26. Chapter 26

I couldn't recall when I stopped thinking of Amber as a human, as a part of the species that had brought insurmountable suffering to my people. To me, she was just Amber, my Amira. A gallis who had captured my heart in a whirl of a storm. I felt that whatever dangers lay ahead of us, whatever was coming, I would be a lot stronger with her by my side. She was a worthy mate.

I didn't know where she would stand with this notion, but her interest in my nipple and body indicated she wasn't opposed to it. By the gods, when she had sucked on it, I thought I would come inside my pants like an untrained youth. No gallis had ever done anything like that to me. Nor had they ever taken the initiative, like Amber. They didn't need to; there were so precious few of them left that males lined up by the dozens to earn their favor.

We were only a day's march now from the red fog. Tomorrow, before dark, we would reach it and say goodbye to the shrunken group of humans. When I offered to escort them, I had no idea what I was in for, despite Tzar-Than's warning. How could such a fragile species cause so much harm, I wondered. More frightening, though, was the question of how much harm a larger group could cause. The one Amber had warned me about?

We made camp, and I deposited Amber on a stack of furs to make her comfortable while I helped Dhor-Van erect the pitiful number of tents we now only needed.

"Dzur-Khan?" Lexi approached me, wringing her hands and looking uncomfortable.

"Sa?"

"I'm… I'm… I want to stay, please." She didn't look at me when she searched for the right words in Vandruk to make her case. "I know I've done terrible things. Unforgivable things… but I like Vandruk. I don't want to go back to Earth."

Over the last few days, she had proven herself capable and reliable. By her own admission, she was a healer, something Vandruk sorely needed, especially given how much further advanced the humans were when it came to medicine. I had seen her and Dhor-Van together, barely able to hide their blossoming relationship. I wanted that for Dhor-Van; I wanted it for all my warriors.

Amber had risen from the furs and stood beside me. I liked the idea that she was possessive of me and didn't want me to speak to Lexi alone. Her fingers held onto my bicep, small and fragile yet so strong; I marveled, temporarily forgetting Lexi's company .

"You didn't try to stop the attack on Gwyn, she could have been killed." Amber said, but with a lot less venom than I would have expected.

"I'm so sorry about that." Tears shimmered in Lexi's eyes as she lifted her head. "So sorry. I won't ever do anything like it again. I swear."

Amber just stared at her until Lexi filled the silence. I took note of how Amber had done this and filed that little trick away for later use. "I was stupid. I followed the wrong group. I swear I didn't know what they were planning."

"And yet you didn't stop them," Amber chided, still in a much gentler tone than she usually used, and I realized she was baiting Lexi, baiting her to divulge more of her inner thoughts by appearing to sympathize with her. Another noteworthy little trick, of which my little human seemed to be full of.

"No." A few tears rolled down Lexi's cheek.

"As a matter of fact, you didn't run for help, and you lied when Tzar-Than questioned Sandra."

"I was scared. Scared they would… hurt me, too. I had left everything behind, like everyone else. I thought I needed this group of friends, even though they weren't my friends. Not really." Lexi's head lowered again. "I'm sorry. I know, I can't make up for it. It was cowardly and… Never mind. Forget I asked."

She turned to walk away, and I would have let her. This was more personal to Amber than to me. Sa, we could have used another gallis, a healer, but I wasn't going to invite trouble or go against Tzar-Than's and Amber's wishes. I had seen what they had done to Gwyn, how close to death she had been when I found her, even though she hadn't needed my help. I was sure she would have made it even without me and Tzar-Than showing up. But I also didn't know what Gwyn had done to provoke this attack, as despicable as it was, which was why I deferred my judgment to Amber, who had been there.

"Wait," Amber called Lexi back.

"What makes you think you won't fall back in with a bad group ?"

"I like to think I've grown and gotten stronger." Lexi's lips twitched in depreciation.

"You helped Dzur-Khan save me. I haven't thanked you for that yet."

"No thanks needed. It helped me more than you." This time, a slight smile touched her lips. "I think… it helped me remember who I am."

Amber looked up at me. I shrugged. This was her decision.

"If you fuck up, I'll kill you myself."

Lexi visibly paled and swallowed. "I won't. Thank you." She looked at me. "Thank you. I won't disappoint you."

"Tzar-Than won't be happy," I told Amber.

"I don't care what he is or isn't," she replied. "Are you okay with this?"

"We need every gallis," I stated, turning my head automatically toward the Rodruk Mountains, where our gallies were still entombed .

Her hand rose to my face and cupped my cheek. "What happened to your women?"

Had the pain of that day not been so raw inside me, I would have appreciated the fact that, over the past few days, we had made big leaps in understanding each other enough to tell our stories. But I wished it hadn't been this particular one we started out with.

"When your people opened that… portal of yours, our planet shook. A cave filled in—a cave packed with most of our gallies celebrating our quinquennial meeting of clans and Khadahr Trials." I filled her in, hating how hoarse my voice got even now.

"Oh my God, Dzur-Khan, I'm so sorry. That's terrible." Her eyes moistened.

"It's been ten years," I added, "and we don't have enough gallies to keep our population, let alone grow."

"But twenty human women aren't going to make a difference," she objected.

"Nek," I agreed. "But if any of them become with child, Tzar-Than will ask for more."

"There won't be a shortage of volunteers," she added dryly. I didn't get all that.

"Volunteers?"

"Yeah, women like the ones here now who came willingly."

"You think many of your women will want to come?" I asked skeptically.

"Hell yeah." She nodded vehemently. "Just look at you guys; you're all… drop-dead gorgeous. Not to mention built like gods."

"You think I'm built like a god?" I fished, grinning .

She slapped my bare chest. It wasn't a light slap; it stung and done with her left hand no less. I was glad to see her strength returning. "Don't be an ass. You know you're mouthwatering sexy."

I threw my head back and laughed, never having heard those words put together like this.

"You think I'm sexy?" I waggled my eyebrows.

She slapped me again, this time on my shoulder. "Stop fishing for compliments."

I leaned down, close to her ear. "You know I think you're drop-dead gorgeous too, right?"