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Chapman nodded.
“Oh, yes. Valeria and Grim will be heading up the operation. Taylor and Tok have also agreed to go. I plan to ask Fiona and some others, too. Along with at least one warrior from each Sea Sands tribe. I want you there to help measure and predict the storms out there. They are absolutely brutal, and the more data we collect, the better we can protect ourselves and plan.”
I leaned back in my chair, rubbing my chin thoughtfully. I didn’t love the idea of gallivanting off into unknown territory. But Ididrelish the idea of a more challenging workload. Being able to use my skills somewhere the weather actually did stuff on a regular basis instead of just blasting us with hot dry sun day in, day out. And it sounded like Fiona, one of my closest friends, would hopefully be along for the ride, too.
I sat up straighter, about to tell Chapman I’d do it.
But for some reason, she lifted an arm from the back of the chair and held up a hand.
“Hold on. I haven’t told you everything. I want you to be fully informed.”
My stomach dropped. Uh oh.What insanity is she going to tell me about now? Are there pits of acid that look like water out there? Even bigger zeelk? More quicksand like in the Death Plains?
“What is it?” I asked, keeping my voice steady even as dread drenched my spine with icy water.
“It’s the Gahn. One of them, at least. Priya’s mate Lerokan’s older brother. Gahn Errok.”
“Oh,” I said, relaxing somewhat. Don’t get me wrong, I knew from observing Chapman’s own mate Gahn Fallo that a Gahn could be like an armed explosive. One wrong move and he’d blow up. But after being around the territorial Gahns at this settlement for so long, and seeing how they’d bent to our human whims, I didn’t understand the note of foreboding in her voice.
“So, what is it?” I probed. Chapman had stopped speaking, her grey eyes narrowed as they scanned my face.
She sighed, then took in a large breath. “It’s very possible that you’re his mate.”
The air got thin. And the air on this planet was already fucking thin.
“What?” I asked, mind whirling. “How... How do you know?”
“I don’t. Not for sure,” Chapman said. “He got his mate vision from the Vrika. He described a white woman with brown hair and brown eyes. That could be a few different people. Fiona, for example, but he didn’t mention the tattoos. Anyway, you are one of the women who fit the description. So, I wanted to warn you, give you the full picture, before you agreed to come back to the settlement so close to his tribe’s territory.”
“He didn’t say anything else about what she looked like?” I pressed, heart hammering. “Like, no other defining characteristics?”
Chapman chuckled wearily. “Nope. He was too busy saying that his mate was above all others and we should know who she was by that fact alone. Then he demanded I drag all the brown-haired, brown-eyed humans before him so he could pick his mate out of the line-up.”
My nose wrinkled.Jesus. Sounds like a real prize.
Chapman caught my expression and continued. “You know the rules. No woman has to be with a man she doesn’t want to be with, even if he’s supposed to be her mate. Those same rules would apply at the new settlement, too. And...”
She paused again, and yet more dread tugged at my belly.
“What now?” I asked, voice low.
“It’s just that, you’ll probably find out if it’s you or not before we even leave for the mountains, anyway.”
I cocked my head in confusion. “How?”
Chapman’s eyes bored into mine. Her words punched into me even harder than her gaze.
“Because he’s on his way here right now.”
