Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 97459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
He brightens. “I would love for you to ask me something.”
“What are you?”
The stranger cocks his head, as if digesting this question. “I am Tall Horn clan.”
“Is that…what is that? A devil clan? Are you a devil?”
“I do not know what that is.”
Maybe they call devils something different in his language. I’m vaguely aware that when I talk to him, I’m speaking English and he is not, but I can still understand every word he says. I could understand the four-armed guy, too. But a devil is the closest approximation to what he is, I think. He’s got those fiendish horns and strange glowing eyes. His chest is built and he’s attractive. A devil would be attractive, wouldn’t they? To entice people to sin? “Do you live here in this cave?”
“Here? Oh no.” He chuckles. “I have never been in this cave in my life.”
And yet he looks so delighted to be here. “Is where you live hot? With a lot of flames? And pitchforks?”
“I once lived in a hot place, but now I live upon the beach.” R’jaal looks as if he wants to say more, and then stops himself. After a moment he adds, “It is cold there. Do you not like the cold?”
Do I like the cold? I stare at him, my teeth chattering, my breath fogging in the air. “Not a fan of the cold, no.”
“It will be less cold when you have a khui.”
The last word he says doesn’t translate. I wait for him to repeat it, but when he doesn’t, I go back to my quizzing. “So you said you live on a beach. What beach?”
He looks puzzled. “The…beach.”
“Does it have a name? Like, Malibu? Or Fort Lauderdale?”
“It is the beach,” he says helpfully. “Icehome beach.”
“Never heard of it. What state is that in? Or is it in Europe?”
“It is a beach.” He shrugs again. “Where are you from, R’slind?”
I ignore his question, because the answer bothers me. I point at the bars of our jail cell instead. “What about that guy? The one with the four arms. Do you know him?” When R’jaal shakes his head, I ask, “How come you don’t have four arms?”
“Because I am not Strong Arm clan. I am Tall Horn.” He gestures at his head.
“There’s more than one clan?”
“Oh, yes.” His expression brightens with pride. “But Tall Horn is the best.”
Tall Horn clan, Strong Arm clan, dudes with four arms, dudes with glowing blue eyes… “This isn’t Earth, is it?” I ask in a small voice.
R’jaal’s expression changes to one of sympathy, his tail flicking on the floor like a cat. “It is not your world, no. But I know what you are. You are a hyoo-man.”
My eyes widen and I sit up taller. “Oh my god, that’s right. How do you know that?”
“Because I know others of your kind that were brought here by the flying caves.”
“Flying…caves?”
He pauses for a moment. “The sheeps?”
Five
R’JAAL
R’slind. My mate. I say her name in my mind over and over again, tasting it in my thoughts. I want to breathe in her scent as it lays against her skin. I want to bury my face in her mane. I want to touch her, caress her soft curves. She is skittish and afraid, though, and I must somehow find a way to calm her.
She is afraid of both the stranger that I smell and of me. I should be afraid, too, but if someone dumped me into a cage, they mean to keep me alive for a time. I should also be worried about T’ia, about M’tok and the others in the fruit cave. I do not know how I was stolen, but the scent of the mushrooms must have something to do with it.
There are a great many things I should be worrying about. Instead, my thoughts are filled with R’slind. R’slind and her dead eyes, her noisy clacking teeth, and her endless questions. I need to please her and reassure her that I mean her no harm. She needs to see that I am a friend, because she did not react well when I told her she was my mate.
She must not know about resonance. Leezh said it was new for hyoo-mans. It must be new for R’slind, too. I want more than anything to comfort her, but she only seems more distressed by my words.
The others can take care of themselves. Right now R’slind needs me. I do not care that I have been captured and held in a cave. My mate is here and that is all that matters.
My mate is also frowning fiercely at me, her jaw trembling. She rubs her arms, scowling in my direction. “I don’t understand what you mean. Sheep? What sheep?”
I am not using my hyoo-man words right. “The ones that fly through the sky with no wings.”