Page 55 of Keeping His Mate

Is the warrior crew about to arrive for a session? Or are those done for the day? Bruvix spends half his life right here on this dirt patch. Why did this oily lizard man have to catch me here the one time it’s empty? Maybe if I stall long enough, they’ll show up.

Keep him talking. Keep him talking.

He laughs, but it sounds more like the cackle of someone with a severe head cold. “You see, something was stolen from me. And I am here to get it back.”

Keep him talking.

I already know the answer to this question, but I ask it anyway. “Oh yeah? And what’s that?”

He takes a step closer, pressing the cold barrel of the gun right between my eyes. “You, pretty one. You.”

CHAPTER 24

BRUVIX

“Has Elle-noor been by this eve?” I ask Cloh-ee and Varrek as I sway side to side with little Vahla in my arms. I feel much more comfortable holding her this time. Perhaps it is because her skin is brighter than it was before. She looks stronger, somehow, as if she is already growing into the formidable female she will one day become. Pride heats my cheeks as I smile down at her, this wrinkly little thing.

“No, haven’t seen her,” Cloh-ee sleepily replies. “But I fell asleep for a while there.”

Varrek hands his mate a cup of water and kisses the side of her head. “I was awake during that time, and I did not see her.”

“Hmm,” I grunt. After I met with Ahlvo in Varrek’s weapons room, we came here to see if he heard back from Ekoya, which he hasn’t. I assumed Elle-noor would come by after dish duty following the final meal, but she has not. Although, it is just as likely that she returned home immediately after her shift. She seemed tired earlier this day.

Nalba leans over my shoulder and lightly pokes at Vahla’s cheeks. “She is fascinating to look at, is she not?” she asks me, shaking her head in wonder.

“I never took you for having an interest in children, Nalba,” I say.

She grumbles “o fah” under her breath and gives my arm a slight shove. “Nor I, you, Bruvix.”

I suppose that is fair.

“It is my turn,” Varrek declares, gently taking the sleeping bundle from my arms. “I have waited all day to see my brilliant daughter.” He says it as if speaking directly to her in a soft, gleeful tone she would understand. Then he rocks her side to side, and his smile grows, stretching across his entire face.

“Hello!” Waldric hollers as he enters the med room, a heaping plate of food in one hand. “I brought this feast for the lovely Cloh-ee, whom I assume is famished after bringing a new life into the world.”

“Waldric!” She squeals as quietly as she can so as not to wake Vahla, but in reality, not quietly at all. Then she holds out her hands as he presents her with a stack of junasii bread and marinated kuhnypa meat with berries and root vegetables in little piles around the bread. “You are a gem.”

Waldric crosses his arms over his chest and grins, proud to watch Cloh-ee enjoy the food he prepared for her. Then he turns to me with a furrow on his brow. “I was surprised to miss Elle-noor at the final meal. If she is not feeling well, please tell her she does not need to clean the dishes for first meal in the morning, yes?”

“She…” I pause, scratching my chin, baffled by the words Waldric just spoke. “She was not at final meal?”

“No,” he replies. “I have not seen her since middle meal.”

It is not like Elle-noor to cast aside her duties. Even when we were nursing Stahn-lee back to health and not getting much sleep at all, Elle-noor made sure to fulfill her dish duties at each meal. A chill races down my spine at a thought that I refuse to entertain. No. No, she is fine. She is well. She is merely at home. She probably fell asleep and missed final meal completely. That is all.

“I must go,” I choke out as I race out the door. Once I am on the main path, I push my legs as fast as they will take me. I ignore all who greet me as I pass because I must confirm Elle-noor is okay. That she is safe.

“Elle-noor!” I shout as I whip open my front door. “Elle-noor!” I continue to holler as I race up the stairs, pausing to check each room. I make it to the garden on the top floor and yell “Elle-noor!” as I stagger around the flower beds, hoping to find her curled in on herself, peacefully snoozing in a spot I would not expect to find her, in a place that is not easy to see, because the alternative… it is unfathomable.

Finally allowing the thought to take root in my head, I let my blood run hot with rage as I charge down the stairs and back out into the night. Racing toward the med room, I think of nothing but violence, vengeance––cold and satisfying.

“She is gone,” I blurt as I throw open Kaiva’s front door. All the eyes in the room are on me now, some frightened, some in denial, but most in anger.

“He is here,” Varrek says through gritted teeth.

“Yes,” I reply, my hand going to the dagger in my belt.

“Bzzsil Chi? You’re sure?” Aye-vah asks, her breath coming out in short pants.