“To leave the woman’s belongings, and to inform you that something…unexpectedhas happened.”
Everything around us stills.“What?”
“We separated the women. One group went to the east village, the other to the west.”
There’s something crawling under my skin as she continues to speak.
“The group arrived safely in the west village.”
“If the humans died traversing the peaks of the east village, it is not my concern.”I barely leash mysnarl.
Sateva snarls back. “These areinnocent females, Datu. Do not talk about them like they are infesting ticks. They are here tohelpour dying breed.Mypeople.”
I am taken aback at her hostile defense of the humans.“If they died, there is nothing I can do.”
“There is no evidence of death…yet. They must be lost or stumbled upon a portal. Please, I beg of you, if you know anything, tell me now.”
No matter how dastardly I dismiss humans, there is a part of me that dislikes harming females. I close my eyes and call to the trees…but they see nothing. I see the females in the west village, but none in the east. They are not even around the area. It is as if they have been plucked out of the island.
“Who was taking them there?”I ask my sister.
“Raiki, and she is missing, too.”
God’s balls, this does sound alarming.
“Who cares for the nursery while Raiki is gone?”The sprouts cannot be left behind by their main caretaker for too long.
“Savi has taken over, but she is just an apprentice.”
I comb back my slick hair and climb out of the creek.
“I cannot interfere, but I will keep looking. I will call on you once I find something.”It is the most I can give her right now.
“This lack of interference is the thing killing us, Datu.”
“One of us has to follow the Vow of Natural Selection, Sateva.”The promise to let things unfold how it naturally should. A gripping philosophy that I have a complicated relationship with.
“This is shocking, coming from someone in a form that is not naturally his.” She says snootily.
My hypocrisy is driven by my selfish desire to keep my hunger at bay.“It is the way of life…if we want it to continue.”
Sateva rolls her eyes at me like a human. It is baffling. “If you start masticating like us subpeople, I think you would see that it helps.”
I scowl in disgust. Masticating,chewing, sounds so discomfiting to me. Ignoring her advice, I tell her,“Do not tell the others that Raiki and the humans disappeared.”
“I have told the east village they have been…delayed.”
“Good. Who else knows of this?”
“Just you, me…and Ingar. He is out searching for them.”
Begrudgingly, I respected the male for that. I will never say it aloud, however.
“This will be between the two of us…and your human.”
“I have been meaning to ask aboutyourhuman. Is she to your liking?” Her eyes narrow suspiciously.
Apprehension is a swift, hot taste on my tongue.“Why?”
