Page 15 of Shielded in the Shadows

Gods, I wanted to. I wanted to return to my physical form and greet my mate in the proper Fortusian way with a vow of devotion and a promise that everything I was now belonged to her, from my fangs and claws to my combat and weapons training.

But if I spoke, she’d know where I was and how to spot me, and that plasma lash on her right arm could leave me incapacitated even in this form. The only thing I wanted more than to see her in the flesh was to ensure she boarded her ship and left this station unscathed and without the Fancy on her tail. To do that, I had to be alive and invisible at her side.

So I said nothing and didn’t move.

She laughed. It wasn’t a pleasant sound, full of anger and strain.

I suddenly wanted so badly to hear her laugh with joy that something twinged sharply inside me.

“Stay close, then, ghost,” she said, her tone mocking, as the lift shuddered to stop on Deck 8. “Don’t run off before I have a chance to deal with you face to face.”

I slipped through the doors into the corridor beyond the moment they unsealed, ready to defend against anyone lying in wait.

Which was why the stun field she deployed inside the lift clipped the very tip of my shadow form, leaving me momentarily disoriented. If I’d remained inside with her, I’d have been rendered completely insensate.

By the time I gathered my wits, Keela had deactivated the stun field, strode out of the lift, and joined the crowd on the Deck 8 walkway.

The view here was spectacular, one of the best on the station, despite claims made by the observation decks and expensive eateries on the top decks and the habitat rings. Deck 8 ringed the station’s core, offering an unobstructed view of cargo and passenger vessels coming and going from the station and the expanse of space beyond.

Under different circumstances, I might have been pleased to walk the ring with Keela and admire the endless variety of mid-sized ships and the hundreds of species of beings around us.

Instead, I took to the shadows, keeping watch on my mate and our surroundings as she made her way through the crowd, following whatever route she’d chosen as the best way to reach her ship—which apparently didn’t include taking that cargo lift straight to Deck 14. Maybe she didn’t want to risk leading someone directly to her ship.

Maybe that someone was me.

She’d nearly put an end to my protection in the lift with that stun field. I had to assume she’d try to evade me again. The prospect filled me with dread. If Keela left this station without me, I might never find her again in the vastness of space.

Keela couldn’t deploy a stun field or use her plasma lash in a crowded walkway. If I wanted to speak to her, perhaps now would be the best time, before she thought of a way to rid herself of my presence.

I flew down from the shadows and settled very lightly on her shoulders like a mantle. She stiffened but didn’t so much as miss a step.

If I’d had a throat, surely it would have been dry at the prospect of speaking my first words to my magnificent mate.

“My name is Jarrix,” I murmured, my voice pitched so it carried no further than her ear. “I am a Fortusian male currently in shadow form. It is my sworn duty, Keela, to see you safely to your ship and away.”

“You’ve mistaken me for someone else,” she said, equally quiet, still in a Gandarian voice. “Your assistance is not needed. You have three seconds to remove yourself from my body.”

If she said three seconds, I probably had two seconds to move. Or less.

I detached immediately and returned to the shadows before she could activate whatever defensive weapon she might have concealed within that cloak.

I was disappointed, but not surprised or deterred. She didn’t trust me, and she didn’t want me on her shoulders being a potential distraction when she might the attacked at any moment. But I’d shown myself to be helpful by opening the door in the bar and dealing with Jonor’s scanner. I’d done nothing to endanger her or threaten her in any way. It had been enough for her to let me give her my name and state my intention—or at least part of it.

She could have activated her defenses immediately when I’d touched her, but she hadn’t. She’d even given me a warning and a chance to show good faith by backing off, which I’d done.

Now I had a chance to continue to show my true intentions and keep her safe.

I could work with that for now.

CHAPTER 5

KEELA

My shadow had a name: Jarrix.

I kept my attention on my surroundings and tried to dismiss the memory of his low voice purring in my ear when he gave me his pledge.

It is my sworn duty, Keela, to see you safely to your ship and away.