Page 91 of Shielded in the Shadows

She sank every one of those vicious teeth into Jonor’s face. He screamed.

Reflexively, his hand tightened on his rifle, loosing a dozen wild shots of deadly plasma. Half of them sizzled against the Vespira’s shields, two narrowly missed Keela as she crawled for cover, and another went straight through the slab of ceiling in front of me and left a burning hole in my cloak.

Still screaming, Jonor dropped the rifle and used all four of his hands to try and dislodge the irate gorga from his face and torso while she set about devouring him one mouthful at a time.

Finally he fell onto his back, his screams turning to gurgles. I staggered to my feet, made it to where the rifle had fallen, and threw it as far and as hard as I could into the ruins of the warehouse.

Then I left Zwee to her feast and headed for my mate.

Keela lay on her side near the debris pile where she’d fallen, gun in one hand and the other pressed to her belly under her cloak. The smell of her blood overwhelmed the odors of the warehouse and this rotten city.

I deactivated my biomask, threw back my hood, and fell to my knees beside her. Her eyes were full of pain, her lips pale and bloodless, but she managed to reach up to cup my face with her bloody hand.

“I told you gorgas are handy to have,” she gasped.

“You were right, Captain.” My voice was rough. “As always.”

Swallowing hard, I lifted her cloak. A shard of glaz larger than my hand protruded from the left side of her abdomen. Her attendant’s uniform was soaked with blood.

My own gut clenched and I nearly doubled over, as if it were my flesh that had been wounded and not hers. Gods above, I wished it were mine.

I started to rip my sleeve to bare my arm so I could share my blood, but she patted my cheek.

“No need for that, little bat,” she said. “My nanobots are slowing the bleeding. I’m not going to die.”

At some point, Jonor had stopped making noises. The only sounds from that direction were crunching and slurping, and I tried to ignore it.

“I’m so sorry.” I lowered my forehead to hers and breathed her in. “I didn’t want to let go of you.”

She stroked my lip with her thumb and smiled just a little. “I know, but you had to. Ground rule number nine, remember? We don’t die on shithole planets.”

I smoothed hair back from her lovely face. “I remember.”

I did not deserve this magnificent female, but I’d happily spend my life trying every day to earn the honor.

Despite her pain, her eyes twinkled. “If it makes you feel any better, I would have dropped you if the situation were reversed.”

Knowing she didn’t blame me didn’t ease my guilt or the pain in my hearts. Nothing would, until she was healed and healthy once more and in my arms.

“We both need to get to medbay.” Keela grimaced. “And get the hells off this planet.”

Taking extreme care to jostle her as little as possible, I scooped up my mate and headed for our ship. “What about Zwee?”

We glanced in that direction and shared a wince. Despite Jonor’s armor, the gorga was making quick work of his body.

“Never get between a gorga and her meal,” Keela said with a fleeting smile. “Poor thing…he’ll probably give her indigestion.”

I kissed her forehead. “How did she get out?”

She raised her arm to indicate her wristcomm. “I opened the hatch on the other side of the ship and provided a little distraction to give her a chance to get close without getting shot. She did the rest.”

“Simply magnificent,” I murmured.

Her pale lips quirked. “Me, or Zwee?”

“Both.”

Keela closed her eyes and rested her head against my chest. “I’m probably going to pass out soon,” she murmured. “Get us on our way back to Trakhan.”