“Do you plan to betray us?”I asked him.“If you were suddenly healed and strong, would you run back to your Kwin and tell her everything you’ve learned?”
His shoulders slumped and he shook his head.
“No.There’s nothing for me but more torture if I did that.The Kwin does not forgive.”
“Then we won’t be leaving you or killing you.Unlike sytos, turochs can forgive.”
“Did he tell you there are sytos at his camp?”Jessa asked.
Jiith stared at her in silence, and I picked a building at random and made it my new goal.We were still on the outskirts of the city, and I doubted we’d come across another shelter before Jiith’s body finally gave out.I would have fled into the city, making use of the cover and possible supplies, but I knew the sytos weren’t used to living planet side and the rougher the country, the bigger of an advantage we had.
We’d have to brave the city soon enough, though, to reach the camp.It would be best if I had my hands free to fight if it came to it, and that meant Jiith and my mate needed rest.
“You mean they have prisoners,” Jiith finally said.
“No, we have sytos in our band.Captain Uriish and Gigi.Uriish helps to scavenge tech and pilot the shuttle and Gigi has become a small, blue turoch,” I smiled at my own joke.The syto was nearly half the size of the rest of us, and lacked the horns needed to spar, but he managed to insert himself everywhere and I doubted a single turoch in camp disliked him.
“Gigi is not a syto name,” Jiith said suspiciously.
I shrugged, knowing there was some joke attached to the renamed syto but not quite grasping it.“One of the females gave it to him.”
*
The building I’d foundwas a small house, long and squat, with bits of debris scattered around it and a small dome near the front door with a chain attached.
“Oh,” Jessa let out a sad murmur as we passed the dome and she spotted a small white skull inside.“Someone’s poor dog.”
I recognized the word.Carn and Naomi had one of the animals as a pet, but it was tiny, at least half the size of the skeleton in the dome.I cautiously stepped onto the rotting stairs that led to the front door and twisted the knob.It was locked.
Backing up a step, I kicked the door in, wood shattered and the door swayed drunkenly on its torn hinges.A stale, musty scent wafted out of the small house and Jessa wrinkled her nose.
“They definitely had a mold problem,” she muttered.
I stepped inside, squinting in the sudden lack of light, and saw a small room with a low sagging couch, and a flat black rectangle hanging on the wall in front of it.Small, silver cans littered the floor and there was the sour odor of rotting food in the air.
Pausing in the doorway, I angled my ears, listening for any sign we weren’t alone, and heard only the scrabble of rodents scurrying in the walls.
“It's safe,” I decided, moving toward the couch.
Jessa followed me in, still clutching the percer egg, and headed for an opening in the far wall.
“I’ll see if there’s any flashlights or lanterns,” she said.“Let Jiith rest a minute.”
The syto was at the end of his strength and I didn’t argue.It went against my instincts to sit while my mate scavenged, but cuffed to Jiith, my only options were the couch, or dragging his weak body from room to room.
Jiith collapsed as soon as we reached the couch, his breathing labored, and his skin peeling from sunburn.
“Let me rest for a moment and I will see if I can unlock the cuffs,” he wheezed, his eyes half shut.I lowered my weight on the cushion beside his, wincing when the frame cracked beneath me.There was an oily film on the fabric of the cushions and the stench of alcohol and old sweat clung to it.
It made me long for my small tent and the fresh blankets and hides I slept on.A tent I’d soon share with Jessa.
“There is no hurry,” I said quietly, keeping my attention on the sounds of Jessa rustling through the house.“We will rest here for the night I think.”
“Your female and I are slowing you down.It would be wiser to leave us.I want you to leave me.”
I flicked an ear against my horn and bit back a growl at his words.
“My mate is not as strong as me, she never will be.She doesn’t need to prove herself against my abilities, I will always protect her.”
