A bush rustled.
“Ladies, I would really like to get up there with you.” There was a frightening urgency in Jaron’s voice. There were very few times when he had sounded scared, one had been when we'd left mom’s hospital room after the cancer diagnosis and he’d fallen apart, resting his head on my shoulder as he cried. Panic overtook me and I shook violently. Had we escaped one death only to fall into another? I would not leave him alone down there if something attacked him.
“Jaron, pull that rock over and step on it, we can probably pull you up if you don’t jump and jerk on us like that.” Tatiana’s voice was surprisingly strong, though a tremor made it crack in the middle.
Tatiana and I laid on our bellies on the edge again. I didn’t know if it was my imagination, a trick played by the encroaching darkness, but I thought I saw a slim tree several feet away shake.We had to get Jaron up. There was no choice, no failing in this. The consequences would be… too much to bear.
Jaron stepped up on the stone Tatiana had mentioned, and it put him about a foot and a half above the ground. He stretched up and with his height he was able to grasp our wrists and we grasped his with both our hands.
“One, two, three.” I said. On three, we both pulled with all our might.
A horrible keening sound preceded a bulky object, undistinguishable in the darkness, as it burst into the small clearing around the cliff. Adrenaline must have lent us strength, because we were able to haul Jaron over the edge swiftly.
That awful sound came again from below, accompanied by the sound of scratching. Claws on stone. I grabbed a rock the size of my fist and held it, terror stealing my breath. Could it climb the cliff?
We sat huddled next to each other in silence until the sounds stopped and the chittering howl sounded further down the ravine.
Tears I'd kept at bay this whole time finally broke free and a sob choked me. I didn’t want them to see me like this, I needed to be strong. It was my fault we were in this situation in the first place, damn it. I wanted to slap myself for the stupidity of it all. I should have asked more questions. I put so many people in danger. Then I trusted Arrazyl, putting the two people I love in even more danger by thinking we were safe when I should have been planning an escape.
Strong arms wrapped around me and I was pulled into a warm embrace. Jaron didn’t say anything, he just held me and patted my back.
How were we ever supposed to make it five days in this jungle to the village he’d mentioned? I almost wanted to go back to the vorazka and throw myself at the mercy of Arrazyl. I'd thoughthe was starting to believe me, that we were making progress in understanding one another, but after what his captain said I realized he was just being decent to us because he thought it would get him more information before he killed us, not because he was good, or kind. At least not tous.
Chapter 19
The visit disturbed me. I couldn’t get the haunted eyes of the mated male out of my mind. Nothing like this had happened before in my time as Vorazyr.
Had one of my vorpyrren gone feral? On the rare occasions that happened many died at their claws before they were caught and publicly executed by the families of those they had killed or wronged. The female had been pregnant. Was that a draw or did that not matter to whoever took her? Possibly killed her. I had left multiple warriors to continue the search for the missing female.
It was dark when I got back, parking the small ship and plummeting to my home, spreading my wings at the last moment, hitting down heavily.
With dread I saw my vorazka was in an uproar.
“What is going on?” I said sharply to Vuldrex as he flapped through the filigree nironumgate that led from the main rooms to the balcony.
The veins on his wings pulsed white. Not good. Vuldrex never got flustered.
“The prisoners—” he started cautiously.
My wings snapped behind me as I pinned him with my gaze. “What happened to the prisoners?” To Jacqueline.
“They’ve run away.”
My mind raced. “I want full details of how this happened later. Where is Kyvar?”
“He hasn’t arrived back yet, Vorazyr.”
“Tell the captain and Pyravor to meet me in my office.” I strode away, worry and anger making my wings twitch. How could they have been so foolish to think that they could get away from me? That they were safer out there than here?
Junyv flew to a landing on the floor I was on. I called to her, and she looked over at me, flinching when she saw me and dropping her gaze. “Vorazyr.” She murmured.
“Meet me at my office.” She may not know anything, but she had been the one tasked with caring for Jacqueline and the rest, and she might have something useful to add.
“Yes, Vorazyr.” she murmured.
By the time my vorpyrren had gathered, Kyvar had just made it back and Vuldrex had filled him in.
“What caused them to flee like this? Despite their entire species being enemies and their committing a grievous crime against our ancestor’s lands, we haven’t tortured or abused them. We’ve even taken them out to walk around the city and ensured they had their needs well met.” Kyvar ground his back teeth. I was not the only one angry and fearing for the weak humans out in the wilds at night.
