“Fuck me, that’s the Trakis One,” Rico said from behind her.
“I know.” Callum didn’t do anything obvious, but the monitor zoomed in, and she read the words clearly on the side of the ship. Trakis One.
“Do you know who’s on board the Trakis One?” Rico asked her.
“Actually, no.”
“Only Max Beauchamp, the last President of the Federation of Nations. And the first family.” He prodded Callum in the arm. “Hey, didn’t you have a thing with Max’s daughter. What was she called, Tracey, Theresa…?”
“Tamara,” Callum said. He cast Rico a sour glance. “And thanks for bringing that up.”
“A thing?” Tannis asked, her eyes narrowing. Callum shifted.
“Yeah, a thing.” Rico grinned. “Made the front pages—romance of the decade. And didn’t she go and dump you for some sailor?”
“We mutually agreed to part.” Callum studied the monitor. “Do you think they’re alive after all this time?”
“I’m picking up life-forms,” Daisy said. “Lots of them. But no movement.”
“Maybe the cryotubes are still functioning.”
“Could be,” Rico said. “We’ll board her later and find out, but first we need to give the ship a once-over and find Callum’s alien friends.” He turned to Devlin who was flicking through the console, carrying out a system’s check. “How’s she looking?”
“Not too bad. I’m going to pop down, check on the engines.”
Tannis sighed. The drugs were wearing off, and she felt like shit. She studied Callum to take her mind off it.
He was leaning in close to Daisy, talking to her, but he must have sensed her stare, because he straightened and came toward her. Her gaze dropped down over his body. He was beautiful, long and lean, the wings folded neatly against his back. “I can sense them,” he said.
She shook her head, trying to make sense of his words. “What?”
“They’re here, somewhere. We have to follow the voices in my head. Just hold on. All right?”
She nodded, tried to feel something, but the world seemed distant. The hope was still there but buried beneath the weight of pain and weakness. She had to hold on for a little while longer, but her vision was fading.
“Tannis!” His voice was filled with panic.
She opened her eyes as wide as she could and gave him a smile. “Still here.”
“Stay with me.”
“I will.”
And she tried, concentrating as hard as she could, but the darkness was creeping up on her. Occasionally, she was aware of Callum talking to her, encouraging her, and some part of her nodded and smiled, but even those moments faded to nothing, and the world blurred into one endless background buzz of pain.
Finally, she sensed something different.
She was in Callum’s arms, and she pried her heavy eyes to open.
“Soon,” he murmured against her skin.
She clung to him as he laid her on the ground. This was the end. She couldn’t hold on any longer. Something touched her arm, tentatively at first, then twining around her wrist, tightening. Then the background pain vanished in a blaze of agony so vivid, she jolted upright.
Fire flowed through her blood. It grew, consuming her, until the blessed relief of darkness.
…
She came to lying on a sandy floor. She blinked a couple of times and stared up at the ceiling. She was in some sort of cave. The light glowed violet.
Are you all right?
It took her a moment to realize the voice was Callum’s, and it was inside her head. She turned so she could see him. He sat close to her, leaning against the rough stone wall of the cave. His eyes were shadowed. He looked like he’d aged a hundred years, but as she stared at him his worried expression cleared and he smiled.
“I’m good.” In fact, her whole body tingled with energy. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, as she looked inward. The pain had gone, vanished as though it had never existed. Beside her lay a shriveled tentacle-like structure. She prodded it with her finger, but it remained lifeless.
She rolled onto all fours, then crawled across the floor. Callum met her halfway, opened his arms, and she didn’t stop until she was held tight against him. “Thank you,” she murmured against his chest.
He twisted her in his arms so she was under him, the sand silky soft against her back.
“Say thank you properly,” he growled, pressing his body against her. She didn’t think to stop him; life pulsed through her veins, a wild exhilaration waking inside her. His hands moved over her body. He didn’t try to undress her, just ripped her shirt down the front to bare her breasts.
“I thought I’d lost you.”