Star’s Storm

Chapter 2-2

Jazin stared up at Shavic who was injecting Star with a sedative. “What is happening? Is she in pain? Why can’t you help her?” he asked with a worried frown as he ran a soothing hand along the side of her face.

He glanced down, watching as her face relaxed as she slipped further down into a more restful sleep. It had been touch and go for the first few hours. One of the healers had even come for him to be near her side when they thought she wouldn’t make it at one point. He had clung to her hand, demanding that she obey him for once. He would not tolerate her not fighting. He refused to believe that he could lose her. She meant too much to him.

Shavic, his brother’s healer from aboard his warship, came in a short time later, ordering him back out until he had time to evaluate Star. His older brother, Torak, had called him. He trusted Shavic more than any other except the healer who had worked on River when she was injured. It was only because that healer was unavailable that he relied on Shavic. Two hours passed before Shavic tiredly walked back into the waiting room where Jazin, Ajaska, Manota, Jo, Madas, and her mate, Gril, were waiting. Torak, with River by his side, was being seen by another healer. He had also been injured during the attack that night.

Jazin almost broke down in front of everyone when Shavic told him Star would make it. She would need plenty of rest and time to rebuild her strength, but she would be fine. Manota had taken Jo back to their house, ignoring her protests that she wanted to stay with her sister. She only relented when she saw the barely controlled emotion on Jazin’s face. He vaguely remembered his father, Madas, and Gril giving him a comforting squeeze on his arm before they left him to follow Shavic back to Star’s bedside.

That had been almost an hour ago. Shavic was still monitoring Star. When she began moving restlessly in the bed and moaning, he decided it would be best if she remained sedated for a while longer to give her additional time to heal. Shavic said there had been some progress on upgrading the equipment to handle the human anatomy, but they were still learning. The biggest breakthrough had been the synthetic blood source they were able to develop that was compatible with the humans.

“Your mate has lost a lot of blood. It will take time to replenish it. I do not want to give her too much yet. I want to make sure she does not have a reaction,” Shavic said. “She is not in pain. The pain inhibitors on her temple prevent that. She is merely dreaming.”

“You are sure she will make it?” Jazin asked quietly, gazing down at Star’s pale face.

Shavic laid the injector down on the tray and looked at Jazin before turning his gaze to Star. “She will make it. She is strong and she is a fighter. She will recover,” he repeated confidently. “She will sleep for several more hours. Why don’t you get cleaned up and get some rest?”

Jazin stared defiantly at Shavic. “I won’t leave her.”

Shavic chuckled. “Use the cleansing unit here. You can rest next to her,” he said with a nod to the bed. “It opens further.”

Jazin nodded. “You will stay with her until I return?” he asked hesitantly, unwilling to leave her alone for even a minute.

“Go,” Shavic said gently. “I will stay with her. Your captain of the guard brought you a change of clothes.”

Jazin rose reluctantly, letting his fingers linger on Star’s cheek. “She is so headstrong,” he murmured. “All three of the human females are. I should have known they were up to something.”

“What do you think their world is like?” Shavic asked in wonder, staring at Star’s pale, peaceful face as she rested. “Do you think all the women there are warriors like them?”

Jazin looked at Shavic; a small smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. Now that he knew Star would make it, he felt calmer by a small measure. He thought of the video he saw of Star when she was younger. Her friend, River, had a set of video disks, and his brother, Torak, had asked him to copy them to a format that devices on their world could read. Neither he nor his brothers expected to discover what they had. The women were not warriors. They were performers who did incredible feats.

No, they were not warriors in the true sense but they were warriors when it came to protecting those they loved and cared about, Jazin thought as he watched Star’s lips part in a deep sigh. They fought with an ingenuity and skill that belied their delicate forms.

“I don’t know,” Jazin replied, momentarily frozen in the fact that he truly did not know much about his mate or her world.

Shavic shrugged. “It does not matter. They are all incredible. Go get cleaned up, Lord Jazin. I will watch over your mate until you return,” he said with a hint of compassion.

Shavic recognized that Jazin needed time to deal with what had happened. He could not blame him. If he had a mate as beautiful, fierce, and loyal as Jazin did, he would have reacted the same if anything happened to her.

Shavic sank down wearily into the chair next to the bed and studied the delicate face of the human female. Since his first encounter with them, he had been fascinated by their differences to the known species he had treated. There were over twenty star systems in the Alliance. Each star system had their own unique species, some like the Kassis and some vastly different like the Tearnats.

The human females were the first that were closely related in features to their own. He gently picked up the delicate hand laying on the edge of the bed and turned it over to study her palm. Her fingers twitched at his light touch. A wave of envy flooded him. To feel hands like these on his body, running their tips….

“I will stay with her now,” Jazin’s hard voice said from behind Shavic.