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The woman did the exact opposite of what I cautioned against and ran to get in front of me. She made an abrupt stop, less than arm’s reach away. "I hope the serum is working." She talked while walking backwards. "You didn’t get all of the dose when you pulled the syringe from your neck. I’ll have to give you the second dose soon and get a third one later."
I huffed. "Is your head as hard as your feet?"
"Excuse me?"
I had to stop walking, or she would step in the pool of mud and scum water behind her. I had no idea how deep it was. "You don’t listen. I said, stay away."
"I can’t do that."
"Obviously." I grumbled under my breath.
The look on her face made me remember that I was not a quiet, soft-spoken person. She heard me. "Believe me, I could stay well away from you if it were just a matter of you being rude."
"Are you saying you don’t like my manners?"
"Exactly." She raised her voice for emphasis. "Can’t you see I’ve been trying to help you this whole time?" She paused to cough. "The Quarek renegades starved you of blood and made you sick."
Surprise dampened the effects of my headache. "How do you know what they did to me?"
"Because the Wanderstar Fleet has intel on them. I was sent on a mission to help you."
"An entire fleet of soldiers knows what they did to me?"
She motioned her head yes. "We know you’re a king on your planet and they captured you and took you away from your people."
The familiar surge of anger at my captors returned. "I will get my vengeance on them and the one from my planet who betrayed me."
"Your Majesty." She pushed her eyebrows together and frowned. "Is that what they call kings on your planet?" She moved on before I could answer. "Anyway, I don’t know all those details leading up to your capture. I do know you aren’t the only one the renegades harmed. Wars are going on in different galaxies against them. Our fleet is leading the fight to stop them."
"Your military learned I was here."
"It’s the only reason why my squad came to Treoid 5, to liberate you from the Quarek camp and give you the serum to fight off the feral change."
So she knew how Javorians could be lost to the wildness of our minds if we didn’t get an adequate supply of blood. I touched my neck where she stuck me with a needle. "Is that what you shot in me?"
"It’s medicine. It’ll help."
My gut felt like I swallowed a pot of bees. "It doesn’t feel like it’s helping."
Harper lifted her eyebrows as she raised her head. She reminded me of a little bird when she perked with interest. "Are you feeling anything?"
Besides the ever-present beastly urge to quench my thirst, to see what her human blood would taste like on my tongue? Or the bond instinct that restrained the feral monster inside? The instinct was stronger in this instance, coaxing me instead to want to learn how I saw this woman’s face before in visions.
"Too much talk." My headache got bigger as I fought thirst and fatigue to understand all she was telling me. "All I know is, I’m going home." In a swift motion, I lifted her off her feet and slung her over my shoulder. "You’re coming, too."
I positioned her over the wrong shoulder, the one the Quarek stabbed with his tusks back at the camp. It usually took a few hours to heal. I was blood-deprived so it could be much longer. I put her on my left shoulder instead. I briefly had time to dodge the heel of her boot before it sailed across my field of vision. "Stop that." I had to stretch my hand across the back of her legs to hold her in place.
"What in the world?" Both her feet kicked straight out. At least they were away from me this time. "Did you just smack me on my behind?"
"No. My hand was clearly several inches below on your thighs." I stole a glance at her backside sticking up in the air. Tight, compact and round, it looked very smackable.
She twisted in my grip. Her blasted utility belt dug into my arm. I felt her tap a seemingly random spot on my back with her fingers. Whatever it was, my arm lost all feeling in an instant and I was forced to drop her.
She landed on her feet. Her glare was about as sharp as the pins and needles dancing along my back and shoulder from her surprise viper’s touch. "You’re so rude. Just for that, I should never call you ‘Your Majesty’ again."
Her defiance was about as strong as her snap kick.
"I was trying to keep you from slipping away again like a fish."
