Nikhil(75)

"Yes," she told him. "Now you need to start speaking in Zaludian so Luol can help you."

"Where's Paul?" he demanded, but it was in Zaludian.

"He's back with the others. So is Eric, who also used the educator while you were being treated," she told him.

"Both of them?"

"Yes," Luol answered him this time, "and they tolerated it very well with no side effects. Now how are you feeling?"

Craig took a minute to think about it. "Good. All those aches and pains are gone." He lifted a hand and saw that all the scars he'd accumulated in the mine were gone too, and turned stunned eyes to Luol.

"Yes, the repair unit took care of those and any others you had on your body. It also replenished all the nutrients that you were deficient in. The only thing I found unusual was that your system was not as deficient as Mackenzie's had been even though you were held the same amount of time." He looked to Craig hoping for an answer, but all he found was Craig staring hard at Mackenzie.

"Mackenzie, would you know why?" Luol asked quietly.

"No," she said softly before pulling her gaze away from Craig to repeat more strongly, "No, Luol, I don't know why that is. Maybe I was just deficient to begin with or maybe it was because of the beating I took."

"Beating?!!" Craig jumped off the bed then grabbed her upper arms giving her a hard shake. "What beating?!! Are you telling me that fucking Kaliszian beat you?!!"

Before Mac could recover from Craig's sudden move, Luol grabbed him by the throat and threw him across the room.

"Luol!" Mac grabbed his arm, stopping him from going after Craig. "Stop!"

"You are the True Mate of a Kaliszian," Luol growled. "No one attacks you!"

Mac couldn't believe how hard Luol's voice had become or how brightly his eyes were glowing. She'd never seen him act like this. He'd always been so caring and gentle with her, and that's when she realized that while he claimed to be Kalbaughian, he was still a Kaliszian warrior.

"He wasn't attacking me, Luol," she said trying to calm him.

"Look at your arms, Mackenzie," Luol spit out.

She did and was surprised to see that bruises were already forming there. "Craig didn't mean to," she said defending Craig. "He was just surprised. I never told them that the Zaludians had beaten me. He thought I meant Nikhil."

"What?" Luol finally looked at her. When the human male had jumped off the bed of the repair unit, he had reverted to his language, and Luol hadn't been able to understand what he was saying.

"He thought Nikhil had harmed me. He was just reacting."

"Nikhil would never harm you."

"I know this. Craig doesn't. It's going to take time for all of us to adjust and accept these changes, Luol."

"I see." Luol's gaze returned to Craig, who was slowly getting up, his eyes never leaving Luol. "Then I apologize to you, Mackenzie, for not keeping you from harm. It seems my time as a Healer has dulled my reflexes."

"They didn't seem dull to me," Mac told him putting a careful hand on the still bulging bicep of his arm. "I didn't realize that you were more than a Healer, Luol, that you were also an Elite Warrior."

"It has been many years since I have been an Elite, but yes, I am still a Warrior. I would never be allowed to treat them if I was not."

"Mac, what's going on?" Craig asked, holding his right arm as he watched Luol warily.

"In Zaludian, Craig," Mac said glaring at him, and after a moment he repeated the question. "Luol was defending me."

"From who?" Craig asked.

"From you! He thought you were harming me," she looked at the darkening bruises, "and I guess he was right."

"Shit, Mac! I never meant to hurt you! You know that!"

"I wouldn't have thought so but here's the proof, and if Nikhil sees it, he'll do a whole lot worse to you than what Luol did." She saw Craig pale and swallow hard then looked to Luol. "You can make these disappear, can't you?"

"I could but Nikhil needs to be informed," Luol said still watching Craig.

"No, he doesn't. It was an accident, and it’s never going to happen again. Is it, Craig?" she asked giving Craig a hard look.

"No... of course it’s not! I never intended..."

Mac ignored the rest of what Craig was saying and turned her gaze back to Luol and switched to Kaliszian. "Please, Luol. Nikhil doesn't need to know about this. We already have so much to get through, so much to understand about one another. You know he will never be able to understand or accept this." She lifted a bruised arm. "He'll kill Craig."