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I threw myself toward the ship. Behind me, the world exploded.
The ramp started to rise. Ramend squatted on the end of it firing a thick blanket of blue laser bolts in my wake before jamming a button on his armor. I lunged for the edge of the ramp. He caught my outstretched hand. With a guttural yell, he rolled us both clear as the hatch closed, inches from my feet.
The seals hissed and my heart screamed.
“Hey!” He stood, pulling me up with him.
“Ruhan...” The words stuck.
“He will be fine.”
The heady weightless sensation of anti-grav overcompensating for liftoff came and went before what he said sank through the devastation ripping my soul apart.
He casually pulled off his helmet, revealing his face. A strong familial resemblance, eyes, mouth, nose, disrupted my equilibrium even more. Aside from the thick cover of coarse dark hair on his scalp, he would pass for Ruhan’s twin, less two or three years. That meant he might be my brother-in-law. I watched in confusion as he began shedding armor and flinging it in the direction of an open bin.
I stifled a sob before attempting to speak. “What do you mean he will be fine?”
“A few months of political negotiations and he will walk free.” He lofted the last boot across the hold before studying my face. “You didn’t think I would leave him back there if his life was in danger do you? I am his brother.” He frowned at me. “He said you would be emotional and all, but this is a bit much don’t you think?”
Anger brought up my shoulders. “You try spending months without memory, drugged, starved, and imprisoned. A few days ago, I didn’t know I had a mate. Now, I get my husband back only to lose him to the hole I just escaped from, not knowing if I will ever see him again. How am I supposed to feel?” My voice broke with the last word, making me sound utterly pathetic, but I was too tired to care.
“I am sorry.”
I looked up. Kindness softened his amusement.
“Yup, you are still Myah. Come on.” He offered a hand. “I will show you where you can clean up and rest.” He gave me a quick hug. I tensed for the spark, but no energy flared like when I touched Ruhan. “Trust me. Ruhan planned this. He knew that staying behind was a possibility when he initiated the plan.”
He led me up ladders, along corridors, and through hatches before arriving at a hatch marked RWT. “This is your room. The steam bath offers a range of settings. As I promised Ruhan, his record of your history has been uploaded into the compframe. I suggest you utilize the files after you get some sleep. Those bags under your eyes are large enough to carry a hipporoaramus.”
He opened the hatch. “Any questions?”
“Why couldn’t I have been negotiated out using political means?”
“I will explain the details later, but suffice it to say, the outworlder governments don’t take kindly to their nobles being incarcerated without cause. You are not an outworlder and do not enjoy the same privilege.” He winked. “Now get to bed. I will come to fetch you in a few hours.”
I locked the door and dropped into the soft bed. Oblivion claimed me instantly.