Xavier POV- book 1 ch. 2.5

“Stop pacing. You’re making me nervous.” Tyrus’s voice cracked across the room.

“You’re not the one who just fucking killed his mate.” The words tore out of me before I could choke them back.

Tyrus dragged a hand down his face. “She isn’t dead. I mean, she kind of died, but her heart started again. So there’s that.”

My knees gave out. I hit the floor hard enough to jar my teeth, but the pain barely registered. Whatever I’d injected her with—whatever the hell I’d thought I was doing—I’d gotten it wrong. For two minutes, her heart had stopped. Two full minutes of nothing where the bond should’ve been. I pressed my palms into my eyes until colors burst behind them. She was the one person in the universe I was supposed to protect, and I’d almost... No. I couldn’t finish it. Couldn’t shape the word when it still felt lodged under my ribs.

“We don’t mention that to anyone.” Tyrus shoved to his feet. “Not her. Not your mom. And definitely not Kyan.”

I stared up at him. “Pretty sure Mom’s going to want to know I stopped Eve’s heart.”

Tyrus stepped over me, blocking out the light. “Xavier, if it gets out that Steamites can kill, we’re all fucked.”

“How the fuck is that my problem?”

His eyes went flat. “One human girl isn’t worth collapsing our entire health system. You tell anyone, and I won’t hesitate to put another needle in her.”

I lurched upright so fast the room tilted. My fist knotted in his jacket and dragged him close. “If you so much as touch her—”

Tyrus shifted once, and my arm was wrenched behind me, his forearm crushing my throat. “You’ll do what, nephew? Fight me?” His breath scraped my ear. “You’ll lose. In the Dome or out. You’re weak. You can’t protect a damn thing.”

“I fucking hate you.” The words rasped against his arm. I hated him more because he was right. Hated him for every reason Dad had stayed away. Hated the sickroom stink clinging to my clothes while Eve lay somewhere down the hall and I stood here helpless.

He released me with a shove. Air knifed back into my lungs. “Yeah, I know. One day, you’ll understand.”

I rubbed my throat. “Understand what?”

The door hissed open, and a nurse slipped inside. I caught myself before I recoiled. Her body was built close enough to human, but scales climbed her throat, and her pupils were narrow black cuts. I’d grown up hearing how many species crowded the universe. Knowing it didn’t stop the crawling along my skin when one stood three feet away.

Tyrus crossed to her. “And?”

“She is... different.” The nurse held out one hand. Angry burns striped her fingers. “I don’t know what planet she came from, and I don’t want to know. But if anyone learns she bleeds acid, every planet with an army will put a price on her.”

My stomach tightened. “Bleeds acid?”

Tyrus cut me a look sharp enough to draw blood. I shut my mouth.

“We installed the translator, but that was about all we managed. It took six needles.” She swallowed. “Every one of them melted. Her blood...” Her slit pupils fixed on Tyrus. “Her blood is poison with a pulse. If she stays here, you’ll need accommodations, and I don’t know of any metal that can withstand that degree of contamination.”

“I’ll handle that. You keep this quiet.” Tyrus glanced toward the door. “Any word on Kyan?”

The name punched straight through me. Dad was going to be pissed. I’d left without a word, then broken galactic law by bringing Eve here. Every second made the decision taste worse. Sweat. Blood. Hell, eventually she’d have to piss. Everything her body did could expose her. I should’ve stayed on Earth. We could’ve run to another state, vanished somewhere no portal could reach.

Tyrus flicked the side of my head. I jerked and realized the nurse was already gone. “Stop chewing holes through your own skull. Your emotions are a wreck. Nora already has everything Eve needs here. We have Earth needles, and Vitashots dispose of themselves after injection. No one will notice if one comes out a little melted.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Why did Mom already have supplies here?”

“Because you hide your emotions about as well as a supernova.” Tyrus exhaled through his nose. “Kyan still can’t know how dangerous her blood is.”

“Why?”

“Because he’d kill her.”

“He wouldn’t.” The denial came too fast.

“He would. Her blood can kill us, and its existence is illegal. He’d have to uphold his own damn laws.” A humorless laugh scraped out of him. “Since you were born, he’s been obsessed with making this planet safe. Then you drag a walking poison straight through the portals.”

“She isn’t poison to me.” My nails bit into my palms. He said it like she was a leaking weapon, not a person. Not Eve.

“Then you’d better keep her under control. Keep her away from anything that could hurt her—physically or emotionally. Because once Kyan knows, mate or not, she’ll have to be removed.”

“Then why help me?” My voice cracked against the walls.

“Because...” He raked both hands through his hair and stared at the floor. “Your mom would kill me if anything happened to her.”

Before I could answer, the bond ripped open. Heat flared beneath my ribs, and my hand clamped over my heart. Breathe. I dragged air in through my teeth. She’d wake scared or pissed. The fury that slammed into me answered that question.

“She’s awake.” The last time she’d surfaced had been during the surgery to install the translator. Mom had apparently planned for that, too; Tyrus had one made specifically for Eve—Earth metal, I guessed, so it wouldn’t dissolve inside her. Her fear had flooded the bond so hard I’d nearly torn through the door. Tyrus had needed both arms to hold me back.

“When your dad gets here, you’d better have a way to keep her on this planet,” Tyrus said.

“You’re leaving?” Of course he was. Tyrus always found an exit when Dad got close.

“Keeping my distance from Kyan is necessary right now because...” He stopped, the rest dying behind his teeth. With a sigh, he shrugged into his jacket. “Don’t worry about adult problems.”

“I am an adult.”

“Sure you are.” He paused in the doorway without looking back. “And don’t think for one second I won’t end her myself if she becomes a threat to you or Nora.” Then he was gone.

God, I hated that man. Hated that he was always the one who showed up when I needed help. I sure as hell wasn’t calling Mom. She would’ve locked Eve in a room and thrown the key through a portal. More than once, she’d warned me I would be the death of Eve. The dead silence I’d felt through the bond pressed against me again. She’d been right.

Eve screamed. The sound tore through the bond and echoed down the hall a heartbeat later. My body moved before thought caught up. I was already running.