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Elian froze.
Something was wrong.
Elian's heart hammered in his chest, not just from the exertion of his mad dash. He scanned the night scene in front of him, looking for any sign of danger.
And then he heard it — a low, rumbling laugh.
Elian's blood turned to ice. He knew that laugh.
When he and Rael had watched Korvax tumble off the cliffside, he'd hoped that it was the last he'd see of the bounty hunter.
But now, with that low, mocking sound echoing in his ears, he knew that he'd been wrong.
Korvax stepped out from the trees, his form illuminated by the twin moons above.
The bounty hunter was even more haggard than before. His lean, muscular form was marred with fresh bruises, evidence of his run-in with Rael. It had been a long way to fall.
And speaking of fresh marks… A new scar marred his face, cutting across one of his eyes.
Korvax's remaining working eye was fixed on Elian, and malice shone in it.
"You little vermin," Korvax growled. "You think you can humiliate me and get away with it?"
Elian didn't waste breath answering him. Instead, he turned on his heel and ran.
A thick, powerful arm closed around his chest, hauling him off his feet and slamming him into the ground.
Elian's breath left him in a whoosh, the pain of the impact shooting through his body. The wind was knocked from his lungs, and for a moment, darkness threatened to overtake his vision.
The bounty hunter's hot breath panted against the back of his neck. "You're going to regret the day you ever crossed my path," he snarled.
Elian's heart sank.
He was caught.
And there was nothing he could do.
Chapter eighteen
When Rael awoke in the dead of night, he knew that something was wrong.
There was an unnerving stillness beside him.
Shock jolted through him. The sheets were empty. The space beside him was cold, untouched.
No.
Rael sat up, the thin covers falling from his chest. Moonlight poured through the forest canopy, bathing the camp in its glow. Rael's breath came quick and hard as he stared at the empty space beside him.
Elian had run away.
Fury and hurt warred within Rael. He could feel the emotions burning in his chest, hot and fierce. He'd thought… He'd thought…
Rael's jaw clenched. He'd thought that he and Elian had something special. Despite the differences between them — despite the fact that one of them was an alien from a far-off world — he'd thought that they'd connected. That they'd found something precious in each other.
But now…
Had Elian been playing him from the start, pretending to love Rael in order to lower his guard? It wouldn't have been the first time that a human had been deceptive. Every Borraq knew that they were underhanded, devious creatures, didn't they?
