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Unari in a creaky spaceship left over from the
     old days.”
    “What does that have to do with the pain you just went through?”
    “I’m getting to that.” He paused. Distilling his four-year quest into a neat explanation took some doing. “My spaceship needed
     repairs, so I flew to Tor, the closest planet to Honor in our solar system. While engineers retrofitted my ship, I had a vision
     that suggested I might not return for many years.”
    “Are you saying Tor wouldn’t help?” she asked.
    He shook his head. A mistake that he paid for with a residual slicing pain. “Our worlds have been enemies since the time of
     King Arthur.”
    “But then why did you go there?”
    “My ship wouldn’t fly any farther. And though I couldn’t use Tor’s transporter, Honorians have some friends on Tor.”
    “I’m not sure I’m following.”
    “The conflict between our worlds is an old one. According to legend, long ago, a man named Gareth had two sons—one ruled Tor,
     the other Honor. During an ancient war with the Tribes, the father had the resources to save only one world. He chose Honor,
     a world of dragonshapers, over Tor, a world of people who couldn’t morph. Since then, there have been many wars between our
     planets. To this day, Tor both covets and fears our dragonshaping abilities.”
    “So while you were on Tor, you couldn’t dragonshape?”
    “Luckily, the Toran engineers rebuilt my ship before morphing became necessary.”
    “Did you convince the Torans you were one of them?”
    He shook his head. “Some of them, like Phen, my contact on that world, want peace between our planets.”
    “I see.” She wasn’t certain she did, but she allowed him to tell the story in his own way.
    “But with communications out on Honor, I still needed a way for my people to contact me.”
    “In case of an emergency?”
    “Exactly. So Phen found a doctor to implant a communication and translation device into my arm.” He touched the lump on his
     forearm and placed her fingertips there. “This is why I can understand and speak your language.”
    Blue eyes curious, she gently traced the bump. “The device sends messages to you from home?”
    “I wish.” He sighed. “We modified the language translator to receive a simple onetime alert. We weren’t sure it would even
     work. The device was never engineered to be more than a last-ditch effort to contact me. The situation on Honor must have
     gone critical.” His gut churned. He had to go home.
    She caressed his arm. “Maybe you should have one of our doctors remove—”
    He rubbed away the last of the stiffness from his arm. “I wasn’t supposed to experience that kind of pain. The transponder
     must have malfunctioned, but it’s now harmless.”
    “Good.” In direct contradiction to her words, her eyes suddenly narrowed with suspicion, and she removed her fingers from
     his arm. “But if that device translates language, and it just died, then how come you’re still speaking English?”
    Did her suspicions stem from dealing with her ex? Or did she suspect Rion’s motives?
    Rion recalled her passionate kisses, her warmth, her taking care of him while he’d been in pain. No. She couldn’t suspect
     his motives, or she wouldn’t be with him now.
    His guilt was making him anxious. And his worry over the deteriorating situation back home had him off balance. Still, he’d
     give everything he had not to hurt her again. At least this question he could answer honestly. “After being immersed in your
     language for six months, I know English.”
    She accepted his explanation with a simple nod. As the tautness in her shoulders eased, she resumed playing with his hair.
     “So this contact, Phen, I assume he wouldn’t panic for no reason?”
    “Exactly. The transponder’s activation just confirmed my vision might already be coming true. I have to get home. The sooner
     the better.”
    “You still don’t have proof,” she insisted softly. “Maybe a