by Ruby Dixon
My hand is the least of my concerns right now. "My mate," I begin again.
"Oooh, right." V'ronca looks up at her mate. "I think it's a good idea to talk to Maylak. The flight won't be fun—it's awful cold right now. I don't like that Ashtar's going at all, but if he goes, then I'm going, too."
"The cold does not bother me like it does you," he murmurs, rubbing her neck. "We will bundle you up in so many layers you will be unrecognizable…unless you would rather stay."
She shoots him a look. "You know the answer to that."
"I do."
I clear my throat, not wanting to interrupt their playful banter, but also not wanting to be stuck watching it all morning. Mari will be waking soon, and I want to give her the news. "You do not mind that we wish to see the other healer?"
V'ronca shakes her head. "Maylak knows a lot more than I do. She's had her powers for a lot longer. I'm a little upset I couldn't fix things, but if she can help out and I can learn what she does, I'm fine with that." Her expression grows uneasy. "I just…don't know if she'll have an answer for you. There might not be anything that can be done."
It is something I have considered. "It will still be good for Mari to get away from the others, I think. They watch both of us very closely."
V'ronca makes a sympathetic sound in her throat. "I know how that is. Everyone watched Ashtar and I like hawks when we first resonated, wondering when we were going to 'do it.' It's damn awkward."
"If we leave tomorrow at dawn," Ashtar says to me, "will you be ready?"
I nod. "We will be packed and waiting."
"Bring furs," he says. "Twice as many as you think you will need. The air is twice as cold when you are up high, and it rips through blankets easily."
His mate rubs her belly. "I'll talk to Tia, too, make sure she's ready." She hesitates and then adds, "And I'll talk to Harlow and Liz, to make sure that Tia actually is ready." The female grimaces. "Tia's not taking it so well. She feels like she is being exiled."
I shrug. Is she not? She is being taken away from those she knows because she causes too much trouble. "We could always send Shadow Cat away instead."
"And Sessah? And R'jaal?" V'ronca raises her eyebrows. "I'll be the first to say we shouldn't blame the victim, but there's one common denominator here, and it's not I'rec, much as I dislike the guy." She shrugs and sidles a little closer to her mate, leaning against his bare chest. "You know what they say, though—not my circus, not my monkeys. We're the local transportation, that's all. It's Raahosh's call."
A'tar casually loops an arm around his mate's shoulders as he watches me. "With Tia gone, the games will probably start again. You might miss your chance to win one of knives. Will that upset you?"
"No, I—" I break off as the male, B'ek, comes running up, a fierce scowl on his face. "What is it? What is wrong?"
"Ash-tar is needed," Bek says. "Another rock has been dropped from the sky by Mar-dock's people."
18
T'CHAI
There is great excitement amongst the tribe as A'tar, B'ek and I bring the new “rock” back to the beach camp. The dragon man flew us in his claws to the location provided, and we secured it with straps so he could fly it back. Bek is not thrilled with the arrival of the new package from the skies.
"The last one has caused enough trouble," he grumbled as we tied strong leather thongs to secure the lid. "Do we truly need these knives so much?"
I say nothing, but secretly, I am worried. This “rock” does not look the same as the last one. The color is dark and opaque, and the edges are rounded instead of squared. I am reminded of R'jaal's excited voice when he exclaimed that he found my Mari in an “egg” that washed up on shore.
This rock looks very much like an egg, and I worry it does not contain knives at all.
A'tar sets it down amidst the growing crowd, and I search the gathered faces on the sands for my mate. She is there, near the back of the group as always, a cup of hot beverage in her hands. I push through the group, heading toward her, because nothing is as important to me as seeing her smile and breathing in her scent. I do not care if this new rock carries a hundred knives. All that matters is my mate, and knowing that I have good news for her.
She smiles up at me, her cheeks flushed with the chill in the air, and I fight the urge to grab her and hold her against my chest possessively. Mine. All mine. It does not matter what my khui thinks in this moment. I know in my heart that this is the only female for me. "Did you sleep well?" I want to caress her face but reach for a lock of her mane instead, twisting it around my fingers.
"Very well." She nudges my leg with her foot. "Where are your boots?"
"I did not want to wake you up just to tie them for me."
Her brows furrow and she chuckles. "So you've been wandering around in the snows with no shoes on? Aren't you cold?"
I have been so distracted that I did not notice. Perhaps I am getting used to the cold air here after all. I shrug and tuck her layers closer to her, fussing protectively over my mate. "I am not cold, no. Are you?"
She shakes her head and steps a little closer to me, taking my arm and putting it around her shoulders. My chest swells with pleasure and pride, and she fits perfectly just under my arm. "No. Did you find that? The trunk?"
I shake my head. "One of the hunters checking his traps found it and came back to camp. B'ek and I were already with A'tar, so we helped him secure it to carry back."
She licks her lips and gives me a nervous look, leaning in to whisper. "It doesn't look like the other trunk. It looks like a stasis pod."
I nod. "I thought the same thing. We will see what M'dok says."
Many of the males are talking eagerly, but I see unease on the faces of many of the females. R'hosh's mate holds her new child to her teat and keeps the others close to her legs, her mouth in a flat line of distress. She whispers to H'rlow, who stands nearby with her baby in a sling. I do not think they are pleased with the gift left for us this time.
F'rli and M'dok are eventually found and the sa-khui female looks eagerly at her mate, her pet dvisti at her side. "Ni-ree has left you another gift!"
"More knives?" O'jek asks, sharing a look with A'tam.
But M'dok just rubs his jaw and shakes his head. "That's not a gift package. That's a stasis pod." He runs a hand down his face. "Niri, you asshole."
"So your buddy sent us someone?" Leezh asks, speaking up as her mate approaches, a few steps behind M'dok. "I think I speak for everyone when I say 'Hey, what the fuck?'"
"She must have a reason," M'dok says, undoing some of the leather straps across the lid. "I hope." His hand skims over the surface and then a light begins to flash. "There's a message, at least."
F'rli is immediately at her mate's side, touching his arm in a supportive gesture. "What does it say?"
I hug my mate a little closer. F'rli is giving her mate a protective look, and I realize that these messages must be distressing for him. I try to imagine how I would feel if I received gifts from my lost clan back on the island. It would be a reminder of all the hurt and loss each time. I do not think I would like it.
Mari nudges me with her elbow, turning her face up to me. "You okay?" she whispers, worry on her face.
I nod.
Before I can say anything, there's a crackling sound and then an unfamiliar female voice fills the air even as a shimmering image of an older female appears just over the rock. "Don't kill me, Mardok. I'm just doing a friend a favor. She needed a place to drop off the radar entirely. Treat her well, okay? She's a good kid. I'll bring you more food and supplies on the next run. Hope you and that female of yours are doing okay. Tell her I said hello."
"Hello!" F'rli calls out to the voice, smiling.
"She can't hear you," M'dok tells his mate. "It's a message."
"But she said hello." F'rli gives him a puzzled look.
M'dok's mouth twitches and he gives his mate a look of pure affection. "Let's just open this and see who's arrived." He taps his fi
ngers on the rock, and then hesitates, looking over at R'hosh. "Should we?"
The male with the crumpled horn gestures impatiently. "What is one more mouth to feed? As long as they will not be a danger to those here, I do not care."
"If the newcomer is female, we should open it," R'jaal says eagerly. Too eagerly. "All are welcome here." He takes a few steps forward, his gaze locked on the pod. "Surely we cannot turn a female away."
"I bet if it was a guy in there, he'd be singing a different tune," Mari murmurs to me. "He wouldn't want the competition for a mate."
It is on my lips to protest this, but R'jaal watches M'dok and the pod with glittering, fervent eyes. Mari is right. He sees this as a hope for a mate. With T'ia going to the other village, he and the other single males will be even more desperate to gain resonance. I do not know if it is a good thing that there is another female, or if this will bring even more trouble than T'ia's endless teasing.
I hope this new female resonates to someone and quickly, so there is no anger or competitive fights over her smiles. Perhaps she will be ugly, I think unfairly. A female like the male Gren, who is covered in fur and has a hulking, brutish form. But…even if she were the most unpleasant-looking female on the planet, it would not matter. If she resonated to R'jaal, he would be so filled with joy that nothing else would matter. He would feel complete, because he finally had the mate he has longed for.
I hold my breath as M'dok touches the lid and something beeps. The lid hisses and moves to the side with a rush of air. Mari's hand clutches my waist tightly, and I forget all about this new female as my own mate moves closer to me and her scent fills my nose. Just yesterday, she moved away when I tried to hold her hand. We have come so far in one day—
"Help her sit up," M'dok says, and there is a rush as the males race forward to help out. R'jaal is there, and S'ssah, and O'jek, all scrambling to be the first one the new female looks at. Mari leans forward, too, craning her neck to see as another steps in front of us.
"Oh wow," says a new, young voice. "Hi."
"Hello," F'rli calls out loudly, leaning over the pod.
There's a soft noise. "I think I'm gonna puke. Stasis does not agree with me."
M'dok gestures and the others take a few steps back, even as the new human female sits up. She seems to be of a similar age to the others, with a long mane the color of a pale sunset and a round face. She holds a hand over her mouth until she's out of the pod, and then leans against it heavily.
"You all right?"
She nods, sucking in deep breaths of air. "I just needed a moment, thanks." She blinks at all of us, her eyes strangely colorless and without the khui blue of life. Her smile widens. "Hello to everyone." She looks around her, and then shivers. "Whew, Niri said it was cold here, but I don't think I was ready for this kind of chill. It's colder than a witch's tit out here." She rubs her arms, covered in a thick, strange-colored leather.
"Niri sent you here?" M'dok asks in a calm voice as F'rli immediately takes off the short fur cape she was wearing and offers it to the female.
The new human looks startled at F'rli's clothing—a few necklaces and a loincloth, and then beams at her. "You must be Farli. Niri said so many nice things about you and Mardok. I'm Daisy."
"Now I know you're lying," M'dok says, chuckling. "Niri never had a nice thing to say about anyone."
The female smiles from under the cape and shivers, looking around. "So this is home now?"
"Is it? We're trying to figure out why Niri sent you." M'dok glances over at R'hosh. "Not that you're not welcome, of course. You are. We're just surprised to see you."
"Very welcome," S'ssah adds, and pulls his cloak off and holds it out to the female, too. There is an adoring look on his youthful face. "Our tribe is better today now that you are in it."
"Hoo boy," I hear a female mutter nearby.
O'jek shoulders his way forward and offers his cloak, frowning at S'ssah. The two males shove each other, as if there is not enough room on the beach for both of them, and Mari makes a noise of disgust in her throat. They are acting like fools, but I say nothing. I might be just as desperate if my mate was not in my arms. I understand their excitement.
The female takes the furs piled on her and gives everyone a small smile, her teeth chattering. "I'm sorry to surprise you. Niri said you guys had taken in human refugees? Was she wrong? She said this was a safe place to come, just that I wouldn't be able to leave." Daisy looks uncertain, glancing around at the tribe.
"Of course you're welcome," H'rlow steps forward, handing her infant to her mate and patting the head of Rukhar before moving toward Daisy's side. "This must all be very overwhelming. Come to the fire. We can get you some hot tea and you can tell us why you decided to come here." She gives Daisy a sympathetic look. "And you'll get used to the cold—"
"Damn, Harlow, don't lie to her," another female calls out. F'lor, I think. She is the one that offered to tend to R'jaal when he fought with I'rec. "The cold is permanent, honey. The cootie makes it better, though."
"The parasite, right." Daisy looks uncertain and just a little scared. "Niri mentioned that."
"Come on," Leezh says. "Everyone quit crowding her. Let's let her sit by the fire and she can tell us why she had Niri take her here instead of Earth."
"No one goes to Earth, remember?" someone calls out. "That wasn't an option."
"Niri's a pirate. She can do whatever the fuck she wants." Leezh adjusts the furs swaddled around her infant. "But okay, sure, we'll just pretend no one ever goes there, yet more and more humans show up every damn year. Now, Sessah, once you're finished drooling, can you go get some meat so we can make a stew? I'll put on some tea. Someone help Daisy to the fire."
Daisy's small brows furrow and she looks at all of our faces. "Wait. You guys don't know?"
"Know what?" H'rlow asks in a patient, kind voice.
"Oh dear." Daisy bites her lip. "Even if Niri would take me to our solar system, there's nothing to go back to. Earth is destroyed."
19
MARI
I can't stop crying.
It's stupid, I know, to weep over the destruction of a planet I'll never see again, but I can't seem to stop. I'm not the only one—every girl around the fire has been completely and utterly inconsolable. I can tell Daisy's devastated that she had to be the bearer of bad news—it's clear from her pretty face that she's torn up about it. At my side, Callie blows her nose in a soft bit of leather and Lauren's hands are shaking so hard as she drinks her tea that her entire cup jerks, spilling some of the liquid into her lap. T'chai stands behind me, a comforting, solid presence, and I don't mind the touch of his hands or his warmth. I'm grateful to have him to cling to, because right now I feel hollow.
Willa pushes a cup of tea into Daisy's shivering hands. She's one of the few mated women not clinging to her mate right now. Gren is hovering at the edges of the fire, no doubt trying to hide in the shadows so as not to scare Daisy with his face. "Whenever you're ready, you can tell us about all of it," Willa reassures her in a kind voice. "No one's mad at you for telling what had to be told. We're just shocked."
Daisy looks uncertain. Her gaze briefly meets mine, and even though she's wearing a bright smile, I can see she looks terrified. Of course she is. She's dependent upon everyone here for survival and she just told us the ultimate bad news. I give her a watery grin, trying to let her know that she has a friend, because I've been in her place before. It's uncomfortable to be the center of attention. She clutches the tea in her hands and studies the cup with fascination. "Is this made out of bone? Wow. Okay." Daisy thinks for a moment. "I heard the news about Earth right after I got yanked."
"Yanked?" Devi asks. She has her hand tightly laced with N'dek's, her expression grim. At her side, Elly is curled up in Bek's arms, hugging her knees as she leans against his chest.
Daisy nods, taking a sip of tea. "I was kidnapped by slavers when I was sixteen years old. That was ten years ago. At first I was upset, but then the big n
ews about Earth hit, and I felt lucky to get away when I did. I don't have a lot of information about what happened, but the speculation on this end of the galaxy is that someone was messing around with things that should not be messed with. There was a tear in the space-time continuum. It tore a hole in the fabric of space and ate every ship near that particular solar system. Just poof, offline, and never to be seen again. When scouting vessels were sent out, all they said was that there was now an unstable rift in Earth's atmosphere and all of human civilization had vanished. I had just been pulled from Earth less than a month before, and so I remember it very clearly. I was originally going to be sold at a space station, you see, but once my captor found out that I was now a very rare species, he went directly to three of the richest merchants he knew and offered them a private auction. They bid for several weeks and at the end of it, I met my owner and later husband, Johani of House Vrexhii." Her smile grows wistful and distant. "He was a really nice guy. Praxiian. I got lucky."
"Praxiian and he was nice?" Mardok asks, a frown on his face. "That doesn't sound like any praxiian I know."
"Right? Like I said, I got lucky." Daisy drains her tea cup and immediately R'jaal is there to hand her a new one. She gives him a smile, and I realize just how pretty she is. Unlike the rest of us who have been living out in the cold wilds for the last several months, Daisy's skin is milk pale and so smooth it looks like porcelain. Her lashes are incredibly thick and her eyebrows groomed to perfection. Her hair is perfectly conditioned and smooth, a shiny red-gold that looks like a sunrise. When she takes the cup from R'jaal, I notice her fingernails are painted a light shell pink. Oh yeah, Daisy was someone's pampered pet all right.
And if the men were fighting over Tia, now it's really going to be a problem with Daisy showing up.
I glance at the single women and notice that Bridget and Flordeliza have closed-off expressions. I can't see Raven, who's off to the side, but Tia seems ready to murder Daisy. Steph looks like she's trying to psychoanalyze Daisy, and Sam, well, Sam's really the only one that doesn't look completely gutted at the news of Earth's destruction. She looks almost…cheery, which is odd. Probably just a coping mechanism.