Chapter 31
“Vorazyr.” Kyvar appeared in my doorway, face tight.
I gave him my attention. “You heard from the Consortium?” They better have responded by now. We’d already been in three meetings with them in the last three days.
He trilled. “They are ready to solidify the trade. Here are their finalized demands.” He waved a hand over the tablet in the wall and pulled up the words.
I read it, then reread it again. “No.” Rage flooded through me. “The Consortium abandoned them to what they assumed would be death. They are not taking the humans back.” They are not taking Jacqueline.
“There’s more.” he paused. “The female they kidnapped gave birth a couple of weeks ago. Vorazyr, we must get the female and her suckling back from them. They have stated that they will back out of negotiations should we not fulfil this final demand. We’ve already gotten them down to a third of the resources they originally demanded for her return. ”
I gripped the edge of the desk, my claws sinking in. “You’re saying I have to let Jacqueline go.” The words came out raw, as though claws were sliding down my throat.
His expression was careful. “I am sorry, Arrazyl. You know you will have support as you adjust from the female you’ve been mating. Others have been able to move on after losing a true mate. If we bring in another female to—”
“Stop.” I roared, rage flaring my wings out behind me. I couldn’t imagine touching another female. I could only think about waking up next to her, hearing her voice and feeling her softness.
Kyvar touched the panel and a hologram of the female who’d been taken appeared.
In it she was wearing an intricate, flowing dress and a smile.
“She has a babe now, in an unknown place, without the proper nurturing we give our bred females. Her mate hasn’t eaten properly in weeks.
” He paused and pain flashed across his face.
“I don’t want this either. But you are our Vorazyr. We trust you to make the hard choices.”
I stared at the image, only partly seeing the abducted female.
There were times that needed the cold, hard leader that I could be.
I had allowed Jacqueline to pull out a softer side of me, the side that would nurture a mate.
But she wasn’t my mate. I had not marked her, and the time for that part of me was gone. I was Vorazyr, this was my duty.
“Arrange the final meeting. We will accept their terms.”
When Kyvar was gone I stared out at the darkening landscape for a long time. My tablet made a soft sound. The confirmation of the meeting. I slashed my claws across the stone wall as a bellow of agony and rage tore from my chest.
I’d made friends and even managed not to get pulverized by the cranky older female vorpyr who didn’t like humans, and yet it felt like there was a stone lodged in my stomach as we arrived back to the city. The vorpyr were excited and energetic, but I stayed quiet.
I’d told Jaron what I knew about the situation and he agreed with my hypothesis that there had been a second group of Consortium Military that came with us undetected.
But what had they done? I hadn’t told Tatiana, but I admitted to Jaron that it was possible if they were using tranq darts, they weren’t using them for animals but for vorpyr.
But if that were true, then why? The potential answers to that question frightened me.
Vuldrex came to greet us as we climbed out of the massive baskets. “Welcome back. I will have the chef prepare some of our delights using gyksh layings for you to try.” Despite his friendly words, he seemed on edge.
I took him aside while the other two grabbed their packs. “What’s happened?”
The veins of his wings were dulled to a pasty white. “I’m sure if there’s anything to discuss, the Vorazyr will speak with you.” He gave me a kind smile that only ratcheted my anxiety to new levels.
“I’m going to visit Thyra before heading to the house.” Jaron said.
Vuldrex seemed uncomfortable but trilled, “I will take you to her.”
“We don’t need to be escorted to the house. Why don’t you two go directly?” I swung my pack up onto my shoulder.
“It would be best if you were accompanied.” He waved a wing at two warriors who were helping unload the baskets, and they came over. “Fly them up to the house.”
Tatiana seemed to sense the tension as well and cast me a nervous glance. I shook my head.
The warriors flew us directly home, cutting the time it would have taken us to walk in half.
The colorfully decorated house greeted me and I relaxed in the familiar environment.
I dropped my bag and went to the window, leaning my head out to see the familiar landscape before me.
I breathed in the sweet air and rested against the wall, staring out.
“What do you think that was all about?” Tatiana joined me. “I assume it has something to do with the dart I found?”
“I think so. I think they’re in direct conflict with the Consortium again.”
She paled. “We need to solidify our position here. Let’s face it, the Consortium screwed us. If there’s a conflict right now, we can’t be in the middle.”
“And there’s no way we’re going to make it home, so we need to make sure our place here is stable and continue to show that we’re useful and not a threat.”
“Exactly.” she bit her bottom lip. “I don’t know what more to do, Jacqueline.”
I pushed away from the wall. “Your job right now is to get some rest. I’m going to find Arrazyl.” After everything, I knew he wouldn’t begrudge me a frank conversation.
“It’s more than fair.” The ugly hairless human in the hologram said in a grating voice that made me wish he were physically in front of me so I could remove his vocal cords.
“Why bother with them? It’s not as though you care, having left them here for months. Hardly a worthwhile point to add to such important negotiations.” It may be a losing battle, but I would fight until the end. Always.
“It’s only responsible to give us back our people as we give you your female.”
“So you admit one vorpyr is worth three humans.” I sneered. Kyvar looked at me out of the corner of his eye.
The general’s jaw ticked. We’d been at this for hours and we both despised each other. “Just make sure they and the resources arrive without damage to the meeting point.”
“Damage?” I scoffed. “You didn’t seem to care about the damage they would endure when you abandoned them to us.”
“If they are not whole when they come to us, there will be consequences.”
“Consequences?” I laughed, low and dangerous. “Having them has been quite fun, general. I haven’t had something so exotic in my home for a long time.” I stretched my legs out in front of me. “They may be a little sore, but they will be in one piece.”
He pursed his lips, his expression one of contempt. “Two suns from now, at the agreed upon coordinates.” The hologram disintegrated.
I bared my fangs at the space he’d been in.
A soft noise outside the office made me lunge from my seat and fling the door aside. Jacqueline stood in the doorway, staring at me with a hand over her mouth, her eyes glistening.
“Is that what you think? Is that really all it was?” her voice broke. With a look that made guilt tear at my heart, she whirled away from me.
“Jacqueline, wait—” she was gone. I gritted my teeth. The desire to go after her and tell her she was perfect and I had only said that to get under the Consortium Military general’s skin was nearly overwhelming.
No, it’s better this way. If she hated me, it would make it easier for her to go. I turned away and walked in the opposite direction. It would have been less painful if an enemy was tearing open my chest with his claws.
As a woman in her thirties with a PhD who taught university students and conducted research, I thought I was mature and good at keeping my emotions under wraps, but as I sat on my bed clutching the amber necklace Arrazyl had given me, sobbing while Jaron and Tatiana banged on the locked door, asking me what was wrong, I realized I wasn’t quite as put together as I’d thought. At least not anymore.
I have to stop this. I’m not a lovesick teenager, full of hormones. And yet, that’s why the relationship I’d developed with Arrazyl meant so much. It was real. To me only, apparently.
Time passed as I sat there drowning in hurt, wondering how I’d gotten it so wrong, how he could say something so cruel, but I supposed I didn’t know him, not really.
The feel of his hands on me, his lips, how my heart had jumped at his tender words, haunted me.
Was it really just because he wanted to try it with another species?
I had a hard time believing it, even as my chest ached.
Eventually, I heard voices outside the door.
“What did he do to her?” Surprisingly it wasn’t Jaron but Tatiana’s voice, high pitched in stress.
The rumble of Kyvar’s voice came through the door. I was sniffling too loudly to hear what he said. Who cared? I just hoped he didn’t know about what had gone on between us.
The front door was slid aside hard enough to slam. I jumped. Did it splinter?
“Jaron, Thyra won’t be able to change it.” This time I heard Kyvar’s voice. There was a pause, then, “Tatiana, please don’t cry.”
“Just leave.” Her voice broke, and I squeezed my eyes shut as it felt like fissures formed in my heart.
His voice dropped and I couldn’t hear what else he said.
When his footsteps retreated, I went to the door and slid it open. Tatiana had tears in her eyes. When I held up an arm, she came over and we wrapped each other in a hug.
“What’s going on?” she whispered, her voice cracking.
A lump in my throat made me pause before answering. “Let’s sit down and talk.”
We walked to the living room and sat together on the settee.
Still, I couldn’t speak. I stared out the window, my breathing unsteady as I fought against fresh tears.
Finally, I spoke. I told her about what I’d heard, pausing here and there to steady myself.
About how I’d thought he and I had developed a good relationship, making what I heard such a horrible shock.
“And I’m not even sure what to think of the Consortium after lying to us and leaving us here. ”
She stared dully at the floor. “I was falling in love with him.”
I’d seen how Kyvar looked at her, and I knew he must be feeling the same way. I squeezed her arm gently.
I don’t know how long we sat there in silence until Jaron came back. Time seemed irrelevant right then. We no longer had any purpose except to wait for the inevitable.
“Are you ok?” I got to my feet when I saw his face. He was no longer angry nor was he crying, he just looked…tired.
“Are any of us?” He dropped into a chair.
“What did she say?” Tatiana asked.
“She cried.” He shook his head and rubbed a hand over his face, trying and failing to hide his own glistening eyes. “And said that there was nothing any of them could do.”
“Fuck.” The word seemed wholly inadequate compared to what I was feeling, what we all were feeling. “Well, we’ll have a story no one at the university will believe.” I said softly.
“Yeah, a once in a lifetime experience.” Jaron’s voice was as dull as mine.
“I suppose we should pack.” Tatiana made to stand, but didn’t seem able to push herself up.
“We don’t own anything here.” I reminded her, my voice gentle. I let my gaze drift to the window and stared out at the extension of the city on the other cliff. “We were never truly a part of this place.”