Page 31 of Warrior's Captive
She glanced over her shoulder, saw him haggling with the vendor. His head whipped around and he met her gaze, then relaxed and smiled. She rolled her eyes and waved a hand, then turned back to consider three different shades of green pencils.
The vendor hovered. She pointed. “What is the difference in brands? Besides the price.”
He launched into his spiel and Vivian listened intently, glancing absently over her shoulder again. She frowned. Tai’ri was gone.
“I’ll be back,” she told the vendor, uneasy. Maybe he’d just slipped away to find a restroom. She was a big girl, after all, and there were plenty of people around. There was no need to be nervous.
But she backtracked, craning her head to try to spot a tall blue man in a sea of tall blue men.
She’d discuss this with him and let him know exactly how she felt, in no uncertain terms.
Vivian realized she’d backtracked all the way past the shoe shop when she stopped, frustrated, and decided to grab a seat on a nearby bench and wait forhimto findher.
Fuming at how inconsiderate he was, she smoothed her expression and continued to scan the crowd and not look like an angry badger, composing a suitable, but polite, diatribe in her mind. She was really going to let him have it—
“Vivian?”
Vivian froze. She would never forget that cool, brisk, slightly superior tone—and had never wanted to hear it again.
She whipped her head around. Thekheterstood several feet away, staring at Vivian. She wore a simple jumpsuit, her hair back in a sleek bun.
“Are you lost, Vivian? I’m happy to offer assistance.” She moved forward.
“I’m fine.” Vivian didn’t bother to blunt her sharp tone. “I don’t need help.”
Thekhetersmiled. “It’s fate that we met here, isn’t it? I’ve been meaning to apologize for some time now.”
“Weren’t you arrested?”
The false smile faded a notch. “I was not.”
Wherewas Tai’ri? He’d been gone way too long now. Vivian felt beads of sweat on her upper lip, her breath coming in short, fast puffs. Oh, no. Not here. She couldn’t do this here. It would give thekheterall the ammunition she needed.
Besides the fact that Vivian didn’t believe in these kinds of coincidences.
She pushed to her feet, nausea roiling in her belly.
“Why don’t you come with me, Vivian?”
Such a soft, insidious voice. One in a long line of soft, emotionless, insidious voices. She would never be taken again.Never.
Thekheterreached her, an arm outstretched. Fingers wrapped around Vivian’s left wrist.
Never again. She swung, seeing nothing but a hated face, her fist connecting with a slender jaw. Pain burst in her knuckles even as her vision blurred.
Never again.
* * *
Tai’ri eyed two different sets of dangling earrings, the unhewn stones a match for the color of Vivian’s dress. But one included gold beads and little stars, while the other was simpler. He glanced at his mate several stalls down, intently studying green pencils that looked the exact same. Itdidoccur to him that if she wanted art supplies, he should buy her art supplies. He wanted to see the earrings in her lobes though. Nothing sexier on a female.
Well. No reason why he couldn’t buy both pairs, then buy her art supplies.
“I’ll take them both,” he said, just as his comm beeped. Tai’ri answered immediately.
“Tai’ri,” Vykhan said. “We’ve spotted thekheterin the plaza.”
His blood went cold, the mellow warmth inside evaporating. “She’s in custody.”
