Fallen Star by Morgan Hawke

“Even if everything is as you say, an internal inquiry must still be done.”
    “I’m not arguing with that.” Sobehk growled softly. “Just be nice.”
    “Nice?”
    “You heard me.”
    Fallon’s brows shot up. Nice? This from Sobehk?
    “I’ll do my best.” Sour amusement colored Khan’s voice.
    “You’d better.”
    Fallon heard footsteps approaching. Shit! She scooted along the wall away from them and bumped into something that felt like a chair. There was a subtle metallic hiss on her immediate right.
    “Isabeau?” It was Mohr.
    She turned to face him. “Here.”
    “You were supposed to stay where I left you.”
    Fingers dug into her upper arm. She winced as she was tugged and turned around.
    “Not particularly obedient, are you?”
    Fallon snorted. “Not my style.” Never was, probably never would be.
    “Now there is an understatement.” Mohr sighed and caught both her upper arms. He grunted, lifted her off the floor and took a long step forward.
    Fallon bit back a small sound of alarm.
    He set her down and released her arms. “Go on.”
    She took a small step forward. She could smell Sobehk directly in front of her. Tah’s scent seemed to be coming from her right. She heard the softest rustle of fabric on her left. The other person, Khan ... The hair on her neck rose. Trap  ... She froze and barely stopped herself from turning to face the sound. “I need my eyes.” She wasn’t moving a muscle without sight.
    Silence ruled for about three breaths.
    “Let her see.” Sobehk’s voice sounded tired, but firm.
    There was a subtle shimmer through her augmentations. Fallon shivered. What were they doing now? The deep darkness began to fade from her vision. She blinked in the sudden brightness and realized that she was staring at the foot of a chrome medical bed in a rather small steel gray room. The wall behind the head of the bed blinked with a holographic display covered in incomprehensible streams of data.
    Sobehk sat propped upright under a pale gray blanket. His hair was unbound, a sweeping fall of frost that draped off the side of the bed. He was dressed in a cream robe open across the chest. Dark bruises stood out against skin nearly as white as the bandages around his middle. His face seemed hollow and dark smudges lay under his tired blue eyes. “Hey, kitten.” He smiled. “You look good.”
    “I had a bath.” Fallon stared, completely unable to look away from Sobehk’s pale and bruised form. Blood and damnation ... he was alive. “You look like shit.” She winced. Why in fury had she said that?
    Sobehk grinned. “Thank you. I feel like shit, too.” He patted the blankets. “Come here.”
    She started forward, jerking at her hands pinned to her back. She needed them. She needed to touch him. A small distressed sound escaped.
    Sobehk held out his hand and glanced to her left.
    Fallon’s augmentations shimmered and her hands were free. She lunged across the small room to the left side of his bed and grabbed his hand with both of hers. She pressed her nose into his warm palm then stared up at him. He was real, he lived. Her heart tried to shatter in her chest. His image smeared as her eyes overflowed.
    “Hey, don’t ...” His arm curled and he leaned toward her, pressing her head against his chest with his free hand. “Everything’s going to be fine.”
    She closed her eyes and heard the steady thump of his heart under her left ear even as the rich perfume of his skin filled her head. She opened her eyes and her gaze dropped to his bandages. He lived, but ...
    She jerked back but didn’t release his hand. Her lips curled back from her teeth. “You big stupid bastard!”
    Sobehk blinked then scowled. “What?”
    “Don’t you ever do that again!” Her fingers dug into his hand. “I told you he was fast! You should have let me handle him!”
    Sobehk’s lips curled back from his teeth. “You? I’m supposed to ...!”
    “Supposed to what?” She shouted over top of