Her cheeks warmed. “You could say that.”
Earlier that evening after the feast ended, the siblings had been introduced to some members of the Rainspell herd. Like all the centaurs she’d met all of them had been friendly and warm, but she had found Vyzeh to be especially affable and so they quickly got on like a house on fire.
“I’m glad you’ve finally had a chance to be alone with your Drakkon.” Vyzeh whispered as they hurried away from the others. “Was it everything you thought it would be?”
Her cheeks turned even hotter.I shouldn’t have had so much grass mead.But she had always been a lightweight and after a few mugs, she had confessed to Vyzeh about her crush on her coworker.
Frankly, she’d been feeling discouraged the last couple of days. She’d tried cornering him, peppering him with questions about basilisks and their preferences. While he answered her questions, he didn’t engage further and he avoided her outside their training sessions and with him being so unreadable, it was difficult to know what to do next.
“I know how you feel,” Vyzeh had said. “I, too, am hoping to catch the attention of a certain colt.”
“Oh, tell me more,” Zara encouraged, hoping to steer the attention from her own woes.
“His name is Therul and is a member of the Moonwish herd. We have locked eyes across the fields before but he’s been too reserved to approach me.” She glanced around and lowered her voice. “I’m hoping tonight I could get him alone during a round ofzegizh minwha,a game we play where a filly and colt are placed in akeziltogether for eighteen minutes where they can do anything they want.”
“Oh, sounds like a game we play on the Upperworld. Well, what are you waiting for? How do we get this game started?”
Zara of course, had no plans of joining the game. She only wanted to see her new friend succeed in catching her crush’s attention. But then Hektor came along…
“I hope you didn’t mind that I pushed you in,” Vyzeh said. “Seemed like a good opportunity.”
She burst out into a laugh. “Right! And—” She halted her steps and glanced around. “Wait, where’s Hektor?” She thought she had seen him walking just ahead of them, but the Drakkon was nowhere to be found.
Vyzeh’s eyes narrowed. “I think I see him up ahead.”
While she could only see a large, dark form stalking back toward the main campfire, she knew that could only be Hektor.
“I should go after him.” They needed to talk.
“You should.”
“Yes—oh wait!” She had been waiting to get her new friend alone for most of the night to tell her something important. “About Therul?”
Her face lit up in genuine interest. “Yes?”
“He feels the same way you do.” She had sensed it when she met the other centaur earlier in the evening.
“Truly?”
“Yeah, big time.” She honestly thought she would combust at the spot, sensing the male’s lust and attraction toward Vyzeh. “So, don’t worry and go after him. But, I’ll see you later?”
“Yes, but if we are both lucky, maybe not until much, much later,” the centaur said with a saucy wink.
She chuckled and waved at her friend before she scurried after Hektor. She really had to push herself to catch up to him and by the time she was within his earshot, she was panting.
“Hektor…wait…a sec…” With a deep breath, she managed to surge forward and reach his side. “Hektor, didn’t you hear me?” she said, grabbing onto his arm. “Hektor?”
He kept his gaze straight ahead. “The wind must have carried your voice away.”
Even without her empath powers, she could feel the change in his mood. It was a complete one-eighty from the passionate, lusty Hektor in the tent that had made her feel things she never had before.
“Hektor.” She tugged at his arm, but he didn’t look at her. “Hektor, we should talk.”
“Yes.” He blew out a breath. “We should.” Gently, he pried her hands from his arm. “Zara, what happened back there can’t happen again.”
“You can’t mean that.” Anxiety wrapped around her, feeling him slipping away. “Hektor, what happened in there wasn’t anything we should regret.”
“You have another male in your life. Your basilisk.”
