Page 27 of Theirs to Crave
Their faces were...not exactly catlike. But not human, either. They had muzzles—and all those teeth—but the proportion wasn’t right for a big cat. Too tall. And they didn’t have the cute pink nose, or the whiskers. Their upper lips were much like a big cat’s, split down the center and furred like the rest of their faces. But their lower lips—
I ran my tongue over mine, watching the firelight glint off the curve of Revik’s mouth as he spoke to Zafett. It looked...nice.
Their ears were utterly catlike, mobile and expressive. Zafett’s ears were long and pointed, with a tuft at the end like a lynx. Revik’s were shorter, rounder, and Litha’s somewhere in between. They were set high on their heads, although not as high as those headbands people wore back home, and poked out past their hair.
I kept staring at their bodies, and I was beginning to feel like a perv. But I was fascinated by the way they moved. I’d gone to the zoo a few times as a kid, and they moved like the chimpanzees had—easily shifting from standing upright, to crouching, to walking on all fours.
Litha shrugged, slipping off her weapon harness, and our eyes met. I looked away quickly, staring fixedly into the fire. Which was also, coincidentally, why my cheeks were hot. No other reason.
Yin shifted, backing away from the fire, and concern distracted me from my embarrassment. I was loving getting dry, but the Quoosalk needed to stay hydrated.
I looked around, finding a nook farther away from the fire, layered with cushions.
“Litha?” I called. When she looked over, ears quirked curiously, I pointed to the cushions and pretended to sit. “Het?”
She nodded with a welcoming sweep of her hand.
“Relyat,” I replied with a smile, and cupped my hand around Yin’s elbow. “Come sit, Abuele.”
Yin patted my fingers and allowed me to lead xem to the cushions, Salat and Therry following close behind. The elder satwith a long sigh, xyr head lowering as the others curled around xem.
My chest ached.
“We’ll go back for xem,” I promised. “For Ilya. We’re free. We won’t leave xem there.”
Yin met my eyes, and xyrs were wet with unshed tears. Xe nodded. “Yes. We are all free.”
“And we’re together. Whatever happens. Family,” Shane vowed.
Voices rose in agreement, but my brother only stared into the fire, his fists clenched at his sides. I furrowed my brow, stepping in his direction, but Zafett’s voice interrupted me.
“Zaffet hellt?” He held up a bundle that looked a lot like bandages and a small ceramic pot and nodded towards the doorway. His buttercup eyes rested on Cass with concern, but at Revik’s rumbled comment they swung to land on me.
What? Why me?
“Estrayuh?” he coaxed. “Zafett hellt?”
“Go on,” Cass encouraged. “Don’t want to upset our hosts. I’m fine to wait my turn.”
“Yeah, gotta make sure you’re not bleeding internally or growing some weird alien fungus,” Ria cut in.
“Thanks for that,” I snorted. “Something new to worry about.” I stepped towards Zafett, but Mariano stopped me with a hand on my arm. I raised an eyebrow at him.
He dropped it immediately, the closed off expression shifting to a brightly false smile. “Have fun playing doctor,” was all he said, winking.
I ducked beneath the cloth Zafett held up, worry for my brother mixing with trepidation. I didn’t really think Zafett would hurt me—none of the Teterayuh had been aggressive towards us—but the constant barrage ofnewnesshad worn me down. I was burned out. I just wanted to sleep, and every new discovery, fascinating though they were, made me feel shakier, more brittle.
I didn’t want to shatter.
There was another fire here, smaller and set into a raised hearth. It left the shadows thick around the edges of the room, so I couldn’t get a good grasp of how big the space was. It was mostly open, with a loosely woven lattice wall to one side. As we passed it, I peered through and sighed, seeing Svixa sleeping peacefully, curled on a giant pillow.
Zafett stopped by the fire and set the bandages and pot next to several other items lined up on its edge. With his ears tipped forward in a way I read as friendly, he pointed down at his feet.
His feet had thumbs.
I blinked, and blinked again, but there they were. He shifted on his feet-hands and the toes flexed. I nearly lost it, but laughing hysterically at our host wasdefinitelyrude. And besides, his feet weren’t the problem, I was just loopy as hell.
Belatedly, I realized he was pointing at a stack of furs. My eyes flew to his.