“Go learn more about our most interesting guest. Seduce her with your infamous charm and make her tell you all.”
My brow rose and I gave him a dry look.
“And try not to scare her too badly,” Hedna added.
My lips curled.
When I reached Lokkaru’s voliki and ducked inside, it was well after dark and the home was quiet.
My chest gave an uncomfortable squeeze when I saw Vienne, perched on the floor next to Lokkaru’s bed of furs. The elder female was sleeping. The leikavi had been watching her.
Trays from their evening meal were laid out on the low table, all empty. Both goblets of wine were empty as well and when I regarded her carefully, her cheeks were a little flushed from the alcohol’s warmth.
I tilted my chin back and she nodded, rising slowly. When I looked over at the table where Lokkaru made her candles, I saw wide, blue-colored columns and I huffed out a small breath in amusement.
Before Vienne followed me out, she threw another brick of fuel onto the fire to make certain the voliki remained warm for Lokkaru. There was an…ache in my chest at that. Something unfamiliar I didn’t like.
I met her outside and when she emerged from the entrance, a cool breeze made a strand of her hair whip across her face. She closed her eyes, taking a deep lungful of the night air into her, her lips curling into a small, pleased smile…and even that made me hard for her.
Vok.
I drew her to me, acting on my instinct to have her near. Her hands settled against my chest in surprise. When I leaned down, I smelled something mixed with her scent. Something sweet and intoxicating.
“You smell like kuveri,” I murmured, burrowing my nose into her hair.
“I—I’m not surprised,” came her whispered voice. “We used so many for the dye. Truthfully, I think I’ll smell this way forever.”
“That would be most pleasing,” I purred.
I spied the vein in the slim column of her throat beginning to throb harder. After last night, I didn’t know if it was from fear…or something else entirely.
I led her away from Lokkaru’s voliki, back towards my own.
“I thought that maybe I would be staying with Lokkaru tonight,” came her soft voice.
My brow furrowed. “I said I would return for you.”
She didn’t say anything in reply. I peered up at the night sky. It was late. The encampment was nearly silent.
“I was sparring on the training grounds. I did not expect to be there long but there was much to discuss with my pujerak.”
I was unused to being accountable to anyone for my actions, yet I didn’t find it as irritating as I’d thought it would be.
“Your pujerak?” she asked.
“My second-in-command,” I told her. “He takes over responsibility for the horde when I must be away. He also acts as my advisor.”
Her booted feet treaded roughly over the dirt. I needed to see about getting her more suitable coverings, ones that actually fit. I frowned when that realization sparked unease within me. Like guilt.
“And what did he advise you about me?”
“Seduce you into submission.”
A sudden intake of air whistled through her nostrils, but she was saved from answering when an echoing hiss in the distance reached the encampment. A soft shrieking cry followed.
I noticed that she took a step towards me as she asked, “What was that?”
“Ungira.”
Her eyes darted up to mine. I wondered why she suddenly looked so…pensive.
“Nothing to fear,” I told her. “Ungira are more active at night. They are sensitive to the light. There are no nesting grounds nearby. I ensured that before we began to make base.”
When had I ever reassured another to assuage their fear? And yet, I didn’t like to see her frightened of anything.
She relaxed, nodding, but she stayed close.
We continued towards my voliki, which was at the base of one of the only mountains in ungira territory. There were deep fissures dissecting the mountain, however. Perhaps due to the earthquakes that had once plagued this region. The fissures led nowhere. All of them were dead ends, ensuring that we wouldn’t be ambushed from the back of the encampment.
However, near one of the fissures, close to where the pyroki enclosure was, I spied movement and shadows. I stilled, stepping around a darkened voliki, wondering if my mind was playing tricks on me again.
“What is it?” Vienne whispered, noticing my sudden tension.
Relief made me sigh when I heard a sharp moan, which cut off abruptly. Huffing, I noticed my palm was gripped tight around the