When the air and the room had cleared, Glia held her pup to her breast contemplatively as the small creature made noises of contentment and settled into eat. “You shouldn’t have done that, you know,” Glia said. Her tone was mournful as she stared down at her pup. “Myla won’t forget.”
“Let me worry about Myla.” Eleri held back the sigh brewing behind her teeth as she measured the pup’s heartbeat and then mother’s blood pressure. Glia didn’t need to know that her hands were shaking with adrenaline as she examined the pup’s wings and then checked the feeding latch to make sure he was getting enough to eat.
“She’s going to make life hard for you.”
“I have no doubt.” It was easy to be brave when she wasn’t confronted with an entire pack of females, but Glia didn’t need to knowhow her knees were still quavering. “Irio looks perfect. How are you feeling?” Eleri asked.
“Tired.” Glia made a shrieking that indicated laughter. “But I think that’s true for all new parents. Lyros is out working for the day, but he helps as much as he can when he’s home.”
“Good. Do you have any other friends who can come help and might be a bit less… disruptive?”
“I apologize for all the trouble. It’s hard to say no to Myla. I’ll send a comm to Wira if I need any help.”
“You can also always contact the clinic if you need anything.”
“Thanks, Eleri.” Glia’s voice softened. “I’m glad you decided to come to Laurus, even if we weren’t the most welcoming when you first got here. But it seems like S’samph has come around? We’ve seen you two together a few times recently.”
Eleri could feel the blush rising up the back of her neck. No hiding anything from anyone around here, it seemed. “I’ll be back next week to check on Irio’s growth.”
“Thanks.”
Eleri smiled and started to pack away her tools before hurrying out of the now quiet home and back into the blistering sun outside. She wasn’t entirely sure Myla and her pack wouldn’t be waiting for her when she exited the dwelling, but kyrot weren’t particularly fond of heat and preferred the cooler night and evening hours for their peak of activity.
After determining the coast was clear, she breathed a superheated sigh of relief. A few levibikes sped by in the distance, but otherwise the world was blissfully empty. She took a rare moment of pause to repack her medkit in the shadow of one of the domed houses. There was always an awkwardness in lingering in a patient’s home to do small tasks like this, but she also didn’t want to waste time when she returned to the clinic. Instead, she planted herself in the dust and took inventory of the unrefrigerated supplies.
The sun was beating down on her with unusual intensity when she realized she’d forgotten to put on her hat. Eleri reached into the front pocket of the medkit where she always stored it and found it empty. She frowned and fished around in the other compartments. Had she left it back in the house? A quick search inside turned up nothing. Someone had taken her hat.
CHAPTER 15
S’Samph
Even for latil’e the days were becoming unbearably hot. The suns always flared hottest right before flooding, and it seemed like it would only be a matter of standard days until the storm clouds started seeding overhead. S’samph crossed the canal, riding over the bridge between the commercial and residential areas of Laurus.
He was about to accelerate when he noticed a scrap of familiar white woven fabric half fused to the magtracks below. S’samph slowed and dismounted from his levibike. Eleri’s hat. He peeled it carefully off the track and a quick assessment found it to be slightly burnt, but still usable. Now the better question was, how had it gotten onto the magtracks when Eleri had no levibike? Had someone put it there on purpose?
S'samph remounted and rode closer to the canal residences, where he spotted Eleri bent over her medkit, clearly searching for something. He parked his levibike a few paces away and strode up to her, but she was completely oblivious to his presence.
“Are you looking for this?” S’samph asked as he presented her rumpled hat.
Eleri startled so hard she sent a handful of hydropods skidding into the dust where they promptly burst like ripe berries.
“I didn’t even hear you come up.” She paused to squint up at him, lifting her hand to shield her eyes further from the glaring sunlight. “But yes, I was looking for that. Where did you find it?”
“Do you have additional hydropods?” S’samph asked, handing her the hat. If she didn’t, he’d give her a ride back to town to pick up more.
“I have plenty,” Eleri assured him, opening up a cooler box inside the medkit. Even with her reassurances, he still disliked her being out in the heat. She wasn’t burning yet, but her skin was a notable shade of pink from being in the heat without her hat.
“Good. I found the hat on the magtracks.”
“On the magtracks?” she repeated.
“Yes. Did you drop it there?”
“No.” Eleri ran a hand over the fabric. “I didn’t.” She shook her head.
S’samph was about to inquire further when another levibike rumbled in the distance, and K’kaen pulled up. “Are you coming or not? We’re already late to meet up with Arz and Dynzol.”
“I’ll follow you soon,” S’samph replied.
