Oh.I had never considered Sue as my potential ticket away from here.Not even when Karim had shared his idea of sending women to the gargoyles.Was that why there had been sadness in his eyes when I’d eventually approved of the idea?Had he thought Iwould leave with the others?
I hadn’t thought of myself as a candidate for a single moment.And now when I tried to imagine leaving this place, never to see Karim again, a painful knot formed in my chest.
Therein lay my answer.I wanted to stay.For Karim, for the other humans here who I believed I could help.Yes.
I gave Sue a slight shake of my head.
Speaking normally this time, she said, “I see you are well fed and dressed, and in royal company.Itappearsyou are in good hands.”
“It truly is so.”
Her smile faltered a bit, and she guided me a step further from theroyals.A gargoyle moved along with us.Sue shot him a reprimanding look.“Fingor, get your tail out of the way, will you?”
He flapped his wings and obediently returned to his previous spot.
The next thing I knew, Sue was hugging me and whispering in my ear.“Don’t be afraid, I can get you out of here!I know you’re a prisoner like the other humans, just dressed up for the sake of appearances.The trade deal is how we’ll do it, no violations of the alliance.I will ask for your release specifically.In exchange, we’ll give them extra mangoes and hope the bastards overdose on fruit sugar.”
“Sue, it’s not like that.”I peeked at Karim again, who looked focused on his conversation with Xaniban.“I’m with the Prince.”
She pulled back to stare at me.Then she came back for another portion of conspiratorial whispering masked as hugging.“You can’t be serious.These are elves we’re talking about: they hate us for destroying the environment and find us disgusting for eating meat.They would have killed me in this very forest shortly after the second apocalypse, had the sunrise not screwed up their aim.”
It was my turn to be shocked.She’d survived something like that and was still attending these negotiations?“Why did you come tonight?”
“To show them the middle finger, duh!As well as that humansare brave enough to face their fears and fight for this world.”
It was my turn to pull back and give her a funny look.“And yet you trust them enough to ally with them?”
Sue shrugged.“We don’t exactly have many potential allies to choose from, do we?The other shadow kinds and the aliens want us for food or reproduction.This is how we humans fight back.I have a plan, Jasmine.”She added in a whisper from behind her palm, “An unhinged plan, mind you, but Xan and I already have the support of the gargoyles on ours and several other homeclouds.”
Sue hesitated a bit, then hugged me once again and said in my ear, “It is safe up there, amid the clouds.We’re away from the dangers on the ground.There’s no food and water rationing, just freedom and sunshine.And no one expects you to shave your body hair.Ever.”
I laughed.Now that was a huge advantage.
“It sounds amazing, but…” My gaze sought Karim again.
“Ahh.Like that, is it?”Sue regarded me with an inquisitive smile.
I bit my lip and nodded.
“Holy crap.I mean, I’m not one to judge–you’ve seen the company I’m keeping these days.”She herself cast a look at Karim over her shoulder.“You sure about whatever this thing between you is?”
A nervous laugh escaped me.“Have I ever been sure about anything?”
“If a plant were involved, I would say yes.But since we’re dealing with a specimen of an entirely different type…” Sue squeezed my hand and smiled in a way that said she thought me nuts but would support me nevertheless.“If you reconsider, tell me.We’ll be flying down in a week or so for the first official trade exchange.In the meantime, think about it.”
“I will,” I assured her, then hugged her again, non-conspiratorially this time.“Thank you, Sue.”
“Do think about it–ice cream and cheese, Jasmine.”
We both laughed, and I had to wipe off a stray tear.Sue was coming back, and yet these days, you never knew what tomorrow would bring.But I had to believe that we’d been brought together for a reason.
Thewhooshof large wings turned our attention toward the clearing.Our guys were headed our way, and Sue’s mate looked restless.Karim was calm and collected, as regal as required, but his appreciative gaze was all for me.A shiver of anticipation ran through me.
Sue gave me one last hand squeeze before she went to stand by the King.He had his tail around her waist to tug her under his wing before she could reach him.“So far away from me,anima, and yet you are enjoying yourself,” he admonished with a teasing tone.“I am jealous and wish to take you home.”
She smirked and patted his impressive six-pack.“Likewise,animar.”Meanwhile, her eyes followed Karim’s every move as the two of us reunited.
Given how he hadn’t touched me a single time tonight, I could see why Sue wasn’t buying us being truly together.I could only hope she’d caught the way he looked at me, because that was where his affection shone through.I now knew not to worry about her being with the gargoyles, and wanted her not to worry about me.
