Ruk was in worse shape than any of the Atlans. He was lying on his back near a wall in the cargo area of the Hive ship. I knelt beside him with the wand and started on the multitude of cuts I could see on his face. Based on Cormac’s wounds, I figured they would only take a few seconds to close, and I thought it might be nice for Ruk to have at least one place on his body that didn’t hurt.

He watched me with quiet eyes, but neither spoke nor made any protest. Face as good as I could get it without being able to see through the dried blood, I reached for his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I’m going to pull the blanket down now and take a look at you. Okay?”

It seemed like he nodded. I wasn’t sure. But he squeezed my hand, so I knew he heard me.

Shaking, I peeled the blanket down his body, from chin to hip bones—I didn’t dare go lower, not yet. Tears clogged my throat as I took in the criss-cross of raw, gaping wounds on his chest. “What did you do to yourself?”

Cormac got down on the floor next to me to inspect the damage up close. “He defeated at least twelve Hive Soldiers and twice as many of the creatures who tried to kill you.”

“What?” I looked down at Ruk, knowing my shock would show clearly on my face. I did nothing to hide it. “No wonder you look like shit,” I said as I lowered the wand to the widest of the gaping wounds.

Ruk’s chest began to shake up and down. Scowling now, I looked into his face again. “Hold still, you maniac. I’m trying to help you.”

The shaking grew worse, and I waved the healing wand to and fro, trying to get the glowing green end as close to the wound as possible.

“Stop moving. I’m serious. You are not going to die, so knock it off and hold still.”

Low, rumbling laughter echoed through the cargo area. Apparently, he found something about this bloody mess amusing.

“Cormac?” he said.

“I’m here. You really should hold still. You’ve lost a lot of blood.” My mate placed his hand gently on his friend’s shoulder, and I started there. Maybe Cormac could hold at least one part of this stubborn alien still.

“What planet is your mate from?”

“Earth,” I said.

“Coalition Fleet maps know the planet as Sol, Terra 3. But the humans call their planet Earth.”

What? Earth wasn’t the name of Earth?

Ruk closed his eyes and relaxed like he was in a deep sleep, so I dropped that thought and got to work. I should have known the alien couldn’t stay quiet for long.

“I should like to visit this Earth. Are there more females like you?” Ruk asked.