Page 35 of Shadow Mark

He took her hand, pressing it back to his chest. “A hero’s reward?”

And suddenly, they weren’t talking about taking a nap.

Heat flushed Lenore’s face. She…she wasn’t prepared to handle this. No one flirted with Lenore. She was plain. She was blunt. Yes, she knew Baris found her attractive. There was no question about that after last night, but the voice inside her head that reminded her that she was too plain and too blunt also told her not to expect anything today.

Maybe people did flirt with her, and she never noticed because she was too focused on work to be bothered with hookups or whatever it was that people did. She only started talking to Brad back in college because he wanted to copy off her biology notes. She took a full five minutes to dress him down.

Apparently, some guys like shouty, rude women. Or liked the quality of their biology notes and parlayed being a study buddy into study-buddy-with-benefits into fiancé.

What was even happening? She was a wreck.

“Rest,” she repeated, her voice cracking.

She cleared her throat. She wasn’t a flustered tween. She was a grown-ass adult.

“Doctor’s orders,” she said, her voice not firm.

Baris cupped his hand against the side of her face and smiled, not the least bit fazed by her super-serious doctor voice.

“You’re bleeding,” Baris said, pulling back to reveal bloody fingers.

“Something hit me. Probably nothing serious.” She tugged on the sleeve of her shirt, bunching up the fabric to press against her temple. The area felt sticky and wet but did not hurt at the moment. She’d have a whopper of a headache tomorrow.

“No. This is an alarming amount of blood. Medic!” Baris shouted, drawing a medic to his side immediately.

“I’m fine,” she said, taking a bandage from the medic. “Head wounds bleed a lot. It looks worse than it is.”

“You are that kind of patient,” Baris said, his tone almost fond as he repeated her words from the night before. How was that only last night?

The world rushed around them, but they were stuck in a slower, gentler moment. It was just them, battered, bleeding, and smiling at each other.

Prince Vekele brought the moment to an end. “Tend your injuries, medic. I will see that this one obeys orders.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

BARIS

“She does well under pressure,” Baris said. Lenore had clearly been distressed, blood pouring from her head and her hands shaking, but she rallied and took charge. She diagnosed and treated his injury without hesitation. He had no doubt that if he had not ordered her to undergo treatment, she’d take control of the entire scene.

Like a queen.

The clean air in the corridor stung his lungs. He hadn’t realized how the atmosphere filtration struggled to clear the smoke from the hangar.

Station guards set up a command in the corridor. Baris worked from there, safe from the electrical fire and threat of falling equipment. There was much to do, and the pain stayed at bay as long as he kept busy.

It did not take long for his aide to organize the cleanup. Medics were already on scene. The worst were removed to the station’s sick bay. Those with superficial wounds were treated on-site. Guards escorted out the injured.

Engineers had already begun the task of clearing debris and analyzing how the portal failed, though Baris had his suspicions. The portal was based on the tech used on tunnel drive ships. Unfortunately, such technology was no longer manufactured within Arcos. The necessary components had been purchased from the Khargals at a rate just short of extortion.

Even with the correct technology, Earth was a considerable distance away, and the portal had to be more powerful than the average ship to reach Earth. The engineers could run simulations all day, but reality often had complications. Initial reports indicated a mechanical failure. The components were faulty.

“Where is the ambassador?” Baris asked.

“Escorted to his quarters,” Des answered. Then, he added, “He was uninjured.”

Good. While Baris would not write off the negotiations as a loss just yet, the situation was a mess. The plan had been to impress the ambassador with a display of wealth, the altruistic act of sending the humans back to Earth with Khargal tech, all purchased at great expense to the crown. His kingdom had credit to spare and needed access to all manner of Khargal tech and goods.

Instead, what he had was an embarrassing demonstration of how badly his kingdom had fallen behind.