“You made it quite clear that you saw no future for us,” he bit out and something flashed in Lani’s eyes. Something that looked like…guilt. “So,nix, I did not ask. I acted, because I already knew what your answer would be.”
“It doesn’t make it okay,” she said, though some of the indignant anger had lessened in her voice. She inhaled a long breath. “You can’t make big decisions like this without consulting me. I’ve felt terribleallnight andallday and here you were, planning to take me to Troxva whether I wanted to go or not.”
“Your place is withme,” he growled. “Until you realize that, Iwillbe making more decisions like this when it concerns you, when it concernsus.”
Lani’s eyes flared, her nostrils flared, and her mouth tightened.
“Unbelievable,” she muttered, turning back around to face the control panel, crossing her arms over her chest.
Kirov cursed under his breath, running a hand over his horn. He felt like he was losing his goddamn mind. Ever since last night, he’d felt…unhinged.
“Female…” he said, softening his tone, reaching out to touch a lock of her hair.
“No,” she said, her tone clipped. “I’m mad at you. We will talk later once I calm down.”
Kirov blew out a breath, but he knew that she needed time. She would forgive him eventually.
She had to.
Turning from her, he crouched down in front of one of the travel sacks he’d loaded and shook out a fur blanket he’d packed from his sleeping platform.
He approached her and carefully draped it around her shoulders, wanting to keep her warm during their journey at the very least. He doubted she would let him hold her at this point.
“Thank you,” she sniffed, her tone remaining like steel, her back straight and still. But for some reason, as he watched her pull the blanket tighter, Kirov fought back a small grin.
“You are welcome, female.”
Chapter Nineteen
Lainey woke sometime the next morning to the sound of gentle wind and the beauty of an even gentler sunrise.
Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, praying she hadn’t been drooling in her sleep, she looked up from her position on the floor of the hovercraft to see Kirov, still standing at the control panel, still awake.
Blinking the sleep from her eyes and immediately combing her fingers through her hair, she pushed up from the floor, her back twinging with discomfort. She didn’t remember falling asleep, but there was a blanket pushed underneath her head and another draped over her body to keep her warm.
Her heart thumped hard at the knowledge he’d tried to make her comfortable.
“Where are we?” she asked, her voice scratchy, feeling oddly vulnerable that she’d slept in front of him. She just hoped she hadn’t been snoring.
Still sitting with her back to the wall of the hovercraft, keeping the blanket secured around her shoulders, she peeked over the edge to see an entirely different landscape than what she’d been expecting. Whereas the land surrounding the Golden City was like a desert, with sand spreading in all directions, peaked with gothic, yet lovely, mountains, wherever they were had given way to lush greenery, huge lakes of water so dark, they looked filled with coffee, and meadows and fields.
“Come,” he murmured, holding out his hand for her. After a moment of hesitation, she took it and let him secure her between his body and the control panel. He lifted his arm and said, “A pack oftrixava. It is rare to see them this east. We near Troxva.”
Lainey peered to where he was gesturing and a little thrill of excitement went through her when she saw a large herd of dark-haired beasts, not unlike buffalos, drinking out of one of the lakes they passed over. They were too high to see their features, but even from this distance, Lainey could see they werehuge.
“We are almost there?” she repeated, looking from the herd of animals to the surrounding area. The sunrise made everything ten times as beautiful and Lainey had a feeling that even if she could take a picture of the view, it would never capture everything.
This place had to be experienced, not captured.
“Tev,” he said, looking down at her. Always direct, he asked, “Are you still upset with me?”
“Maybe,” she whispered, though if she was being honest, a little bit of much-needed sleep had helped dull it.
And yeah, Kirov had totally tricked her and kidnapped her from the Golden City.
Then again, Lainey had lied to his face about believing in the whole Instinct thing and had hinted that the night they’d been in the meadow hadn’t meant anything to her.
So really, she figured they were kind of…even? Still, Lainey had a lot to apologize for.
