I told him.
“Does it have a name?”
“Lysi,” I said, giving him a small smile, “but I cannot tell you it. The Vorakkar would be displeased if I did. I don’t even think the mrikro knows it.”
“You do,” Gabe pointed out, raising a brow, seemingly relieved that we were done talking about Addie.
I pressed a kiss to Roon’s long snout and I saw the mrikro looking over at me, his eyes basically popping out of his skull in disbelief, a mucking shovel in his grip.
“That’s because I named him,” I informed Gabe.
When the mrikro approached, Roon stomped his long legs, flicking his tail. The creature let out a ferocious snarl when the mrikro reached out to take him away from the fence, a snarl that had both the pyroki master and Gabe backing away.
“Nik,” I murmured, grabbing Roon’s neck. “Don’t do that, kassiri. Go with the mrikro.”
Roon stomped his feet.
“I’ll come visit you later, I promise. Maybe I can convince your master to take you out on the wild lands, lysi?” I cooed softly to the irritated beast, pushing his snout towards the pyroki master.
As if Roon knew what I was saying, the fickle beast seemed pleased with the words and finally allowed the mrikro to lead him away, back to where he was being fed.
When I turned back to Gabe, who had jumped back from the fence, my gaze focused behind him and I saw Kiran standing there, his wide arms crossed over his chest.
All at once, my heart tripled its beats. Kiran’s gaze burned into mine, even from that far a distance. His pujerak was with him and a darukkar I didn’t recognize, who was speaking to them both. Though Kiran’s attention was only on me.
Swallowing hard, I let my gaze drift over him. All thick thighs encased in tight hide. A broad chest that seemed to stretch endlessly. Strong cords of muscle that ran down his arms. His black hair was loose, that tail was flicking ever so slightly behind him, and those full lips were curving into a small smirk. A maddening smirk when he saw me studying him.
Arrogant male, I thought, breaking his gaze. Feeling heated and flustered as I recalled the way his fingers had moved between my thighs this morning and the gruff, ragged sounds that had torn from his throat as he ground his cock into me.
Kakkari help me, I pleaded.
I turned back to Gabe, who was still frowning into the pyroki enclosure.
“Shall we head back?” I suggested, wanting to get away from Kiran’s knowing gaze. “You want to help me grind pova roots? I could use your strength. Don’t tell my apprentice this but he’s not as strong as he looks,” I joked.
Gabe chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.
Blowing out a breath, he smiled and said, “Why not?”
Chapter Thirty-Three
“A storm is blowing in,” Errok said, striding into the council’s voliki later that night. “Or so the scouts you sent out report. A storm that might bring the frost.”
“They returned just now?” I asked, looking down at the message from the thesper that finally returned from Rath Kitala’s horde.
“Lysi,” Errok replied. “When will you leave for the Dead Lands?”
If the frost was moving in, I didn’t want to get caught up in a storm traveling to Rath Kitala’s horde. Then again, I still had a week before I had to meet with the others.
“How far off is it?”
“The storm?” Errok questioned. “Three or four days’ ride, though it might blow in sooner, depending on its speed.”
I grunted, rereading the message scrawled in Rath Kitala’s hand.
“What does it say?” Errok asked, coming to stand on the opposite side of the table, spreading his hands down on top of it.
“Nothing of importance,” I said, handing the letter to him, blowing out a sigh of frustration. “The fog is stable. It hasn’t moved. Rath Kitala has darukkars posted at the Dead Lands that send him daily reports.”
Errok made a sound in the back of his throat as he scanned the message quickly.
“He says the land is quiet,” I murmured softly. “Very quiet. Eerie even.”
Errok met my gaze from across the table.
“Do you want to send a thesper back? To confirm the meeting with all the Vorakkars?”
“The thesper is exhausted,” I told him, thinking of the poor winged beast that had nearly dropped from the sky on its return. The mrikro was charged with overseeing our thespers’ care. “She’s getting much needed rest.”
“The thesper is that tired from that short distance?” Errok asked, incredulous.
Which was another