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“Oh, Kai, how are you?”
“Yana, how are you? I’m so good, sister.”
And now I remember who she is: Soren’s new mate. Soren is the third-born Drakos son and a male Nico wanted to pass me off to. But lucky for me, Yana just needed a little push to ask Soren into her pod. He’s her fourth mate.
“It’s nice to meet you again,” I tell her.
“Yes, Arabel.”
“It’s Annabelle,” Kai corrects.
“Yes, of course it is.” Yana laughs like she’s made a joke. “How is the little podlet?”
“Growing,” Kai snaps back. And a layer of awkward silence engulfs us.
Yana’s not wearing gloves, but she’s staring at my hands. “I like your gloves.”
“Oh, thanks. I was cold this morning.”
“Uh-huh.” Yana’s champing at the bit. She puts her hand out in front of me like my high school teacher used to do when he wanted a low five, so I slap it. It just happened. I didn’t mean to do it, but instinct took over and I smacked her hand. And boy do I feel like it’s still echoing as she stares at me in confusion. “Why did you do that?”
“I thought . . . I thought you wanted five.”
“I just mated Soren. I’m not ready for a fifth.”
“Oh, no... no, I mean I thought you wanted a high five—or in this case a low five. It’s a human way of greeting a friend.”
Yana’s face lights up, and Kai’s fingers dig into my arm. “Oh.” Yana smacks me back on the side of my shoulder. “Like this?”
“No, I’m sorry, it’s just on the hand.”
“Right, my hand.” She lays it out flat in front of me again, and I’m not sure what she wants me to do. Then she takes her other hand and points to it. “Look, doesn’t it look like I’m getting the mark?”
Kai leans over and practically lays her head on top of Yana’s hand. “No.”
Yana’s face drops. “I think you’re missing it. See here?” She moves her finger.
I bend over. “Oh, right here, Kai. Look.” I point to where Yana’s pointing. There’s nothing there.
“See? Annabelle sees it.” She holds her hand out again. “No, really, this time, hit me. I’m ready, friend.”
I give her a gentle tap.
“We’ve got to go. Annabelle wants to do the full promenade.” Kai links her arm with mine and pulls me away.
“Well, it was nice seeing you, friend and sister.” Yana smiles and waves. It’s then that I notice Soren and three other males standing a distance away. “We’re friends,” Yana says behind us.
Kai leans over and whispers. “So help me, if you turn around...”
“I’m not going to. But she seems nice.”
“She’s been sending me pictures of her hand every five hours. There’s nothing on her hand but last night’s fish sauce.” Kai smirks.
“Kai. That’s not nice. I think she noticed my gloves, though.”
Kai purses her lips and places a hand on her belly. Her eyes flick over me and land on my gloves. “Definitely. Seriously, I know you’re out here for other reasons, but you do need to see more than just the big tree section.”
“It’s quite lovely.” I tilt my head and look up. There are birds flying around the faux sky, and above them, past the pretend clouds, are the shadows of fish swimming outside. “I’ve seen pictures in my culture studies texts.”
