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At a rocky outcropping, there's a squat, square sort of building right on the edge of the cliff. It's ugly and boxy and metal and looks a bit like a storage building from back home, but something tells me that this is our new temporary home. There's a pair of large windows at the front, framing an equally square door, and an old, abandoned planter box hangs off one of the windows.
"Is this someone's home?" I ask politely. "I'd hate to displace anyone." I also didn't think to ask if Victor and I would be alone. I'd just assumed we would after Novis mentioned the guards would be staying a short distance away. I don't know how Victor's going to react if we're staying with another woman.
The guards set the trunk down on the step, panting, and one shakes his head, rain flicking off his metallic horns. I don't know his name. "This place is abandoned. When Lord va'Rin had houses built for the humans, he called in some contractors to build dwellings evenly spaced apart. They built this one, but a human can't live here alone, so the female was relocated somewhere else."
I glance around at the land. The house is smack-dab on the edge of the cliff, which is worrying, but spread out nearby, I also don't see a lot of farmland. I see rocky grounds without a lot of greenery, but not much soil to till. "She couldn't live here because of the inability to farm?"
"Nah," says the other guard, Herrix. "It's the pump house. Too weak to crank it."
"Pump house?" I inquire. I'm starting to get cold, the rain making my clothing feel ten times heavier than it is. It clings to my skin and I just want to go inside and change, but I also don't want to pressure Victor into taking this house if it isn't right for our needs.
His needs, I remind myself. I'm just here to help out. It's not an “us” thing.
"Yup. Pump house. This house has flood potential, so when the river gets too high, someone has to crank the pump house manually. It diverts the water to an underground reservoir that filters the water and then sends it to Port. That's why you're here." Herrix puts his hands on his hips, clearly beat down by the ceaseless rain. "First Rank figures you're a good walking distance away from the closest farm, and as long as you stay on top of the river, you're fine. It's nice and quiet."
I nod slowly, then look up at Victor. I'm still holding his hand, which makes me feel a little shy, but no one's said anything about it. "Do you think you can handle the pump house?"
His thick, furry brows go up and then he leans in close to me. "I'm confident I'm stronger than a human female, if that's what you are asking."
I snort with amusement. "I just wanted to make sure it was a task you wanted to take on."
Victor straightens, the look on his dangerous face turning determined. "I will be the best at handling the pump house, wait and see."
Right. Because he's a champion and he does nothing by halves.
Herrix and Akris, the two guards assigned to us, show us both how to work the pump house. It's a small building at the back of the large, square one, built on a platform hanging over the lip of the cliff. Below the platform, I can see a massive network of tubes, each one big enough to swallow Victor whole, that disappear into the rock. The pump house itself is a series of manually cranking wheels, which seems strange to me in this technologically advanced world, but perhaps it's something that doesn't need to run all the time and therefore is more cost-efficient this way. Don't know, don't care. Victor cranks the first wheel with ease and then cranks the next one, and the look of smug pleasure on his face makes me bite back a laugh.
But then the guards say their goodbyes and let me know that they're just down the path at the round-domed house, and that the comm inside the square house is programmed with their contact information, so all I need to do is hit a button if I require help. They take the air-sled with them and go, and then I'm left, standing in the rain, with Victor.
Alone.
He's watching me closely, his mane streaming water, his skin soaked. The trou he's wearing are shredded (as was the back seat of the air-sled, thanks to his spikes) and he looks intimidatingly large and muscular wet like this. I wipe the dampness from my face and smile brightly at him. "Shall we check out our accommodations, then?"
"Are you scared to be alone with me?"
"Not at all." I'm not, either. I feel…something? But it's not fear. It might be a hint of anticipation. This could be the breakthrough that Victor needs. That's what I tell myself, at least. I'm not going to prod at the other reasons I might be feeling anticipation, not with him at my side and able to sniff out everything. When he looks a little skeptical, I raise my hand in the air and pull back my sleeve. "If you don't believe me, smell me."
