Kolt nodded without asking me to explain snow beetles. “And my horde was fighting this new infestation?”
“From what I gather, although I only know what your boss told our leaders.”
He made a noise in the back of his throat. “And my boss is…”
I fought to keep the impatience from my voice. “Raas Wrexxon, also known as The Scourge.”
He wrinkled his nose at this. “The Qeth’rex?”
I smiled at him. “You remember?”
“Not really, but that is the word that came to mind when you said Scourge.”
“It must be Vandar for scourge. Anyway, he seems to be leading the charge against the Zagrath.”
Kolt was silent for a few beats, and I closed my eyes, hoping we were done with the question-and-answer portion of the night.
“You do not approve of him.”
It wasn’t a question. I opened my eyes again to see him staring at me. “I didn’t say that.” At least I hadn’t said it since he’d lost his memory.
“But that is what your voice tells me.”
Great. Now he was good at reading voiceinflections.
“I don’t know your boss,” I said. “I only know that he took my best friend against her will.”
His face twisted into a frown. “That does not sound like honorable behavior.”
“Apparently, he took her to save her from being killed by the Zagrath. She was on the same imperial hit list I was.”
Why did it feel like we’d switched sides in an old argument?
His frown morphed into an expression of concern. “You are on an imperial hit list?”
This was going to be a long night. “That’s why we’re here.”
“But they didn’t kill you.”
I breathed a sigh, thinking about my conversation with the Zagrath in charge. “I don’t know if they ever planned to kill me. I was bait to get the Vandar back to Lexxona, and now we’re bait to bring your horde looking for us.”
Kolt jerked up, and I had to catch myself before I rolled onto the floor. “We’re meant to lure my people into a trap?”
I stood and rolled my neck to one side. The muscular Vandar hadn’t made such a good pillow after all.
“If they didn’t have a use for us, they wouldn’t have bothered to take us alive or keep us captive. I don’t like it any more than you do since my best friend is now on one of your horde ships.”
He stood, raked a hand through his hair and started to pace. I guessed he didn’t need to remember his past to know he thought better when he paced. “If we escape, they can no longer use us as bait.”
“Yes,” I said as another yawn creaked my jaw. “But it won’t do any good unless we can get word to your people or mine. Not only do we have to escape, but we have to find a way to send a message to the Vandar before they come looking for us. Or we have to find a way off this planet.”
He stopped pacing and met my eyes. “That is a lot. I do not know how to do any of those things.”
I hated to say it, but I was starting to miss the cocky, overconfident version of Kolt.
“We need to take it one step at a time,” I told him. “First, we escape, and then we figure out the rest.”
He grunted, and I got the idea he wasn’t satisfied with this answer. “What if we fail?”
