Mission: Guardian Angel (Veslor Mates Book 2) Read online



  “That’s exactly right.” Abby nodded. “Rogers could have at least assigned you to a family suite. The largest ones have three bedrooms and two baths. There’s an office space, too, that could have worked as a fourth bedroom.”

  “Shut up,” Tellis groaned.

  Drak noticed the male had opened his eyes, and his skin looked unusually white. Even his lips were pale.

  Gnaw crawled to him. “What hurts? I’m not a medic but I’m good at dealing with wounds.”

  “Everything.”

  Gnaw turned to Drak. “I need to remove his suit to evaluate him.”

  “No!” Tellis protested. “Just shoot me. I won’t be food.”

  Drak knew it was up to him to decide what to do. He’d asked Gnaw to join him in rescuing Abby. That made him responsible for the tough decisions.

  “Do it, remove the suit. He doesn’t look healthy. The risk is necessary. He needs medical attention more.”

  Gnaw took off his backpack and opened it, removing a scanner and a small med pack they each kept. Then he reached for Tellis.

  The male rolled away. “No!”

  His shout was loud.

  A rumble sounded in the distance, and Drak tensed, reaching for his weapon. Dirt broke away from the section of packed earth above them that made the roof of the small room. Abby grabbed hold of his arm, and he met her gaze.

  All of them held still, being quiet, and the rumbling noise stopped.

  The silence didn’t last for long. More sounds came, accompanied by dirt crumbling along the walls, and Drak could pick up vibrations under his body. The Cadia were moving around in the earth surrounding them, burrowing and digging.

  The terror he saw on Abby’s delicate features tore at him, and he leaned in close until their face plates were pressed together, speaking softly. “The hole you fell into didn’t scent strongly of Cadia. This cavern may be one they don’t use to reach the surface anymore because it’s collapsed deeper. Just be still and quiet.”

  She clutched at him tighter and nodded.

  “I won’t let anything hurt you. My vow.”

  The tears in her eyes made him want to do just what Gnaw had taunted. He’d love to pull Abby onto his lap to hold her. It wasn’t the time. She was in danger. They all were. The Cadia were awake and hunting for food.

  He lifted his head, motioning to Gnaw. He nodded, adjusted his body away from the human male slowly, making no sound. They both raised their weapons to target the two holes.

  If any Cadia tried to enter, the fight would be on.

  Chapter Seven

  Abby woke to darkness and fear, memories of the night before returning instantly. They were in the cavern still, her headlamps were off, and no one else had turned theirs on.

  Somehow, she’d slept.

  It amazed her.

  The evening before had been terrifying as Cadia had dug around them, above them, and even below. At any second, they could have been attacked.

  At one point, Drak had motioned for her to lie down. She’d tried to resist but he’d put his hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her until she lay against him. It probably would have been appropriate to put a few inches between them, but she hadn’t. Just the feel of his leg and hip at her back had made her feel secure enough to relax, and she shockingly drifted to sleep.

  She tried to roll over but his solid body was pressed up against her. She was pinned between Drak and a large piece of rock wall. The big Veslor had put her there, or she’d moved in her sleep. Either way, he’d remained close. It was sweet.

  Her bladder screamed, since she had to pee badly. The evening before, she’d ignored it. The last thing she wanted to do was go inside her suit. It made her groan.

  “Shush,” a familiar voice rasped. Drak moved behind her, and she sat up.

  The helmet lights blinded her when she turned them back on, but she blinked a few times, adjusting to it fast. Gnaw still sat where she’d last seen him, holding the deadly weapon at the ready. Tellis remained down, on his side with his back to them, across from her and Drak. A thin layer of dust and dirt covered his still form.

  She lifted her wrist and tapped her gloved finger on it, staring at Drak.

  He frowned.

  “How long did I sleep?” She breathed the words, even though she couldn’t hear any rumbling and no more dirt fell from the ceiling or walls. It was eerily quiet, as if the creatures weren’t moving around anymore.

  “Seven hours,” he informed her, also barely making a sound.

  It would be near morning on the surface. Darkness only lasted approximately eight hours during the planet’s current season. She’d looked up the information when she’d been checking the shifts assigned to the Veslors.

  Abby was miserable. Her bladder felt ready to burst and her stomach grumbled from hunger. Even her lips and throat were aching. Thirst was a terrible thing. The worst of it was, she had water and energy bars stashed inside her suit but couldn’t get to them without cracking it open.

  Then she’d have to remove her helmet, too. She didn’t need a scanner to know the air quality had become bad after all the dust and dirt that had come down on them in the night. The filters had kept it all out of her helmet but even the air she breathed inside the suit felt heavier than it should.

  Drak reached out and took her gloved hand with his. She stared into his eyes and arched her eyebrows.

  “Are you well?”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  “We need to climb.” He jerked his head toward the hole they’d all fallen from.

  “How far do you think it is to the surface?”

  Drak hesitated. Then shook his head.

  He wasn’t sure. She understood that. There’d been a lot of sliding, slamming into things when the tunnels turned, and it felt like forever until she’d come to a halt where they’d landed. What if they’d fallen so deep that the surface couldn’t be reached even if they climbed all day?

  “The drone will find us and they’ll send down ropes.”

  She nodded, his words giving her hope. Her gaze went to Tellis, and she pointed at him. He still hadn’t moved at all. She was worried about him.

  Drak nodded and released her hand, shifted positions to get on his hands and knees, and crawled over to the fleet team member. She watched as he hovered over Tellis, then suddenly rolled the male onto his back. He bent forward, closer to Tellis’s face mask, and made a low growl.

  Gnaw set down his weapon and moved fast, crawling closer.

  Abby’s heart pounded, wondering what was wrong. She knew something was. Both Veslors were blocking her view now and she couldn’t see much…but from what she could see, Tellis hadn’t moved, even with Veslors hovering over him.

  Gnaw sat back on his ass first, and then he turned his head, looking at her, anger clear on his face.

  Drak carefully rolled Tellis back onto his side, facing him away from her, and then he backed up, returning to Abby. He took a seat next to her and gripped her hand.

  She peered up at him, her stomach clenching. “What?”

  Drak looked angry, too. “He sealed his helmet vents.”

  It took her seconds to understand, and when she did, Abby knew the color drained from her face. “No…”

  Drak gave a grim nod.

  Abby reeled from the news, unable to believe it.

  The helmets had two vents on the sides to allow in oxygen, and they also worked as filters from dust and contaminants. If the vents were manually sealed, no new oxygen got into the suit. Tellis would have had minutes of trapped oxygen before it ran out. Her gaze went to the still body.

  He was dead.

  “Why?” Tears flooded her eyes.

  Drak remained silent.

  She knew, though. Tellis had been so sure rescue wouldn’t be coming, and even if they made it to the surface, the other teams would kill them under orders from Rogers.

  He’d chosen to die his own way.

  There was no way to accidently seal the vents. She reached