13. Talia

"What did you do?" I screamed the question and leaped at Taverner, murderous rage burning out all caution. Ignoring the guns aimed at me, the danger I was in, I charged.

A stunner snapped, clipping me and sending me tumbling to the sands beside Kal'va. My limbs refused to work right, dropping me back to the ground when I tried to lift myself.

"Don't be stupid," Taverner said, sounding like a disappointed parent. "You are safe. My promise holds, just with a few modifications."

I glared at her, and she sighed. "It's seldom an opportunity comes along to have my cake and eat it, you know. I'm afraid it was too much to resist. Kal'va will give my scientists the chance to research the Ancient technology built into him, and I can clear this ruin out so there's no issue pushing ahead with the terraforming."

"You won't—" I shut my mouth before I could finish saying ‘get away with it.' That would be too cliché to bear.

"I will,I assure you. Once this site is gone, there'll be no evidence to back you up, and your story is a lot less believable than mine. It will sound like a frankly pathetic attempt to hold up the project when you couldn't find any actual evidence of the Ancients. However, I will hold up my end of the bargain if you play along. You don't even need to lie, just don't comment, and you get a fancy research institute willing to back you up on any other expeditions you care to make. Especially if they are on my rivals' worlds, but that's optional."

I tuned out her smug, self-satisfied voice. If I listened, I'd scream and hit her. And then I'd die, along with the rest of the expedition. My death hardly mattered to me now, but I didn't have the right to risk the others. And if I was going to condemn myself by attacking her, I wanted to do it somewhere I'd have the chance to do some actual damage. She killed my mate. I didn't want to let her off with a black eye in return.

Kal'va lay still, blood soaking into the black sands, a hole blasted clean through his chest. His crystals had absorbed a lot of the laser's energy and blazed with an inner light, but it hadn't been enough to save him. The fire in his eyes had gone out, and I tried to scramble toward him, my numb limbs barely cooperating. What I'd do if I reached him, I had no idea. I just knew I had to hold him, to wrap his corpse in my embrace.

"Sentiment," Taverner said, which did nothing to quiet the fury in my blood. Her guards are right there, I told myself. I'm unarmed. What are the odds I'd even give her that black eye before they stun me, or worse?

The urge was near-overwhelming. I only swallowed it because this was the last time I'd see Kal'va, and I didn't want to waste whatever seconds I might have left to me. Collapsing against his motionless corpse, I looked back at the corporate princess and snarled. "I love him, and you killed him. What makes you think I'd work for you?"

"Spiting me won't bring him back," she told me with a shrug. "Still, you're free to go, and I'll make sure you're well paid for your time here. Whatever I can do to help. I have no desire to spill human blood over this incident."

"Oh, fuck off." That came out more weary than angry. I doubted she'd notice, or care. But of course she was a bigot who valued human life over an alien's. I wrapped my arms around the body of my beloved, crying bitter tears as his warm blood dripped onto me.

Why is it warm?The thought appeared from nowhere, seeming incredibly important, though I couldn't say why. I tried to push it away—what difference did it make? What was the point of anything without Kal'va in my life?

My heart ached, and the world seemed distant and gray. Taverner's security detail grabbed me, trying to pull me away, but holding onto my mate was the only thing that seemed important to me.

Blood still pumped from his wounds, which was weird. His heart was…oh.

A wild stab of hope burst into my mind. His heart wasn't here. Nor were his lungs, or other vital organs. They sat, safe and sound, in his crypt, connected to his body through Ancient technology. He might be dead, but he'd been dead when I found him the first time, too.

My blood woke him then. Perhaps it would again?

The security guards pulled harder, and my grip slipped. I had one chance at this, at best. So I did the only thing I could think of and slapped my hand down on the crystal spikes growing from Kal'va's shoulder.