Chapter Seven
Skiden:
Of all the creatures to hunt, I went after a writshak. Usually, it takes two Bronians to hunt the beast, but I figure this will wear me out enough to sleep soundly tonight. I haven’t slept through a night since the last time I held Lucy in my arms.
Mikhail never said a word when I contacted him early for a lift back to the portal from the unpopulated lands where the river flows, miles from her home. I didn’t offer an explanation of why.
From behind the tree, downwind of the creature, I stare at the body of the writshak, catching my breath. The fight to kill it dragged on and on and felt like most of the day passed, though it couldn’t have since the sun hasn’t shifted much. And now that I’m exhausted, I have to contend with the kill. I should have thought this through better. It’s heavy all in one piece. But still heavy when I slice it… and then have to struggle with more pieces. I should have brought a cart. Anything.
“Were you going to drag that back or prepare and package it here?”
I whirl around to see Mejak and Kalrian, two hunters that are on Tiran’s rotation. Closer than that, they are my brother’s friends. When I was younger, I was jealous of his best friends. They always had his back… and no one had mine.
But I didn’t need it. I was privileged, my patron was the leader of the clan. Tiran had no one. He deserved his best friends and part of me knew that.
“And then drag all the individual cuts back?” Kalrian says.
Mejak chuckles. It’s the exact dilemma I was pondering.
“Did you two follow me?” I growl.
Neither bothers to hide it.
“Maybe,” Kalrian says.
“Yes,” Mejak says at the same time.
“If I wanted company, I would have brought a partner.”
“And if we didn’t think you were going to do something so dangerous, we would have let you,” Mejak points out.
“Or I guess we could have stayed out of it. And sent Bronan. Or even Tiran,” Kalrian says.
Mejak grins, showing all his teeth. “I’d say you’re lucky to have us. Let’s carry this down to the water’s edge and prepare the meat, shall we? Because I’m not struggling with you two to carry that thing back.”
As much as I’d like to pretend otherwise, I’m glad for the help as we bend to pick it up. Each grunts and they sway under the weight of the animal. It’s fattening up for winter and is larger than usual.
Again, it wasn’t the best thought-out plan.
“Gives Tiran a run for the title of best hunter,” Kalrian grimaces under his breath. “Why are we helping out again?”
But it’s Mejak who lets me know the reason with his response.
“You’ve been alone a lot since your trip to Earth,” he says.
“Tiran ask you to check up on me?”
“No!” Mejak looks affronted.
“Bronan, then?”
Kalrian snorts. “We decided on our own. Just because we do most things together doesn’t mean we can’t do things on our own, too.”
I grunt, but don’t respond.
Technically, if they’re doing this together, they’re not actually on their own, but I don’t point that out.
It’s halfway through the bloody work of dressing the kill before I speak. “I met a female.”
Mejak looks up. “On Earth?”
“Yes. She’s Isabel’s roommate. She reminds me of River, though I don’t feel anything like this toward River. They have the same fear pounded into them, but yet there’s that spark of spunk. The defiance, the bravery. They even look alike.”
“Why aren’t you back on Earth talking her into the Match Program?” Kalrian asks. “If she feels the same, surely the system is failproof and you’ll be matched. Those Britonians know what they’re doing.”
“Bel says she can’t enter. It would expose her name and address and she’s running from someone. A patron who wishes to kill her.”
Mejak looks aghast. “Just like River.”
I nod. That must be why Lucy reminds me so much of her. There are so many similarities.
“How about if you just visit more regularly? Surely Mikhail can sneak you in?”
“I’d wanted that,” I admit. “I was planning to tell him that she needed protection from the person hunting Bel. But Lucy kicked me out.”
“What? Why?”
Both males stop and look up. Cheeks burning, I brutally hack through a thigh bone.
“She wants to save her cousin. Samantha. She asked me to mate her instead.” If my hands weren’t bloody, I’d clutch my aching heart. “As if I could ever look at another female.”
“She must have been desperate,” Kalrian says softly.
“I tasted her, right before I left. She tasted of desperation. Disgust. Regret.”
Mejak sighs. “Maybe she regrets asking and can’t even let you know. Disgust with herself over her desperate situation.”
I didn’t think of that. She may have regretted her words and has no way to contact me, whereas I can request Mikhail’s assistance to go back.
“Besides, if her cousin was mated to someone here, wouldn’t she be allowed to come through as the relation? Under that new law Lilaina of the Adroki clan created when River brought Isabel?”
“Yes,” I realize with a sinking heart. “That’s probably what she was trying to do. Save them both. But I was so enraged, I couldn’t see past the fact that she wanted me to mate Samantha. I told her mating is forever.”
“There’s no guarantee that the system would match you with the cousin anyway,” Kalrian points out.
“Easy fix for now,” Mejak says. “We head over to the communication cave and ask Mikhail to keep an eye on her. And the cousin. If she’s still angry with you and refuses your visit, Kal and I could go.”
“And put in a good word for you,” Kalrian says. “You’re not as suave as Tiran, who obtained his mate sight unseen.” He tosses a blob of fat at me, and it lands square on my forehead and sticks.
“You just pick favorites,” I complain, flicking the piece off my head. With just this conversation, I can feel my mood switching more good-natured.
Kalrian grins, not denying it. I don’t take it to heart.
It’s nearly dusk by the time we bundle the meat. This batch will be smoked overnight for tomorrow’s meal, maybe some dried for jerky, or some cured in the kitchen cellars. The Tiiblets brought a lot of knowledge of curing meat, for which we are grateful. They are allowed to take home as much as they want which is why we provide an extra kill every now and then. It’s hard to get them to understand they don’t always have to work for what we provide. They have a fierce sense of pride instilled in them and need to believe they are important to a village. We’ve tried to explain we need them to spin silks because no one is better than them, but it’s hard when someone like my brother is such a gifted seamstress, a term that makes River break into uncontrollable giggles. They think all Bronians can sew if we put our minds to it.
I shudder. The thought of sewing a garment horrifies me. I’d rather hunt. Paint. Fish. I’d rather carve out a cave. Polish and dig for diamonds.
Halfway home, we run into a couple of males who agree to take our meat home so we can visit the communication cave. They mention attending dinner in Bronan’s cave—apparently, he and Isabel have finally mated and have been holed up in bed the entire time I’ve been gone to Earth.
By the time we get to the communication cave, we fire up the equipment and put out a call for Mikhail. He doesn’t answer, which usually means he’s busy. Sometimes another of the Brits will respond for him, but not this time. We wait a few minutes to reach out again, but then he does.
With a swipe of a finger on the sphere, his hologram appears.
“Mikhail. Is everything going okay with Lucy?”
“She is fine. Would you like to make another visit?” He sounds very neutral, but I don’t expect anything less of him. And of course, my memories of Lucy’s white face, the acrid taste of her skin, makes me shake my head. I can’t subject her to more of my clumsy failings.
Mejak clears his throat. “We thought perhaps Kal and I could go this time.”
Mikhail pauses for a few minutes, pondering the offer. I think he has connections in his brain that can map out what may happen in the future. He’s usually right with whatever he comes up with.
“That’s a good idea,” Mikhail says slowly. “But Lucy is skittish around strangers. I think I would rather see if her cousin, Samantha, could put up with you two for a week or two. Samantha’s parents just left today for a cruise with her uncle, which gives her some free time and a sense of freedom from being watched. However, that freedom is misleading. It could cause her to drop her reservations, perhaps not be as careful when she visits Lucy, and he may have an unknown tail on her. You two could help protect Lucy from afar and teach Samantha that now is as critical a time as any with the upcoming campaign.”
Mejak nods. “When would you like us to come?”
“Tomorrow. Head to the Adroki beach portal at dawn. The portal will be at the highest power at noon. I’ll have someone reach out to Samantha and tell her you’re arriving and to sneak you inside.”
Kalrian clasps his hand onto Mejak’s shoulder. “It will be done.”
I scowl because it’s my mate… and I can’t be there to protect her. But this is the least I can do for her. Keep my clumsy attentions away from her. Protect her from afar.
The walk home is long and quiet.
“I don’t want Bronan and Tiran to know,” I say suddenly. “Not only will the females panic over Lucy, but my brothers will want to bust in and fix things for their mates. You know that’s the last thing Mikhail needs. He’ll shut down the traveling back and forth if he has to deal with that.”
“Hmm.” Mejak grunts. “I won’t mention it. I’ve seen how Tiran gets with River.”
“And Bronan with his mate?” Kalrian rolls his eyes. “She doesn’t even know they’re mated.”
I wince. “That one isn’t going to go over well when she finds out.”
“This cousin of Lucy’s—Samantha. I think she should know that we’re there because Lucy was angry with you for not mating her. She should know how things are with you and Lucy.”
I consider that, but it only takes a moment. Lucy would trust Samantha with the information. “You’re right. I don’t want to keep our relationship quiet. Being secretive doesn’t work well for Bronan. Tell her what you want.”
However, I’m not sharing anything with my fool brothers. Neither one thinks I can handle things on my own because each one is always willing to jump in and protect me.
Neither one realizes that I’ve been protecting them from our patron for years. Bronan and Tiran would be mortal enemies if it wasn’t for me fixing arguments between them that our patron caused.
“Bronan may wonder where we’ve gone,” Kalrian says.
“Unless he’s too wrapped up in Isabel’s arms,” Mejak snorts.
But Kal has a point.
“Why don’t you stop at the Adroki’s since you’re near the beach? Ask a Tiiblet if anyone wants an escort here to visit. Tell them it’s for overnight. Then, we’ll have another excuse to take them home.”
Mejak is staring at me with wide eyes. “I think we underestimated you. You were quite the manipulative little brother growing up, weren’t you?”
“My maman’s favorite,” I agree, which makes both males chuckle because each of my brothers have claimed her favoritism at some point.