Page 34 of Splintered Shadow
That felt right. They were a pack together. Different, but the same.
“But how?” she asked. “I thought you did a sacred quest for your bond.”
“A sacrifice of salt and blood,” Vekele said, again, as if that clarified anything. “The void beasts and karu carry the same organism. The karu pair bond. The beasts form a pack. You were infected by the pack that attacked you.”
Sarah wanted to know why he called it a parasite when it was in her, but when he spoke about himself, it was an organism.
“You didn’t mention this would happen. You said the infection would clear.”
“Bonding with the beats is rare because the pack can resist the bond.” His voice sounded… she wasn’t sure. Embarrassed that he’d been wrong? Remorseful? It was hard to tell without looking at him, but she didn’t want to take her eyes off the puppy, just in case he decided to eat her face.
“You said you killed the pack,” she said.
“I was incorrect. One member survived.”
“How does any of this make me an aristocrat?”
“Those who are bonded are elevated to the status. It is one of the oldest customs on Arcos. All noble families have their roots in a bond, though not all members of the house are bonded.”
Okay, that was strange. Being elevated in status over something she accidentally did seemed marginally better than being born into wealth or rank. Barely. She’d worry about it later.
Carefully, she scratched behind the puppy’s ear. He closed his eyes—all four—in pleasure. His tail beat hard enough against her raised leg, the one caught in the trap, to feel like being beaten with a stick.
“He’s just a baby. I must have gotten too close to their den. They were protecting him,” she said. Sorrow washed through her that she dropped on top of a pack and inadvertently caused their demise. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, and the injustice of it brought tears to her eyes.
The puppy echoed back feelings of being alone and sad.
“How far did he travel to get here? It’s been, what, a week? Two?”
The puppy had to be old enough to find food, but he was far from an adult. Granted, during her one experience with full -grown void beasts, she hadn’t been taking notes. She guessed the puppy was about the size of a three-month-old Labrador.
“Twelve days. It is not an inconsiderable journey.”
The puppy huffed.
“Agreed,” she muttered. “You hungry? Of course you are. A not -inconsiderable journey really takes it out of you.”
“Do not speak to it.”
“What? You talk to your bird all the time.”
“It is young. We can sever the bond.”
The puppy growled.
“Same,” she agreed, stroking his head to calm him. “Nothing is being severed.”
She flopped around, trying to roll to one side enough to look at Vekele. The best she could get was a view of his shoes. “This adventure sucks. So far, it’s been running for my life or being chained to things.”
She shook her foot for emphasis.
“Do not disturb the void beast,” he said, approaching cautiously.
The puppy lifted its head and flashed its teeth in warning.
Vekele stepped back, hands up to indicate his lack of weapons if the puppy cared for such things.
“Yeah, maybe you should try not upsetting him,” she retorted back.
