Chapter 23
Wind whistled in my ears as I plummeted, seized with fear, unable to even scream as I somersaulted head over feet. Then I hit. But not the ground. I was still dozens of feet from the canyon floor.
“I leave you alone for an hour and you go and fall off a cliff.”
I almost sobbed as Arrazyl’s voice threaded through me. I shifted in his grip to wrap my arms around his neck and bury my face against him. “I’m really sick of nearly dying.”
He landed, but I refused to let go. I still felt like I was falling.
“Plant your feet on the ground, it will make you feel better.”
I peeled myself away and carefully placed my feet on the ground, still clutching him.
It was then that I noticed we were at the finish line and vorpyr above were cheering.
A flush touched my cheeks. Arrazyl saw and his lips tilted up in a half smirk.
“I saved you and won. Thanks for making me look even better than usual.”
I grumbled under my breath.
“Come on, I’m sure the other two want to make sure you’re all right.”
“Who said I am?” I tried to pick them out from the crowd at the top of the cliffs, but it was impossible. “I’d rather not go back up there.”
“I’ll be holding onto you, no need to fear.” He snagged me around the waist before I could protest any further and I was once again sailing through the air. I was losing the amazement I had for elevated living.
My brother and Tatiana hugged me and Thyra said, “both Kyvar and I jumped after you, but Arrazyl got to you first.”
“What happened?” Jaron demanded.
“I just got bumped and then I was flying.”
Arrazyl snorted. “Let’s be clear, that was not flying, that was falling.”
We’d stayed up into the wee hours of the morning, so it was late when I woke. The rest of yesterday after the competition had passed in a blur.
Jaron had disappeared last night when we’d all stumbled to bed and I didn’t see him when I got up, but I figured he was fine.
He’d had a drinking competition with Kyvar and obviously the vorpyr drank him under the table, but he’d sobered up in the hours after as early morning came around and new and interesting vorpyr games were played.
If there was anything I’d learned about vorpyr yesterday, it was that they had boundless energy and didn’t do anything halfway.
I’d started learning some of the language, and understood the syntax, which was like English’s typical subject-verb-object order, but unlike English it had head-final language components, where the verb was positioned at the end of a sentence and modifiers came before the modified noun, very much like Chinese and other Asian Earth languages.
Even with that knowledge, I had learned so few words and their meanings and context that I couldn’t follow the flow of conversation around me.
It had made me thirst for more, and I wished I could learn freely among this species and culture.
I sat at the table with a cup of vorpyr coffee after pushing open the windows, allowing in the bright sunlight and warm breeze.
It really was a beautiful place. Once a person got used to the jungle heat and everything wanting to eat them.
In that way it really wasn’t that much different from Australia.
I smiled at the thought, then sobered. Would I ever get to visit Australia again? I knew the answer was no.
Closing my eyes, I took some calming breaths. I had Jaron and Tatiana here. That was more than I could ever hope for. As was how decently we were being treated. By most, at least. But will it last? The thought lingered like a bad smell.
The door to the bedroom slid open and Tatiana stepped out. She was clothed in a flowy dress that barely hit mid-thigh. She must have had it made, given that it wasn’t long enough to even cover the sensitive areas of the taller vorpyr females.
“That’s pretty.” Like many vorpyr garments, it was colorful, with various shades of teal and green, almost like a peacock. A few jewels lined the neckline.
“Thank you, Kyvar gave it to me.”
Kyvar? He was doing nothing to hide his interest, and I hoped he wasn’t just after her because she was new and exotic and he wanted to be the first to try what she had.
I’d heard some things said about him that made me think he was a playboy.
Still, she was an adult and while she wasn’t the most worldly, having come from a smaller town and working toward her PhD right away with little partying, if I understood correctly, she was smart and had good instincts.
She got herself some coffee and settled into a chair in the living room. “Do you ever miss home?” she asked softly.
“Yes.” I admitted. She nodded, lost in thought. “Are you homesick?” I studied her. She hadn’t mentioned home much since coming here. Her mom was alive, but they rarely spoke.
“I do, but I don’t think I’d give up this experience for anything. Think about it, we’re literally pioneers here. No other humans have been allowed to learn about the vorpyr, let alone live among them.”
Before I could comment, the door slid open, and we both looked over. Jaron walked in and joined us.
He sat down at the table across from me with a sigh.
“Where were you?” Tatiana yawned out the question, prompting me to hide a small yawn of my own.
Something flashed across Jaron’s face. Something I couldn’t read. It made me pay closer attention to him.
“Sleeping.” he said, more irritably than he needed to. “I’m the one who drank so much of their insane brew that I nearly died.”
He hadn’t drunk that much. My brother wasn’t one for such dramatics, either. Something was definitely off.
When Tatiana wandered back into the bedroom, I brought Jaron a cup of the coffee like substance we’d been provided, watered down given that the caffeine was enough to kick like a mule if one drank it straight like the vorpyr did.
He took it but didn’t meet my eyes. “Thanks.”
Asking him outright what was wrong would likely get me a “nothing,” so I was silent and just sat with him.
“I can hear you thinking,” he complained.
“That’s what you get for us being so close. Mind reading.” I rolled my eyes to the ceiling and shook my head. He fiddled with his cup and when he didn’t say anything more, I couldn’t help myself. “Nothing bad happened to you, right?”
“It wasn’t bad,” he said after a long moment of silence. “It was really good, actually. Just…confusing, I suppose.” Almost to himself, he muttered, “never thought I’d consider this type of thing confusing.”
My mind raced over what he could be saying. “Thyra?” He nodded once, and I looked away to hide my wide eyes from him. “You spent the night with her?”
“This is an uncomfortable conversation,” he muttered, gaze firmly set out the window. I agreed wholeheartedly.
“I’m here if you need me.” The words were a cop out, but the situation was awkward, and they were the best I had.
“Thanks.”
Later Tatiana came out and suggested we do some yoga to get our blood flowing, which Jaron and I, still sitting in the same spots she’d left us, sluggishly agreed to.
It was when we got up that I noticed nip marks on Jaron’s neck.
Ok then. I saw Tatiana looking at him, but if she noticed, she didn’t say anything.
The festival was still in full swing and would be for another three days, so Junyv came to get us closer to the evening.
She carried a small, elaborate box covered in what looked to me like it could be velvet and gave it to Jaron.
“Thyra thought you might like this, given that you have a piercing in your ear from when you were younger. She said her brother Luuciyn also wears earrings, and she hopes you like it.”
Jaron looked downright flustered at the gift. “I can’t accept this.”
Junyv’s eyes widened. “It is very personal to have a gift rejected. It is the same as rejecting that vorpyr.”
His hand flashed out and he gently took the gift. “Tell her...never mind. I’ll tell her thank you myself.”
Junyv nodded, seemingly satisfied.
Hours later, in the early morning, when we finally all went back to bed—this time with my head pounding thanks to being tricked by a group of mischievous young adult vorpyr into drinking something that had me tottering from the first sip—Jaron disappeared again.
After all the activity of the past week, I wouldn’t have thought the last day of the festival would be the most exciting and active, but it was. There was an excitement in the air that was the same as there had been leading up to the first day of the festival.
During the week I’d gotten to see Arrazyl speaking with vorpyr that Thyra told me were his council.
Members of the community that represented the larger masses and brought pertinent issues to the Vorazyr.
I’d noticed that they’d cast disgruntled, if not downright hostile, gazes toward me and the other two when they saw us.
I’d also noticed that Thyra was even friendlier with Jaron, touching her wing to his back as they walked together and pressing close as she asked his opinion on things she was showing him.
He still seemed perturbed, though it couldn’t be because he didn’t like her—I saw the way he gazed at her when she wasn’t looking.
The whole thing had me concerned. The vendor who Arrazyl had bought jewelry from that first day was named Hyketh, and I’d been able to converse with him a few times.
He had told me that vorpyr are extremely possessive creatures.
The predator drive he said, was the reason, and it was especially strong when they decided on a mate, which was why I’d seen such aggressive pursuit of some females during the events and that they weren’t being coerced and were perfectly capable of getting the male to back off if they didn’t like him.
His words made me even more concerned about the development with my brother.
Not that I thought Thyra had decided on my brother as a mate, but she certainly seemed more possessive of him.
“Being deep in thought isn’t going to get you ready for the gala.” Jaron’s voice dragged me from my musing.
“They say the last evening of the festival is the most grand.” Tatiana added. She was already dressed. Her gown was stunning, satiny and made with thicker fabric than usual vorpyr clothes.
“Arrazyl said not to get ready until he came.” I said, and though I’d considered blatantly ignoring his bossy order, I didn’t have a gown to change into.
Junyv had come and done both my and Tatiana’s hair, though.
“Tatiana, you look gorgeous. Be careful of all the boys out there.” I winked and smiled as she beamed.
It wasn’t long before Kyvar came, smiling and murmuring gently to Tatiana as soon as he saw her. She offered him a cautious smile.
Jaron was the next to leave, and if I didn’t know before how he felt, I did the moment his face lit up on seeing her.
I gazed around the house, which had slowly become a home to us in the weeks since we’d arrived. Still, I was restless, like something was missing.
The door slid aside, and I turned to see someone I didn’t recognize. He said something in vorikaan and held up what seemed like it could be a garment bag.
“I’m sorry I don’t—” I paused when Arrazyl landed on the platform outside the door.
He spoke in vorikaan to the stranger and then turned to me. “Can the courier come in and show you what he’s brought?”
“Of course.” I got to my feet and faced them.
He slid the bag open and held up what was inside. Arrazyl took it and said something to him. The courier left and Arrazyl stepped forward, watching me. “Do you like it?” There was hesitation in his voice.
My lips parted as I stared at the stunning dress. It was a cream color and there were jewels the color of amber and garnet in swirling patterns on the tight bodice, the skirt draped softly in flowing panels.
“I can’t accept this.” Even as I said it, I wondered what the glistening fabric would feel like.
“In vorpyr culture, it is rude to reject a gift.”
“But it’s…it’s too much, Arrazyl.”
He looked it up and down. “I think it’s just enough.” His gaze sought me out again. “I had it made just for you.”
I held his gaze, wholly aware that he was mere inches from me. I could feel the heat of his body, the spicy scent that was his alone swirling around me. “Aren’t we just your captives?” I asked softly.
His gaze became hooded and he gripped my chin gently, tilting my head as he stepped until our bodies were flush. The hard length of him pressed into my belly and sent a pulse of excitement to my core.
“You are no longer just my captive.” He tilted his head toward the dress. “Put it on. I will be waiting to take you to the final celebration outside.” And just like that, he was gone.
The dress was the softest I’d ever felt, curving along my body perfectly. I added the jewelry Arrazyl had gotten me before and slid the door open.
His eyes heated when he saw me, and he slid his gaze languidly over me, taking in my legs and hips, the deep v of the neckline that showed the skin between my breasts, and up to my face. “Do you have any idea what you do to a male?” His words were soft, dangerous almost, as he reached for me.
I stepped into his arms and he growled as he pulled me forward, leaning down to rest his face against my head, breathing deeply. His lips pressed against me, then he was gone, straightening and stepping away. “I’m afraid if I keep holding you against me, we’ll never make it to the party.”
I flushed at the insinuation. A part of me wanted to know what he would do.
He slid the door closed behind me and paused.
“Is something wrong?”
“No, let’s go.” he took me in his arms and I rested my cheek against his chest as he flew us up to the rooftop of his home.
I’d been told there were three locations for the final event of the festival, the rooftop of the Vorazyr’s house the only one that was invite-only, hosted specifically for his advisors, warriors, and industry leaders.
To say it was beautiful was an understatement.
Orb lights in elegant shapes floated around the area and just like the elevated parks I’d seen in the city, the rooftop jutting from the cliff several feet had trees rising from it, along with bushes of flowers and other flora.
A raised dance floor of dark wood that glistened in the low light took up a large middle area and instruments I’d never seen were being played off to the side on another raised dais.
I looked around in wonder at the elaborate fountains and sculptures, the vorpyr in stunning outfits, and took in the laughing and smells of sweet food. Even the males were dressed in brilliant colors, instead of the black that I’d seen men wear to any nice events I’d been to on Earth.
Arrazyl came up behind me and I closed my eyes, enjoying the heat of his body as he leaned down. His breath tickled my ear deliciously and bumps spread across my bare arms and chest. “Dance with me.”