Page 23 of Dark Awakening: New World

"I'll bring a towel." She pushed to her feet, grabbed a towel from the vanity, and returned to her spot. "Now you can get in bed and rest." She dried his feet as best she could, given that the shower floor was wet.

Tossing the towel back on the counter, she stood up and offered Ell-rom a hand up. "Careful now. The floor is slippery."

When she got him in bed, he sank onto the pillows with a grateful sigh. "I'm beyond exhausted," he admitted. "But it felt good to move. I just wish I had enough energy left over to go see my sister."

Jasmine smiled. "The day is still young. Rest a little, and when you wake up, you'll have lunch, and then we will go see your sister." She leaned over him and kissed his forehead. "I'm so proud of you. You're making incredible progress."

Ell-rom's eyes were already drifting closed, but a small smile played at the corners of his mouth. "Thank you," he murmured.

14

PETER

"Thank you for allowing me in here." Kagra sat down on the sole chair in the security office.

The room was small, with one wall covered entirely with screens that displayed various areas of the village, one desk, one chair, and a small fridge in the corner with bottles of water and snacks for the Guardian on duty.

Peter leaned against the edge of the desk and crossed his arms over his chest. "This is the most boring job there is, and both Jason and I are very happy to have you do it."

She smiled. "Yeah, I saw the big grin on Jason's face when you told him that we would be taking over for the next hour. He couldn't wait to run out of here."

Peter studied her profile, noting the changes in her since their time together. She seemed harder now, but the playful spark that had initially drawn him to her was still there.

Unlike most of the pureblooded Kra-ell, Kagra smiled often, which had been the reason he'd assumed she was different than the other females. She'd seemed more approachable, which was still true, but at her core she was a Kra-ell predatory female through and through, and she was not built for monogamous relationships. Or maybe she just hadn't clicked with him. After all, Jade was the apex predator of her community, and she seemed very happy in her exclusive relationship with Phinas.

Not that it mattered anymore. Peter was over Kagra, and he was in love with Marina.

"Can you blame Jason?" He waved a hand over the small space and the array of monitors covering one entire wall. "Can you imagine spending eight hours staring at these screens?"

She grimaced. "I would go crazy. Did you ever have to do this?"

He nodded. "Sure. Thankfully, I got promoted, so I no longer need to watch paint dry in here."

She frowned. "How often do they paint this office?"

Peter laughed. "It's an expression. It means doing something extremely boring and unproductive like watching paint dry." He waved at the monitors again. "Nothing ever happens, and it's difficult to stay alert when the expectation is that nothing will happen during the shift. It's all too easy to pull out a phone and start scrolling through social media and watching funny cat videos."

She arched a brow. "Are you speaking from experience?"

He affected a mock, innocent face. "Maybe."

Kagra shook her head. "I would have never guessed you were a cat lover."

"Cats are entertaining, and they keep the mice away, so they are also useful."

"I'll take your word for it." She lifted the tablet that served as a controller for surveillance footage of the array of monitors. "Show me how to use it."

As he leaned over, the familiar scent of Kagra's shampoo was like a whiplash of déjà vu, and a wave of nostalgia washed over him. All the good times they had together, the wild sex, trying out the part of the submissive to her dominance…

Peter shook his head and leaned away to dispel the effect of the memories.

Was Kagra as affected by his scent? His proximity?

If she was, she was hiding it much better than he did, maintaining a professional demeanor while still being friendly.

He grabbed the tablet. "The best way is to show you. This screen is the miniature representation of the large array. We want to start with the mailroom, so I will touch that square. When it fills the screen, the controls pop up, and you can go back in time, speed up the recording, slow it down, and zoom in and out. You can also take screenshots of whatever." He handed her the tablet. "Got it?"

"It's easy enough." She started playing with the controls.