That word again. Happy.
“We came up with Krane and Jron around the time my father left us,” Crystal admitted quietly. “And somehow they stayed with us. Or, at least, stayed with me. They helped us get through that time. Imagination is a powerful thing. It can be a powerful tool, too, especially when you’re hurting.”
“I am sorry about your sire,luxiva,” he murmured lowly. If anyone could understand, it was him, she realized. His father had left too.
She hadn’t meant to reveal so much, but she found that she didn’t regret it.
Crystal looked over at him, clearing her throat, and said, “I was taken from Earth just after I’d begun writing a book. Their book. I want to create a series of stories for children with their adventures and I was going to do the illustrations for them too. I’ve been drawing them here actually. On Luxiria. That’s what I did most of the time back in the Golden City. At least after Kirov gave me that tablet.”
“Kirov?” Cruxan asked, frowning.
“Yes,” she said. “I think Lainey had mentioned that I liked to draw and he gave me a tablet. That’s what I would do during the day while we waited.”
He was still frowning, but he told her, “I will acquire you another one once we reachKroratax.”
“Really?” she asked, her breath hitching.
“Tev,” he said, inclining his head. “But you must show me Krane and Jron.”
Her lips twitched. “Deal,” she said, though she suddenly felt a little nervous showing him her work. What would he think?
When she looked forward again, she was surprised to see that the jungle was looming just up ahead. Close enough that she could see past the obvious line of the threshold, into the darkness between the gaps of the massive trees. Only they weren’t really trees. Up close, they looked like gigantic agave plants, though they were a dark blue in color. Fat, flat leaves unfurled into pointed, sharp tips, the very bottom level resting on the ground of the jungle, curling wildly. The ‘trunk’ was thick and wide, climbing so high that even from a slight distance, Crystal had to tilt her head back to look up at them.
She’d never seen anything like it. Then again, everything on Luxiria surprised her.
Like the male walking next to you, her mind whispered.
In seemingly no time at all, they reached the jungle and the moment they stepped past its threshold, Crystal was assaulted with different scents and sounds and sights.
She smelled the dampness of the plant life, the pungent, musky scent of the ground. It wasn’t unpleasant—quite the opposite actually—but it was obvious. What was even more obvious to her was that there was more life in the jungle than there’d been in the white tree forest. Echoing cries reverberated off the giant trees. Branches rustled. She heard skittering little feet run past to her left, but when she looked, there was nothing there.
Definitely a little eerie. Cruxan must’ve noticed her unease because he assured her, “They are onlyvirvira. Harmless little beasts that will probably be our meal for the night.”
What struck her the most was the jungle’s beauty. The light seemed to have a blue tinge because of the massive agave plants. She felt cocooned in by them since they towered on all sides. It was oddly cozy, yet otherworldly and even ethereal.
As they ventured deeper inside, Crystal got a closer look at the other plant life that sprouted along the jungle floor. Vivid and colorful plants dotted the landscape, ranging from electric blue to a vibrant emerald green. One particular teal-colored plant sprouted orange bulbs and when she asked Cruxan what they were, he replied they were used as a spice once properly dried.
It took time to take it all in as they walked. The artist in her wanted to paint it because the jungle held a strange beauty she wanted to capture, in all of its glorious colors.
What I wouldn’t give for a camera right now, she mused, her lips quirking a little. But since she didn’t have one, she tried to memorize everything she saw, so that she would be able to paint it later. She studied the textures of the agave trees, the way the low light bounced off their leaves. She studied the ground, how it resembled the stickiness and consistency of mud, but didn’t leave residue on the bottom of her new shoes when she checked. She studied all the colors, all while wondering how she would ever be able to mix paints that would do them justice.
“It is different,tev?” Cruxan asked her quietly.
“It’s beautiful,” she replied, looking over at him. “But it must be overwhelming for you. All the smells and sounds.”
His lips quirked, his eyes warm. “If I try to focus only on you,” he started, making her lips part, “then it is not so overwhelming.”
Crystal’s fingers shook a little and she could physically feel another little fissure cracking her guard again. Why did he have to be so damn charming? Why couldn’t he be a selfish asshole? This whole ‘ignoring the mate business’ would be a hell of a lot easier if he was an asshole.
Crystal lagged behind slightly, despite Cruxan’s earlier warnings. If she didn’t get a little bit of space between them, she would regret it later. Even though his back was to her—and what a magnificent eyeful that made—Crystal knew that, with his senses, he’d be able to hear if anything was a threat around them. She didn’t feel like she was in danger, though the jungle was alive with noise.
They were just rounding another agave tree, journeying deeper into the jungle, when Crystal spied a bright flash of fuchsia pink that immediately drew her awed gaze.
It was a cluster of black, spiky bushes, bunched and a little hidden underneath a trunk of one agave tree. Crystal counted at least seven of them and each bush was topped with a single, unfurled, fuchsia flower.
It wasbeautiful. The flower had thick petals, clustered like a peony, her absolute favorite, and from the very center, there was a black stem that jutted from the top. The color grew even more vibrant as she approached it.
Up close, she could smell a heady perfume that made her lips part. It was a delicious fragrance, one she wanted more of. She wanted to bathe in that fragrance.
