Fire burning in her hip was the first indication that Molly wasn't done with the Vargosh. She screamed at the women to hit the ground as she palmed her airgun. Scanning the foliage, she couldn't see anything.

"MARC?"

"Nothing, not a pulse, not a heat marking. I've notified Anzar and his males."

"Have them go out the other side, circle around and perhaps they'll find the culprit." Blasts of sand sprayed dirt in her face, and the women squealed. Molly drew in a deep breath and nudged the closest one. "Leopard crawl to the ship, I'll cover you."

"I don't want to die now," the woman said.

"Noa, isn't it?" Molly didn't look at her but saw her nod in the peripheral of her vision. "We can't stay here. At some point, one of these shots hitting the sand is going to be a lucky one. You've endured too much to die now."

Noa hesitated, then wiggled toward the ship. A smile teased Molly's lips, admitting as crawling went that was a unique version. One by one the women gathered their courage and slithered, shimmied, slid, dragged to the Jasmine as she fired her airgun in random directions.

"Can't you set the bush on fire, MARC?" She grimaced, not wanting to harm Mother but seeing no other alternative. The pod's expulsion of air as it righted itself drew a airgun shot from behind a rock outcropping. "Good, we now know where the bastard is."

MARC flew the pod toward the rocks and fired the small guns buried within the pod's metallic shell. When the Vargosh darted out from behind the rock, Molly fired as well, missing him as he disappeared into a thicket.

"Molly?" Anzar's voice penetrated her panic, and she wished she had told him how much she valued him, how much he meant to her.

"Just a little pest to deal with, Anzar." Her hip burned, and she didn't doubt she was bleeding.

"Stay low, I am coming."

His determination seeped through the connection and warmth melted her into the sand. It sunk a little as if Mother added protection. Rocks sprayed around her, and a woman screamed behind her. Molly prayed she hadn't been hurt. Hushed whimpers shifted from her left to her right which meant the woman was on the move.

One by one they disappeared into the ship, each time relief flooded Molly. She stiffened her shoulders, distracted by Anzar's males blurring in and out of the surrounding trees. They knew how to hunt, how to hide.

Molly fired into the bush, choosing to leap up and dash behind a boulder she hadn't noticed before. A shot whizzed past her, burning where they struck, but she made it to safety. More shots tore through the rock, spraying shards of stone. She popped her head up and fired again, this time she dared not aim for anywhere else but the Vargosh's last spot, lest she strike an Elkarran.

"Anzar?"

"Keep him distracted, temaar."

She grunted, parts of her ablaze as sweat dripped into her eyes. "I thought you were a warrior. Why is this taking so long?"

"He is hidden to us. MARC cannot see him." Anzar chuckled as if he enjoyed this, the chase. "Now this is a worthy battle."

A shadow fell upon her, but there was nothing there. Molly squinted at the sky, dread sliding from her chest to pool in her stomach. Her instincts screamed to move, and she rolled to the side, missing the blade buried in the soil where her heart had been. She leaped up and fired, aiming at the source of the shadow even if she couldn't see it.

"Anzar." Molly dived over the boulder and landed in a roll. She was on her feet and zig-zagging to where the pod hovered. "MARC, lower the pod, open the door."

She was almost there, pumping her arms to run faster with her lungs crushing her. She couldn't breathe deep enough. The pod was so close, with the dark compartment a temptation. Gripping the door's edges to tug her in, fire shot through her, arching her back as a cry escaped her. She fell to the side, sprawling on the sand with the pod's interior taunting her.

"Anzar?" Molly didn't know what she wanted to tell him. Spots swirled her vision, and the fire grew, spread, sending its tendrils into every inch of her, stagnating her muscles.

"No, temaar." His roar was as if from afar, and she smiled, wishing she could kiss his soft lips and tell him everything will be fine.

A shadow shielded her from the sunlight, but she could do nothing but flick her eyes at it. A Vargosh shimmered before her, his dagger extended, its tip hovering an inch above her chest. A gun hung at his side and he hissed-laughed, his triumph in his uncaring attitude. He was in the open, and unshielded—he was vulnerable.

She tried to raise her airgun, but her arm refused to budge. She was at his mercy, and he wouldn't hesitate to kill her.

He kneeled beside her, the stench of him rolling over her. "I knew you were trouble. Trust worthless Krak to be bested by a female." He raised his lizard head and scanned the sky. His lips rippled into an unpleasant grimace. "You've trapped me on this planet, haven't you?"

"Sorry, not sorry." She smirked, drawing energy to nod. "Bested... by a female?"

The Vargosh dropped his gun and gripped the hilt of his dagger with both hands. As he plunged the blade down, someone threw him back and shoved her away at the same time. Fresh fire blurred her vision, and she screamed, her world tumbling.

Thumps, cries, whimpers, and silence followed along with heavy breathing. Then someone rolled her over and she peered into Anzar's bloodied face. Tears leaked from the corner of her eyes, her nostrils burning.

This was goodbye.

"I told you I shouldn't mate anyone." She coughed, with icy fire cinching her chest, which gurgled with each breath she took.

"Molly, temaar..." He cupped her cheeks, capturing her tears with the pads of his thumbs.

"I wish you love and happiness, Anzar." She struggled to speak, to breathe.

The ground jerked, shuddered, and she dropped out of his touch. Sand, rocks, and plant matter folded in on itself, entombing her as the sunlight faded, and Anzar's face grew distant. Would Mother rain tears in mourning?

Anzar arched his back as he roared, the sound tearing through Molly, urging her to go to him, to offer comfort. She couldn't, no matter how much she wished to. The shrinking hole froze, then opened, flooding sunlight into her cave and Anzar plummeted down, landing on top of her. She didn't feel anything, but the warmth of his body.

He grunted and wrapped her in his embrace, burying his face into the curve of her neck. "I'm here, temaar."

She wanted to hug him back, to wipe his tears off his cheeks with as gentle a touch as his. Darkness engulfed them, the sunlight gone, and the organics scents of soil and plant matter mingled with Anzar's heated skin. She wasn't scared, not with him with her.

Something glimmered to life in the soil, a soft yellow glow illuminating his face. He smiled, and brushed his fingers over her cheeks, jaw, and lips.

"Do not fear the darkness, the soil." He pressed a kiss to her chin, his touch reverent. "Mother is healing you."

"Mother," she rasped.

Into the soft light came a strange humming. Warmth saturated her cold bones, and twitched her limbs. The temperature climbed until she burned, jerking her arms and legs drawing a silent scream from her.

Anzar said nothing. His gaze peering into hers glowed with potency—an intense emotion she couldn't describe. He waited, as calm as a mountain stream, as shifting clouds.

"Anzar, I—" She choked, not sure she should trap him to her, should reveal how much she adored him. Tears sizzled as they dribbled into her hair.

"Breathe, temaar." His touch was cool, refreshing, and she sighed, tilting his head to nuzzle his palm. "I am here, and I will not forsake you."

Another wave of fire pulsed through her, reigniting her shoulder, her hip, her chest, everywhere she had hurt before. A scream tore from her, her vision spun, and at last, blessed darkness claimed her.