall in love, they"re together forever? No breaking up, no divorces?"

Taryn nodded, his expression serious. "It is more than love. It is a soul-bond, a connection that runs deeper than mere affection."

Rhys let out a low whistle. "That"s intense." He shook his head in disbelief. "I can"t even imagine. Humans, we"re always breaking up and getting back together. Moving on to someone new."

"It is not so simple for us," Taryn said, his voice tinged with something like wistfulness. "The bond is unbreakable, eternal. To lose one"s mate..." He trailed off, his jaw tightening.

An uncomfortable silence fell between them as they trudged through the undergrowth. Rhys couldn"t help but notice the way Taryn"s muscles rippled beneath his golden skin, the strength and grace of his movements. He forced his gaze away, heat rising in his cheeks.

"So, what, you just know?" he asked finally, needing to fill the quiet. "Like, you meet someone and boom, you"re stuck with them forever?"

Taryn shook his head. "It is not so simple, nor so immediate. The bond grows over time, nurtured through shared experiences, hardships overcome together." His eyes softened. "It is a profound commitment, not entered into lightly."

Rhys swallowed hard, suddenly very aware of the heat, the closeness of Taryn"s body as they moved through the dense foliage. "Well, I guess that makes sense," he managed. "You"re all so damn serious, it would be weird to just... break up, or whatever. I can"t exactly picture Borraq arguing over who gets the dog and who gets the coffee machine."

"And for your kind?" Taryn asked, raising an eyebrow ridge. "Is impermanence simply accepted?"

"I mean... yeah, kind of?" Rhys rubbed the back of his neck, searching for the right words. "Humans, we adapt. Change is just part of life for us. If something isn"t working, we find a way to move forward."

Taryn made a rumbling sound, something between a hum and a growl. "An interesting philosophy. Though I cannot help but wonder, does such transience not…"

Rhys was ready to hear some kind of philosophical take. "Not what?"

"Hurt?"

Rhys opened his mouth, then closed it again. He couldn"t deny the truth in Taryn"s words. In his short, fraught experience with relationships, you always had to leave someone before they left you. To be left behind by someone you thought was there for you…

It sucked, big time.

But didn"t pain make you stronger? You could always shrug it off and land on your feet.

Rhys had always made himself believe that was true.

Otherwise being left behind cut too deep.

The idea of fated mates seemed just as unreal as any other storybook tale. To trust someone that much? Have them never leave you, never betray you, never look at you and decide that you"re not worth the trouble? For your whole damn life?

It was a nice dream.

But Rhys was too old for dreams.

Before Rhys could think of what to say, Taryn held up a hand, his brow furrowed. He shook his head. "They have been elusive. I"ve been trying to find their track, but to no avail."

All of the Vasz jungle looked the same to Rhys. He didn"t know how Taryn read it — or how the other humans could hide from his sharp eyes. "Damn it."

He looked towards the glimpses of the horizon between the trees. He"d seen the lights on the horizon getting closer and closer every night that he camped with Taryn. If he remembered where to look…

There. There was the faint shine of lights on the horizon.

The city was getting closer.

And the humans were, too — wherever they were.

Taryn looked like a hunting dog barely being held back. "They"re somewhere near here. This close, I can"t risk wasting more time trying to pick up their trail. While I"m looking, they might just strike directly — and from here, it wouldn"t take them long."

He looked at Rhys. "I need to go to the city and warn them. They need to be on guard for humans."

Rhys"s heart sank. "But this particular human…"

"...Needs to stay out here." Taryn touched his shoulder. "I cannot risk bringing you into such a crowded place. If the slightest thing gave you away…" He grimaced. "A city of strangers will not simply listen to me. If they saw you, even I could do nothing to protect you from so many. But nearby there should be… ah, yes, there. Come."

Taryn led Rhys through the lush greenery. Rhys tried to keep his eyes on Taryn"s broad, muscular back.

This was just a brief separation. That was all. Taryn would just get into the city and get out again. It was just a basic milk run, right? Nothing scary.

So why did the idea of being separated from Taryn leave him feeling so uneasy?

"Here we are." If Taryn hadn"t indicated the cave, Rhys wouldn"t have noticed it. That probably should have made him feel better, right? Top secret alien cave.

It didn"t. Trying to keep his voice light, Rhys poked his head inside. "No bears?"

Taryn cocked his head. "What"s a… bear?"

"You have giant snakes and killer birds, but you don"t have bears? You know what, never mind." Rhys followed Taryn inside, and set his bags down.

"I"ll be back soon," Taryn said. "This is an opportunity, in fact."

"An opportunity?"

"A break. A moment of rest for you."

"I"m not tired," Rhys protested.

Taryn"s gaze was knowing. "I can hear your heart racing from here. Am I wrong?"

Rhys"s mouth twisted. "You"re never wrong, are you?"

Taryn"s lips quirked up in a half-smile. "I did not say that." The teasing tone was a balm and a knife all at once. He tilted Rhys"s chin upward, and kissed him. "Rest yourself. Sit, eat, drink. I will return soon."

"You better."

Taryn gave Rhys one of those small smiles. Rhys watched from the mouth of the cave as Taryn slipped through the alien greenery. He grew smaller and smaller, and then the jungle swallowed him up in moments, hiding his golden form in a tangle of green.

Alone in the gloom, Rhys sat down hard. He really was tired. They"d made double time trying to catch up after his little dip in the river. He wasn"t cut out for all this hiking — so much damn walking! Who needed it?!

As he steadied his breathing, Rhys touched a hand to his chest.

All of that stuff that Taryn had said about how Borraq loved… It was a fairy tale. It was as unreal as any storybook.

But for just a few moments, walking through the jungle by Taryn"s side, it had felt real.

It had felt possible.

Rhys shook his head, trying to clear away the heat and the weight of the thick air. He"d spent his whole life in artificial environments fed by filtered air, cool and thin. Every breath inside the jungle felt like he was trying to suck in soup, the air grossly hot.

There was a sound nearby, a gentle burbling. Rhys looked out of the mouth of the cave, peeking out at the world. A stream that they"d been following was close by, its clear waters running over smooth rocks.

Taryn had told him to drink, hadn"t he? It wasn"t far — even a colony boy like himself couldn"t get lost.

Rhys slipped through the foliage, following the sound. His mouth was dry, the taste of sweat lingering at the back of his throat. He undid the cap of the waterskin that Taryn had given him, and dipped it into the water, enjoying the coolness of it against his skin even before he took a drink.

He gulped down mouthful after mouthful, the clean, crisp taste a balm for his tired body. He poured a little bit over his head and ran his hands through his hair. The shock of the cold water against his overheated skin sent a shiver of relief down his spine.

It was the most refreshing thing that Rhys had ever experienced. He shook himself like a dog.

A voice spoke. "Finally."

Rhys froze.

It was a human voice.

Lila.

The medic was standing upriver, a little worse for wear but still with her cool exterior intact. She narrowed her eyes at him, her eyes flicking quickly over Rhys"s form. "We"ve been looking for a way to get to you," she said, as if Rhys had been missing. "Quick, come here. Let"s move, fast."

Rhys"s heart raced. He took a step back from her, the waterskin still clutched in his hand. "What? That doesn"t make sense. You left me for dead!"

Lila cut him off, striding towards him. "We need to get away. Quick, before that brute comes back!"

Rhys backed away from her. "What?" he echoed, his mind racing. "I"m not—"

Lila didn"t seem to care about his denial, though. She was already scanning the jungle around them. "This way. We"re not far from here."

What? Rhys didn"t know what to do. He"d been hunting down his traitorous former crewmates for days — and now one was trying to help him?

"I"m not in danger," Rhys protested. "You"re the danger!"

Lila"s eyes were sharp. "Are you addled? Has the Borraq been corrupting you? We don"t have time for this. Come."

"That"s not— that can"t be true." Rhys"s heart hammered in his chest. He was caught between the medic"s suspicion and Taryn"s trust, like a rope pulled taut and ready to snap him in half.

Trust? Was that what Taryn"s feeling towards him was? The sense of being believed, the knowledge that someone had your back?

Taryn had shown him a kind of straightforward honor that Rhys had never encountered before.

There was no way that something like that was a lie.

"I"m not kidnapped," he blurted out. "I"m not being held against my will. Taryn — he"s not like that."

Lila"s expression didn"t change. It was as if Rhys hadn"t spoken at all. There was an edge to her voice. She was humoring him, like a parent speaking to a child that didn"t understand the world. "Come on. We need to get you back to safety, and then we can go home."

Home.

Rhys"s heart hammered in his chest. "How?"

Lila looked at him like he was a regretfully stupid child. "On a shuttle," she said, slowly and simply.

"I thought that—"

But before Rhys could finish the words, he snapped his jaw shut.

Mal had said that there was no way off-planet. That this whole trip to Vasz had been a one-way suicide mission.

Yeah, Mal had said that — while trying to kill Rhys. And Rhys had killed Mal. Well, not directly. But directly enough that he should not reveal that to Lila.

But… But maybe Mal had been lying. Maybe he was just trying to get one more jab off at Rhys.

Could Rhys really go home again?

The hope stretched out before him, a deep chasm that he was balanced on the edge of.

Home. The thing he"d been wishing for. The thing he"d thought was now forever out of his reach.

But…

The taste of alien water was still fresh on his tongue, the feel of thick jungle air was still pressing against his skin. Despite the heat, Rhys felt a sudden chill deep in his bones.

He didn"t want to go home again.

Lila"s eyes narrowed at his silence. Before Rhys could say anything, before he could make a decision, she reached for her belt and drew a stun gun.

Rhys stumbled back in shock, his heart racing. "Stop, Lila, wait—"

"It was worth a try," she said, her voice heavy with disappointment. "It would have been nicer if you went the easy way. I don"t look forward to lugging you all the way back."

She pointed her gun at Rhys—

And everything went white.