Page 10 of Stone Awakened

My mouth was dry, and my body humming with desire. He was freaking sexy when he did that, and he’d landed in a superhero pose, what more could a woman want? Oh, that’s right, the kids like him. Amar and Jett squealed in excitement, clapping their hands as they watched him. They leaped onto him the moment he landed and Sunder let out a booming laugh as he caught the boys. It was good to see them laughing after the tension from yesterday’s visit by the Crimelord and the nightmare last night.

If I hadn’t been watching from the sidelines, I probably never would have noticed the courtyard door open. It swung open softly, and with a panic that I managed to translate into sounding angry, I yelled at the guys. “Enough roughhousing, start your routines.” I hoped it was just Uron arriving, as the boys scattered, dashing to start their laps around the courtyard.

Sunder straightened, snapping his wings shut tightly behind his back, crossing his arms over his chest. He faced the door with a frown compressing his features, making his sharp tusks stick out more prominently.

It wasn’t Uron who strode inside, it wasn’t even a Rummicaron. This male was decked out in the guard colors, the same black and purple that Sunder wore on his loincloth. I recognized him immediately, although we’d only met once. The head of security, Or’tal.

The Kertinal male was as tall as Sunder, but his spiraling, springbok-like horns towered even higher. His skin was black, with cracked fissure-like markings covering him all over, those were filled in with a deep green that matched his green and black mane of hair. His eyes were the same emerald green, glowing fiercely as he stared down Sunder. A sharply pointed tail twitched behind his back, the tip glinting metal.

Sunder in turn didn’t move, didn’t flinch, he just kept on meeting that look. I didn’t know how he could, during my interview for this position with Or’tal, I’d squirmed so hard under that stare. I was convinced that the only reason he’d still hired me was that he really needed to fill the position and he had no other takers. Pretty sure he thought I was unfit for my job here.

The head of security visiting us was a big deal, I could only hope it had to do with Uron and his drug use. My head was flying with possibilities, had someone seen Sunder go into my room? Was it about us visiting the kids last night? Or Sunder helping me put them to bed? All those things could be a wrong move, geez, how careless had we been?

Or’tal and Sunder seemed to end that stare-down in a tie when Or’tal made a harrumphing sound and shrugged wide shoulders. His immaculate uniform made him seem even wider, and his leather boots were so shiny I could see the courtyard reflected in them. “Tell me about Uron’s drug use. Did you tell him to get his act straight or die? That the way you go about scaring people into sobriety?”

The question seemed to take Sunder by surprise because he dropped the closed-off pose, uncrossing his arms and tilting his head. I was surprised too, but I couldn’t mingle in this, so I made sure I was near where the little ones were doing their warm-up runs while I listened.

“I told him Carator wouldn’t tolerate that shit, and in this business, there’s no pretty out-clause. You know that, Or’tal.” The tone in which Sunder spoke was definitely not that of a male talking to their superior, he was talking to the head guard as if he was talking to an equal. I was braced for that to go wrong because Or’tal was just as intimidating to me as Carator had been yesterday. Though the two achieved the effect through very different means.

“Hmm,” was all the Kertinal said, his head finally sweeping around the courtyard to take in the austere space. A row of training dummies lined one side, half of them in some serious disrepair. I’d tied red strips of cloth taken from one of my old sets of clothing and tied them around the ones I’d deemed unsafe to use. Dust covered the cracked ground, and the sandy area where practice fights took place had only a little broken fence left around it.

The male settled his eyes on the one stone bench in the corner, the place where Uron had spent most of his time. Unerringly they lingered on the spot where Uron would leave his brew bottle once it was empty.

Bright green eyes swept back past Sunder and the kids to linger on me. They slid from my black-clad shoulders, down the sharp line of my uncomfortable black smock, to linger on the toes of my scuffed boots. My heart pounded under the scrutiny, was this the moment where he’d go, you’re out? You’re an impostor?

From the corner of my eye, I saw how Sunder’s wings sharply flared out. Then I realized that my discomfort had telegraphed, even more, Jett had shifted into his battle-form and was glaring holes into Or’tal’s back. Oh, shucks, get it together! I didn’t want to get the boy in trouble over some silly nerves.

The head of security made another harrumphing noise, almost like a bull snorting, a smirk curling his lips. Then his eyes flicked away from me and back to Sunder. “When he’s clean, you willing to take him under your… wing? Keep his nose out of trouble?” The request surprised us all, but Sunder didn’t pause to give a sharp nod. I thought the instinct to care for others, to guide, and to train was much too strong for him.

“Good, Roka clears from the system fast. He let me lock him up in the cells but it’s rough on him. Don’t expect much when you get him back,” Or’tal sneered as he said it, his green eyes flashing from Sunder’s back to me. It was almost like a silent jab, telling me he wasn’t expecting much from me either.

He turned crisply on his shiny black heel, stalking from the courtyard. He passed Jett and Amar when he did, and I saw him pause for a brief moment as he took in Jett in his battle-form. His head turned, looking back at Sunder, brows lowered in concentration. Had he just seen the family connection?

Or’tal didn’t say anything, just left with a swish of his sharply pointed tail. “He knows,” I said as soon as the courtyard door closed behind him. Sunder’s face was drawn in even more severe lines than usual. Crossing his arms over his wide chest, he flared out a wing behind my back; a not-quite hug that settled my frayed nerves. Something about the head of security was so intense, so calculated, and cruel, it rubbed me wrong each time I met him.

“I think he suspects something. The question is, will he sit on the information? Or will he use it to get in with Carator?” He sounded thoughtful as he spoke, unconcerned almost. It was, to be honest, rather infuriating.

“It’s bad news for us regardless. We need to get out of here!” I said, my eyes going to where Jett and Amar were now playing. They appeared to have found one of the many small lizards that often scuttled about the place. Chasing after it in a game of inquisitive hide and seek. It was so good to see them play, we needed to protect them at all costs.

Sunder’s wing shivered near my shoulder and I wasn’t sure if it was from tension or amusement. “I suspect he’ll hold on to this knowledge and leverage it for his own gain later.” The tone was rather final, and he seemed calm about it as if that’s exactly what he would do if the situation was reversed.

He didn’t want to talk about it after that and headed for the kids. In his low rumble, I heard him gently warn the boys not to touch the tiny lizard. I wasn’t sure if I heard him right, but was he warning them that it was poisonous to touch? My eyes darted around the courtyard, noticing dozens of the creatures, I hadn’t once considered that they were dangerous.

Everything felt shaky, I felt so ill-prepared. I needed to step up my game if even a simple little lizard posed a risk… What other things had I missed? I vowed to use my datapad to read up on everything I could about the flora and fauna of this planet. I needed to be better prepared. Maybe, if I proved to Sunder that I wasn’t completely impulsive, he would think better of me and my badly planned-out rescue mission.

Chapter 8

Agatha

We didn’t see hide nor hair of Uron for almost three days. In fact, except for someone bringing my meals, I didn’t see anyone. Just Sunder and the boys, it was kind of nice actually, if you ignored the weird tension between the Tarkan and me. I wanted to go back to where we were sort of flirting with each other, but Sunder was like a taskmaster, focused on only one thing. I felt like he was even ignoring me, which would be really silly, we had to work together.

On impulse I’d left my hair down on day three, wondering if that would get a reaction out of him. It had, just not the kind I wanted, but a big frown was still a reaction so I’d take it. Jett was certainly much better mannered than his dad, beaming when he saw me, “Wow your hair is pretty, Aggy.”

That was of course the day that Uron stumbled into the courtyard and I immediately felt like an idiot for leaving my hair down. He was waxy skinned, his black eyes flat, uniform a complete mess, but he didn’t smell like the foul brew. At his appearance, my hand went up to touch my loose hair, but I didn’t think Uron was going to care, it looked to me like he had far bigger things to worry about. I didn’t think a Rummicaron could appear to have a skinny neck, but the guard looked like he’d lost fifty pounds in the last three days. He looked sick as a dog, pitiful, and he seemed to have the attitude to match it.

With a baleful look, he swept the courtyard, then he trudged to his favorite bench, and threw himself down on it as if his body weighed a ton. His eyes closed, his breaths coming in short pants as if he’d just run a marathon.

Sunder and I shared a looked, for the first time in days it felt like there was a change. This look also felt like the first time we were connecting again since our impulsive make-out session. I hated that the moment broke after only a few seconds. Sunder spun around and stalked over to the guard. I focused on corralling the boys, wondering if our days of playful training, rest, and leisure were over again.