Page 47 of Dragon Me Through Space

“You’re not doing merc work again, are you? I know you wouldn’t have started doing it without me.” Her eyes narrowed and she put her hands on her wide hips.

I shook my head while laughing. “No, not doing merc work. I know better than to do that without contacting you first.”

“I’m glad I found you,” she said and pulled her bag off to rummage through it. “Remember that symbol you showed me?”

My eyes widened. “The knot design?”

She nodded, squatted down, set her bag down, and dug deeper inside with a grunt. “Where did I put the damn thing?”

“You found something about it?”

Smiling, she said, “I told you, I’m the best finder in the galaxy. Ah! There it is.” She pulled out a slip of paper and held it out to me. “It’s not much, but I found this on a planet near Drakorantia.”

“Drakorantia, the Dragonkin planet?” I asked.

She nodded. “That’s the one!” After a quick whistle, she said, “They’ve got some fine specimens over there, if you know what I mean.” Her head fell back as she laughed.

Oh, I knew what she meant, much more than she realized.

The paper had a drawing of the knot that matched my necklace’s design exactly. The words were really faded, half of them not even legible, but there was one line I could read that had me even more confused about the necklace. “Permanent mental bond.”

“Thank you, Troya. I don’t have much on me, but here’s some credits for—” I started to pull out some of the coins, but she stopped me.

“Don’t be silly. I’ve got more saved than you can earn in the rest of your life! You keep those credits. I’ve got to return to my ship, but I’m glad we found each other.” She hugged me and said, “You look happy, so whatever it is or whoever it is that’s making you glow like this, I’m happy for you.”

She didn’t wait for me to respond, just waved and jogged away from me.

After a bit more walking while my mind wandered about the various topics of the day, I returned to the ship.

Zeke leaned against a box beside the ramp, arms crossed over his massive chest, a scowl on his face as he looked around. He was quite the specimen, tall, muscular, wide, handsome, and powerful. He could pick me up with ease and his strength and fighting prowess were incredibly impressive. Of all of them, I had expected him to be the wariest of me, but he was by far the most protective.

When Zeke saw me, he pushed off the box and dropped his arms to his side, the scowl changing to one of worry.

“Look,” I said, raised my arms, and spun in a circle with a wide smile. “Completely unharmed. Not even an argument to be had while I was out.”

He looked unconvinced, but followed me up the ramp. “Did you have fun?”

“Fun? No.”

“Why not? What were you doing if not doing something fun?”

“Thinking,” I admitted. “I find that a walk helps when I need to seriously think about something.” Should I ask him about the knot design? If it was specifically from the Dragonkin, then they should know about it. The fear that they would react like Charles had, that they would try to steal it instead of answering kept my mouth closed on the topic.

“Talking it out can also help,” he said softly. “I’m very good at listening, if you’d like my advice.”

“Unfortunately, this isn’t something I can get advice on,” I said. “It’s something I have to decide for myself.”

“I know you’re not used to being able to rely on others, but we want to help you, Xoe.”

“As the security person, I’m surprised that you aren’t trying to convince me to leave or trying to ditch me here while you guys fly off,” I admitted.

Zeke’s large hand landed on my shoulder, stopping me at the top of the ramp, inside the ship. “Did someone say something to you? If Wayne⁠—”

“No, this isn’t because of something one of you said,” I interrupted him quickly. “It’s just common sense. I’m a random, unknown person and you’re allowing me to travel across space with you. I could be a serial killer or a thief or⁠—”

“But you’re not,” he said quickly and stepped around me so he could fully face me. “At first, I was concerned about you, especially about you being a liability since you’re not a Dragonkin.”

My eyes narrowed, but he went on before I could say anything.