Chapter 13

Caitlyn

My body felt heavy and sluggish, but I could not look away from the piercing mercury stare that Kal was holding me captive with. Everything seemed too slow, too heavy, too much effort. I tried to comprehend the words he was saying, the demands he was making. Did he call me mate? Did I hear that or did I imagine that? Mate. I thought I heard it again, but the words were so far away, the only thing I could really focus on was the silver of his eyes.

The explosion had really knocked me out of it. I felt sick and lightheaded, and I was supposed to be really worried about something, but now I couldn't remember. Was it the girl? Kal's niece? Oh, the cure. My chin dipped as I dropped my gaze from Kal's to check the vial I was clutching and drew in a relieved breath when I discovered it was still in one piece. I had done that before, checked it before because this action felt familiar. If only I could get my brain to function, but it seemed harder now that the world was spinning.

"No, look at me, Caitlyn!" Kal demanded ruthlessly. He was such a bossy guy, always telling me what to do, always there, making his demands. Especially in bed, like last night, when he'd ordered me to stay still as he drove me absolutely crazy with his talented tongue. He was even fiercer than he normally was and I guiltily jerked my eyes back to his, obeying even though it was hard to keep them open. "I love you, little human. You are my mate, and you are not leaving me, you hear me? I have plans for you, a lot of plans. So no backing down now. Show me that spine of steel I know you have!"

Plans… Steel… Love? Did Kal just declare that he loved me? Maybe I hadn't misheard that thing about ‘mate,' after all. My heart thudded wildly in my chest. If my Kal loved me, that meant I wouldn't have to go when this was over. This was a good lab, I could stay here and finish my research. That sounded good, that sounded like a plan.

"She is going to be fine, my king," a male voice said, and for the first time I realized I wasn't alone with Kal. He held me in his arms, a wing cupped around my back. We weren't quite cocooned in when he kept the other tucked against his back, but still it felt private. Like he was all I could see until I became aware of everything else going on around me. The doctor with oddly bright red hair at my side, the IV attached to my arm, and the wound that was being stitched together with a clever medical device. It was a sizable wound on my leg, likely from flying debris after the bomb went off.

"I'm fine," I said, my mouth dry. I had not even realized I'd been injured, but I started recalling more details as my mind cleared with each drop of blood that was replenished through the IV. Kal who shielded me with his body, realizing just like I had, the danger we'd been in.

I scanned around for the unfortunate lab tech that had set off the explosion. The male was sitting on the floor against the nearest counter with a compress against his head, but breathing and offering me the guiltiest of stares. I'd caught the whiff of chemicals as he pulled on the door, knew it by instinct at first; now I knew that I'd recognized the scent of the explosives. I had been more primed for danger than I had realized.

"Kal, did you mean it?" I asked him, still clutching the precious vial to my racing heart. That seemed far more important than the recent explosion, especially when I realized the tech had survived unscathed in his battle-form. The bomb's violence had been dangerous only to my vulnerable human flesh; I'd been the target.

"Mean it?" Kalzudaud demanded as he clutched me tighter, pressing my head against his chest where I could hear his own heart thudding loudly and rapidly. "Yeah, every word. I love you. You are my mate, and I am never letting you go. You get the lab you demanded, a better one, a new one, but you are not leaving the planet." As I tipped up my chin to meet his eyes, heedless of the surprised muttering around us, I smiled as I kissed him.

"You're my queen," Kal said, a declaration, a vow. My body flushed with warmth and a hint of nerves. His queen? He meant that literally, but I still loved how fervently he said it, how much it sounded like an endearment.

"I love you too, Kal," I whispered, and then more loudly I spoke my own declaration. "I love you, King Kalzudaud. I should be mad at you for the kidnapping thing, but how can I not fall for you? You're kind, you"re caring, and so very loyal to those you love." He grinned, and we kissed again; a toe-curling, scorching kiss that left me breathless and made my head spin for entirely different reasons than before.

There was applause around us, the alien kind, where they thumped boots on the floor and slapped their chests with their fists. The sound startled me so much that I jerked back in Kal's arms and would have toppled out of his lap if not for the warm leather membrane of his wing curled around my back. The doctor finished by wrapping my leg up with a plasfilm bandage and then I insisted that Kal take me directly to Sera. "I need to take you to the med bay for more healing," Kal said firmly, but I shook my head.

"No, I'm sure I have it. We need to go to your niece. She's suffered long enough!" I cupped his chin to make sure he couldn't be the one to look away. I wanted him to know how serious I was. On a perfect day, I would want to just laze in his arms and celebrate the moment we'd declared our love to each other. But that wasn't today, because a bomb had just gone off and nearly killed me and nearly destroyed the cure. Sera was still in danger, and we still didn't have the damn traitor!

My IV hovered next to me on its own, designed to stay at the perfect height and right next to me as I moved. Kal rose with me in his arms, and the IV rose with us. "Fine," he said while he glared at the device that was still working to stabilize me, supplying me with precious fluids that I'd lost. "We will go to Sera." His glare told me he really meant it, he loved me. He was mad at me because he wanted to take better care of me than I wanted to let him.

In the hallway I gasped at the sight of the fancy advisor lady sprawled on the floor, arms restrained behind her back, and the booted heel of a male planted firmly on her shoulder to keep her pinned. She looked disheveled and furious, but at the sight of Kal and me, she deflated. Kal hissed, and the sound morphed into a growl. "I trusted you, considered you family, Amaza. All this for the throne?"

He shook his head as she glared, but did not respond. "I'll deal with you later. First, I'm going to save my heart-daughter, and then I'm going to announce my mating to the public. You can rot in a cell till then." Oh, mating announcements? He wasn't waiting for anything. Why had I even worried about a goodbye? I should have known from the start he wasn't giving me back to the Aderians.

Kal gave the male restraining the advisor a nod. "Thanks, Savar. I expect you to be on time at the mating feast. Understood?" It sounded like they had history together, and I gave the male a curious once-over as Kal rushed away, followed by the doctor. Then I faced front and spoke in a hurry to explain what I needed besides the precious vial with what was hopefully the medicine that would restore Sera to full health.