He wiggles closer to me and calms. Radar comes up to me and licks my son’s face.
I kiss Rhysan’s head, wondering how on Mindor he ended up out here with Tessi.
I’m suddenly aware of the woods in a way I haven’t been in a long time, every little scuffle and twig rustling in the brush. Tessi and Rhysan are being hunted. If Zorin’s tunneled through the mountain, he’s in trouble, too. But I’m in no position to search for him. He will have to find us.
I force myself up and get us moving toward my hideout in the cliffs. We can’t stay out in the open. Tessi needs care. And Rhysan needs food.
Radar stays close, eyes moving through the forest.
It takes thirty minutes to hike to my cave. I cradle Tessi and climb the rocky face with my claws out. Radar manages on his own.
Once we’re inside, I pull Rhysan from Tessi’s vest with my teeth to the scruff of his neck, and set him in the deepest area of the cave, then slink back to the entrance, shift upright, collect Tessi, and lay her on my bed among the fur blankets of animals I’ve killed on my rage hunts. Radar immediately curls up against her.
I find myself a tad jealous for no clear reason.
She moans softly and paws around for Rhysan. “The pup, where is he?”
I collect him and clutch him to me. “I’ve got him. He’s safe.”
“Caden?” She curls up, shivers, and cries. “Don’t go. Please...”
“Who’s Caden?”
Her face reddens and veins rise in her neck.
Something pulses in her veins, a faint iridescent light, blue tinted as it crawls to her eyes, framing them like wiry wings. It’s only a flare that quickly fades. But I am certain it has something to do with Circidian blessings.
Before our father died, he spoke of Thelisoria, of a story of glowing veins and Circidian dreams, from a long lost record of her power rendered down into campfire stories.
Please, Thelisoria, let Tessi survive.
I get a fire going and try to calm Rhysan who whimpers like he’s hungry.
Tessi suddenly snaps awake, looks around, and scrambles back. Her breaths quicken, and she gasps like she’s woken mid-dream. “Radar?”
He picks up his head and licks her hand. Radar studies me through the firelight.
I don’t have food for Rhysan, and Tessi needs care. So I tuck Rhysan back in the blankets to at least keep him warm while I peel the wet armor off of Tessi’s sweating and yet shivering body and spread it out to dry over the rocks near the heat of the fire. She has claw marks in her shoulder and bruises all over her body.
As I drag my medical kit over and peel her shirt off of her to tend to her punctures, I stare at her smooth skin in the warm shades of the firelight. Zorin was right. She has lived a rough life.
Cleaning the wounds, I dab healing paste into them to seal them and prevent further debris from getting inside.
Tessi arches and sucks air in through her teeth. I watch the vein in her neck pump faster, and something new ignites in me. She doesn’t cry out, not when she’s in physical pain. Her movements wake ghosts beneath my ribs.
“Hey, can you hear me?”
She hums a soft note of misery that I interpret as a yes.
I bandage up her shoulder and continue inspecting her. “Who is Caden?”
“My former mate. He died in a transport crash on Earth.” She doesn’t open her eyes. “Zorin knows about him.”
I slump back on my heels. If anyone could understand me it would be her.
“Where is the puppy? I should feed him.” Tessi drunkenly pushes herself up with a grimace and cracks her eyes open. She pats her side and looks down at her empty hand. “Where is my stuff?”
I motion toward it.
