I frowned. “How long have you been here?”
“Four days.”
They’d been moved here while I was chained in that torture room? “They must really think I’m some evil mastermind.” I muttered. Not that I wanted the Vorazyr’s attention on either of the others, but I was still justifiably upset that I’d been scared and miserable for days.
“You weren’t out on the ledge, were you?” Jaron peered at me. “I don’t see the sunburn I would think you’d have if they left you there.”
“No.” There was no reason to upset him. “Do you know what those weird appliances in the kitchen do?”
“They’re so cool, I’ll show you.” Tatiana led me into the kitchen.
Minutes later I’d discovered that humans didn’t nearly have the best technology. At least not for cooking.
I was listless but so very tired, so I sat at the table. “What do we do now?” Tatiana asked, pulling a chair out across from me. Jaron joined us.
They were looking to me for a solution, and I hated to admit that I was lost. “As of right now, we need to cooperate and hope they don’t put us back on those ledges.” Then we needed to find a way out of here.
“I don’t think they’ll put us back there. So far they’ve treated us decently.” Tatiana said. She was far too trusting.
“We’ve started making inroads with them, I think. I helped the female vorpyr. I think she’s the scariest one’s wife or something,” Jaron said.
I blinked, surprised. I hadn’t thought of the Vorazyr as married, or whatever their equivalent was, but I supposed he likely was. “What kind of help did you give her? How did you communicate?” I sat forward, interested in this new development.
He explained that he helped her with some equations and how they’d communicated with a mix of drawn pictures and broken intergalactic language.
“She introduced herself as Thyra, and the male in charge is Arrazyl. I’m not sure about anyone else.”
“Kyvar is what I think is a general or some type of assistant to the leader.” Tatiana supplied.
Since when were we on a first name basis with our captors? Except me and the Vorazyr,apparently.
“The leader is the Vorazyr.I think it translates loosely to ‘high lord’ or ‘king.’” I rubbed my eyes. “I know it’s early, but I need some sleep.”
“Do you want something to eat first?” Jaron went into the kitchen and came back to thunk a glass of water down next to me. The cup looked like what would be used as a tankard of beer on Earth.
“Thank you. I’m hungry, but I’d rather sleep first.” I hadn’t realized how thirsty I was until I was gulping cool water.
“You know you’re going to have to tell us whereyouwere the last four days, right?” Jaron’s eyes were tight as he watched me. Worried?
“I was also held in a building. They seem to think I’m the leader of some military expedition here.”
Tatiana huffed.
I got to my feet. “I’m going to bed.”
And then I would have to find us a way out of a suspended city filled with flying demons.
Chapter 11
The vorpyr children were as interested in me as I was in them.
I’d been interrogated by the Vorazyr several more times over the last week and we’d gotten into a strange rhythm. Somehow, it wasn’t as antagonistic as it had been in the beginning. Now though, he’d thrust me into the middle of a group of little vorpyr.
The teacher—or so I assumed—flew into a tizzy when they crowded around to touch me, eyes wide. I was alien to them, something exciting and new. Vorpyr children weren’t much bigger than human children the same age, so I sat down on the grass in the park we were in so I didn’t intimidate them, and so the braver ones could creep up and touch me before scurrying away while I talked to the others.
“Juk-luh-en!” A little male vorpyr with an adorable round face I recognized bounced over to me.
I smiled a greeting. “Alryv.” He was the smaller of the two who had been with me when I woke up in the infirmary, and I was glad to see him.
