“Why bother with them? It’s not as though you care, having left them here for months. Hardly a worthwhile point to add to such important negotiations.” It may be a losing battle, but I would fight until the end. Always.
“It’s only responsible to give us back our people as we give you your female.”
“So you admit one vorpyr is worth three humans.” I sneered. Kyvar looked at me out of the corner of his eye.
The general’s jaw ticked. We’d been at this for hours and we both despised each other. “Just make sure they and the resources arrive without damage to the meeting point.”
“Damage?” I scoffed. “You didn’t seem to care about the damage they would endure when you abandoned them to us.”
“If they are not whole when they come to us, there will be consequences.”
“Consequences?” I laughed, low and dangerous. “Having them has been quite fun,general.I haven’t had something so exotic in my home for a long time.” I stretched my legs out in front of me. “They may be a little sore, but they will be in one piece.”
He pursed his lips, his expression one of contempt. “Two suns from now, at the agreed upon coordinates.” The hologram disintegrated.
I bared my fangs at the space he’d been in.
A soft noise outside the office made me lunge from my seat and fling the door aside. Jacqueline stood in the doorway, staring at me with a hand over her mouth, her eyes glistening.
“Is that what you think? Is that really all it was?” her voice broke. With a look that made guilt tear at my heart, she whirled away from me.
“Jacqueline, wait—” she was gone. I gritted my teeth. The desire to go after her and tell her she was perfect and I had only said that to get under the Consortium Military general’s skin was nearly overwhelming.
No, it’s better this way. If she hated me, it would make it easier for her to go. I turned away and walked in the opposite direction. It would have been less painful if an enemy was tearing open my chest with his claws.
As a woman in her thirties with a PhD who taught university students and conducted research, I thought I was mature and good at keeping my emotions under wraps, but as I sat on my bed clutching the amber necklace Arrazyl had given me, sobbingwhile Jaron and Tatiana banged on the locked door, asking me what was wrong, I realized I wasn’t quite as put together as I’d thought. At least not anymore.
I have to stop this. I’m not a lovesick teenager, full of hormones.And yet, that’s why the relationship I’d developed with Arrazyl meant so much. It was real. To me only, apparently.
Time passed as I sat there drowning in hurt, wondering how I’d gotten it so wrong, how he could say something so cruel, but I supposed I didn’t know him, not really. The feel of his hands on me, his lips, how my heart had jumped at his tender words, haunted me. Was it really just because he wanted to try it with another species? I had a hard time believing it, even as my chest ached. Eventually, I heard voices outside the door.
“What did he do to her?” Surprisingly it wasn’t Jaron but Tatiana’s voice, high pitched in stress.
The rumble of Kyvar’s voice came through the door. I was sniffling too loudly to hear what he said. Who cared? I just hoped he didn’t know about what had gone on between us.
The front door was slid aside hard enough to slam. I jumped. Did it splinter?
“Jaron, Thyra won’t be able to change it.” This time I heard Kyvar’s voice. There was a pause, then, “Tatiana, please don’t cry.”
“Just leave.” Her voice broke, and I squeezed my eyes shut as it felt like fissures formed in my heart.
His voice dropped and I couldn’t hear what else he said.
When his footsteps retreated, I went to the door and slid it open. Tatiana had tears in her eyes. When I held up an arm, she came over and we wrapped each other in a hug.
“What’s going on?” she whispered, her voice cracking.
A lump in my throat made me pause before answering. “Let’s sit down and talk.”
We walked to the living room and sat together on the settee. Still, I couldn’t speak. I stared out the window, my breathing unsteady as I fought against fresh tears. Finally, I spoke. I told her about what I’d heard, pausing here and there to steady myself. About how I’d thought he and I had developed a good relationship, making what I heard such a horrible shock.“And I’m not even sure what to think of the Consortium after lying to us and leaving us here.”
She stared dully at the floor. “I was falling in love with him.”
I’d seen how Kyvar looked at her, and I knew he must be feeling the same way. I squeezed her arm gently.
I don’t know how long we sat there in silence until Jaron came back. Time seemed irrelevant right then. We no longer had any purpose except to wait for the inevitable.
“Are you ok?” I got to my feet when I saw his face. He was no longer angry nor was he crying, he just looked…tired.
