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Lila let out a little yowl.
“Or cats?” Zo-Fee said. “Since cats are obviously the coolest animals there can be.” Amusement colored her tone.
“There aren’t any dragons on Zaar, but we do have cats.” I glanced back over my shoulder. “They’re not as special as you, Lila. They can’t speak telepathically.” We’d recently found the kreecat home world hidden in a Grug-controlled area of space. The gray hive-mind aliens were also telepathic, but none of the other species in the seven sectors were.
Lila gave a happy mrrr, and Zo-Fee laughed. “She says she’s glad you know how great she is.”
I snorted.
The trail narrowed as it rounded an outcropping of pink rock. I paused and turned, reaching out to offer my mate a steadying hand.
She smiled and took it willingly, practical and smart. Her rubber-soled shoes were good for running in the jungle, but unlike my work boots, they were too soft to give good footing here.
The move brought her close, and my tail started to vibrate as her scent hit my nose, sweet and potent andher.
A groan rumbled in my chest, and I fought to keep it down.
Zo-Fee’s hand slipped from mine as the kreecat pulled her attention away. “No, it’s not lunchtime yet.”
“Here.” I slipped off the pack and pulled out water cans. Once my mate had hers in hand, I poured some out into a depression in a rock for the feline. Then I drank, the clear mountain water refreshing and sweet.
“Lila says thanks, and I do, too.”
The appreciative look in her brown eyes made warmth bloom in my chest, and I growled, “It was nothing,” and spun around.
We started off again, walking through a brightening world as the sun rose above the mountain peaks that had delayed dawn. A group of shuttles dotted the skies in the distance like a flock of birds—tourists leaving the small mountain towns where they’d spent the night to visit the dragon sanctuary.
The trail grew a little wider as the side of the mountain transformed from steep to a gentler slope now that we were closer to the valley floor. More of the little lizards scurried across the pinkish dirt. Reva trees appeared, stunted versions half the size of their jungle cousins, but the rounded balls of their leaf clusters were just as bright green.
We rounded a switchback and started down the final descent. A small mountain village hugged the base of the mountain in the distance, its adobe walls made in the same pink color as the rock around it.
“Is that where we’re going?” Zo-Fee asked.
“Close. There’s a landing spot on the outskirts.” I pointed out a clear patch of grassy turf. It wasn’t the main landing area at the edge of the town, which catered to tourists visiting the dragon sanctuary. We couldn’t afford to get that close. Hyoo-mons weren’t known yet in the seven sectors. One look at Zo-Fee, and there’d be an uproar.
It was the riskiest part of my plan, but one we had to take. With the Tula authorities actually monitoring air traffic, Tark needed an excuse to visit this area, and the tourist village provided that. Besides, when the shuttles took away the tourists earlier, they’d dropped the population of the village down to only the inhabitants, and those people were working the hotels and restaurants to prepare for the evening rush. Odds were low anyone would be out rambling in a field.
Gravel scuffed under Zo-Fee’s shoe, and I whirled to grab her by the elbow to steady her.
“Thanks!”
“Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I got distracted looking around and didn’t watch where I was going.”
“It’s not far now. I can carry you.”
She shook her head and laid her hand over mine. Her beautiful brown eyes looked up at me. “Raxnor, about last night—”
A flicker of movement in my peripheral vision made my head snap around. TheArrowflew down the valley toward us, coming from the end opposite the village.
“We need to hurry,” I said, pretending it was due to the shuttle. I lied. I couldn’t bear to hear the end of that sentence. Just as no female on my home world had found me good enough, every Sjisji I had dallied with over the years had left me immediately after the sex. I was good enough for a tumble, but not anyone they wanted to spend time with.
Hearing the same excuses from Zo-Fee’s lips would kill me. Even though her disposition would offer sweet explanations instead of harsh ones, I still couldn’t bear it.
So the sooner we got off this planet, the sooner we’d get to theDaredevil. Once there, she’d realize she had a lot more options than a sour old grump like me. Body paint could cover the purple color of my kron, and I’d stay away from her to keep its telltale buzz from giving me away.
I will not tell her. It is for the best.
