Page 13 of Daring the Drakarn Warrior Lord
"Vega." I kept my voice level. "Sit down."
"I don't?—"
"Sit. Down."
She did, reluctantly, her jaw tight with frustration.
I looked around at the faces watching me. These women who'd followed me through hell and somehow come out the other side still breathing. They deserved honesty.
"You're right," I said. "We are celebrating while others suffer. We are building lives while people remain trapped. And yes, the politics are complicated, and the council is moving slowly."
"And?" Vega prompted, as if she wasn'talsomated to a member of the council.
"And I don't fucking know," I snapped. "But ignoring the food in front of us isn't going to help the people in Ignarath. So let's eat our damn meals, and I'll talk to Darrokar. We're going to get them back. I promise."
I met the eyes of each of those women, even though Kira was the one who really needed to hear this. Vega had witnessed just how bad things were in Ignarath, people held as slaves, forced to fight in the arenas when they were no longer useful. We couldn't leave them there.
I just had no idea how or when we could really get them back.
I stuffed a bite of food in my mouth and chewed aggressively.
"Mom and Aunt Vega are fighting," Kaiya said. "It reallyislike Christmas back home."
Vega snorted, and the rest of us started laughing.
I'd take the win.
4
TERRA
"Terra, wait!"Eden's voice echoed through the corridor loud enough to make my ears ring.
I paused and looked over my shoulder. The air here was always warm, but tonight it felt stifling. I'd slipped out as the festivities were dying down. Lexa hadn't managed to coax Kira back but had assured us she was safe in her room. That was the best we could hope for.
For now.
"What's up, is everything alright?" Eden's face was flushed, her dark hair with its faded red highlights sticking to her forehead. I would have been lying if I said I wasn't just a little more protective of Eden than of everyone else. She was the youngest, the most hopeful. Maybe the most adaptable among us.
This life was unlike what any of us had been promised, but she had the best chance at letting it all feel normal.
She caught up to me, panting slightly. She must have run the few hundred meters from the entrance to the human quarters. "I know we said no gifts, but …" She shoved a worn cloth bag at me.
The fabric was soft. When I opened it, the scent hit me first. Sweet, artificial, utterly Earth. Inside were maybe a dozen piecesof candy, wrapped in crinkled foil and plastic that had seen better days. Chocolate, hard candies, a piece of gum in a broken foil wrapper.
My throat tightened. Eden had been rationing this stash since we'd arrived, allowing herself maybe one piece every few weeks. I'd seen her unwrap them with the reverence other people reserved for religious artifacts.
"We said no gifts for a reason, kid, you didn't have to do this." But I didn't try to give it back. Couldn't. The gesture meant too much, even if it made something sharp twist in my chest.
Eden's mouth tightened fractionally, and I winced internally. She hated being called kid. But, really, it was her own damn fault for being twenty years old.
"I just … you do so much for us. I thought you could use something sweet."
"Thank you." The words came out rougher than I'd intended. I tucked the bag into my jacket, close to my heart.
Something made the air shift. A change in pressure, in temperature. My training kicked in before conscious thought, every muscle in my body going tense. The sound reached us a heartbeat later: the heavy rush of wings cutting through air. I stepped in front of Eden without thinking, my hand moving instinctively toward the blade at my hip.
Two Drakarn dropped from the ceiling, their wings folding as they landed in crouches that spoke of barely contained violence. The first had scales the color of deep purple bruises, his yellow eyes fixed on us with obvious malice. The second was red as fresh blood, smaller but with the wiry build that suggested speed over strength.
