Page 11 of Claimed By the Krijese

Tears burn my eyes and my face gets hot. I’mwhat?

“Sage is Sorin’s favorite human. It is a great honor to be compared to her,” Talek says.

“Oh, thank you for your kind words.” I barely manage to speak without sputtering. Sage is the one who just had a baby and I haven’t had a chance to meet her yet, but she’s his favorite? And he thinks I’m more beautiful than her?

“Are you guys going to just keep standing there, or are we going to practice?” Cecily walks over to us and throws out a hand, gesturing toward the target that Benham had set up.

I smother my laugh. She doesn’t let the boys push her around at all. I love how she stands up for herself and makes sure they know she’s their equal, and at times, superior. If only I had a fraction of her confidence.

“Yes, let us practice,” Talek announces like it was his idea in the first place.

We walk to where Carter already waits. I don’t realize until we stop that Sorin still holds my hand. The longer I look at him, the cuter he gets. I’m still processing his features, including the vertical slit of his mouth, and the two little tusks that bracket the lower portion of it. He doesn’t have a nose, but there’s a shadow of nostrils within the craggy furrows.

“Would you give us a demonstration?” I gently squeeze Sorin’s hand.

He slowly withdraws from me and I give him what I hope is an encouraging smile. His mouth opens and he bares some scary-looking teeth that freak me out a little. At least, until I’m struck with the knowledge that he’s trying to smile back.

Okay, he’s stinking adorable, no matter that he’s an alien.

Sorin slides out the child-sized axe from its sheath strapped to his back. He glances at the other three kids. “My gogo says your power comes from your legs and not your arm.”

He positions himself so the target that’s a good distance away is just to his right. In a single move faster than I expect, he raises his weapon above his head, takes a step with his left foot, and launches the blade. It hurls end over end until it embeds directly in the center. The kids cheer, and Sorin ducks his head, but I can tell he’s pleased with the praise.

“Excellent job.” Even if he’d missed, I would have still given some kind of compliment. Making kids feel good about themselves has to be one of the most important things a person can do.

“Thank you, Iris.” He jogs over and yanks the axe out of the target and returns to the others. “Keep your eyes on the place you wish to strike, no matter what. Your hand will go where you direct it. Accuracy will improve with each throw.”

I don’t know who—or what—a gogo is, but the instructions Sorin gives don’t sound like something a little boy would say. They sound like he’s repeating words from someone much older and wiser.

“Who would like to try first?” Sorin asks.

Three hands go up at once, and to my surprise, the boys defer to Cecily. I’m not sure if it’s so they can see what they’re up against and prepare themselves, or because they expect her to fail and they can show off. She steps up, and Sorin carefully hands her his axe by the handle. She mimics his pose, and her little tongue sticks out of the corner of her mouth.

Cecily relaxes her shoulders, straightens her spine, takes a deep breath, lets it out, and throws just how Sorin showed her. I’ve watched her spar with the boys, and she’s better than Carter and nearly as good as Talek, so the fact she hits the target doesn’t shock me at all. What impresses me is that Cecily hits it almost dead center. The boys, Sorin included, gape. I clap—maybe a little extra loudly—and congratulate her.

She practically struts forward to grab the axe. Her raised brow when she passes it to Talek makes me snort, because there is clearly a challenge in her gaze. It’s an unspoken, “Let’s see if you can do any better.”

We all watch as Talek approaches the same place Cecily stood. Like her, he gets into position, but there’s a tension in him that she didn’t present. It’s obvious he’s worried about hisperformance. His throw is off-center, but considering I doubt I’d even be able to hit the target, it’s still a great shot.

“Well done.” I clap for him, too.

Talek’s disappointment is tangible, but he doesn’t throw a fit. He walks to the target, gets the axe, and brings it back to Carter. A small hand slips into mine again, and I glance down. Sorin doesn’t look up, but keeps his eyes on the human boy who takes his turn.

It’s unfair to not watch Carter, but I can’t turn away from the boy at my side. I observe a few more details with him this close, including the fact his hair isn’t like human’s or Tavikhi’s. It’s thick and ropey and appears coarse. He has it loosely tied back with a piece of leather and it barely skims the top of where I assume his shoulder blades are, if his anatomy is similar to mine. Sorin glances up at me and the tiny silver spot in the center of his eyes sparkles.

Cecily and Talek cheer.Crap, I missed Carter’s throw. I quickly check the target to see how he did. The axe is buried right on the edge, but at least he hit it.

“Way to go.” I make sure to throw in a few extra woohoos, since I can’t clap with Sorin holding my hand. “That’s way better than I could have done.”

His cheeks are flushed, and he trudges over to get the axe. I feel for him, because he probably tried his best. Talek and Cecily offer their congratulations as well. I’m so glad they try to make him feel good and don’t gloat over how much better they did. If only everyone built up their friends like that. Humans could learn a lot from these kids.

The four of them continue taking turns practicing. Sorin is the only one who’s consistent. The other three are all over the place. They rib each other good-naturedly and in no time, they’re all laughing and having a good time. Until Sorin turns to me and holds the axe out.

“It is your time to practice, Iris.”

“Oh, no. Weapons and I aren’t a good combination.” I raise my left arm to remind them of what I’m missing.

Four pairs of eyes widen.

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