Ka'Cit's Haven (Riv’s Sanctuary #3)

“What about the metal?”

In the next few seconds as they made their way toward the vessel, Nia noticed one thing.

There were no other aliens in the hold.

Either they were hiding like before, or they’d sensed the danger and gone somewhere safe to escape the fallout.

They reached the ship in the next few moments and Ka’Cit opened the doors, stooped, grasped her in his arms, and carried her into the vessel.

His breath was coming hard as he removed his mask and she was finally able to look up into his face.

He bent then, and his lips closed over hers in a bruising kiss.

“No way I’m letting you get near that ship. You stay here. I’ll go.”

“But—”

He pressed her into the wall and his forehead met hers as his breaths heaved from him.

“I’m not budging on this one, Nee-ya.”

She could hear the resolution in his voice but she nodded.

His gaze fell to her lips once more before he put his mask back on, and then the door was closing and he was gone.

Nia paced a little before she slammed a hand against the button that closed off the airlock.

The cabin opened and she stepped in, her heart thumping in her chest as she began to pace.

Time wasn’t on their side.

She was sure that more of those guys would be on their tail soon. The others would have surely sent another distress signal—if not about her presence, at least about the fact they were being attacked.

There must be something she could do while she waited or else she was going to go mad from the anxiety.

Was there a computer or something…?

“AI? Ship?” Her gaze travelled over the roof of the ship but there was no response.

“Computer?”

It took a second, but the control panel of the ship lit up. A surge of excitement went through her.

“Computer, can you understand me?”

“Language, Een-glish, has been updated on the servers. All controls can be accessed using this language.”

Nia smiled and warmth filled her again.

He hadn’t been kidding when he’d said he’d sent a worldwide update. She guessed it also reached the ships in the network.

“Computer, prep for takeoff.”

She had no idea if that would work but when she heard the ship’s engine begin to hum, her confidence grew.

“Priming main engines.”

Fuck, yes.