The Priestess and the Thief Kindred Tales 30 - Evangeline Anderson Page 0,90
trying to put him out. Though if I’d known what he was trying to do to you, I would have let him burn,” Roke said, his eyes turning red. “Did he manage to—?”
“No,” Elli said quickly. “Demon stopped him. He…he only tried.” She turned back around, looking between Demon’s long, silky ears to distract herself.
“I should have been there to stop him myself,” Roke growled in her ear. “Gods, I’m so sorry, little priestess.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry for.” Elli lifted her chin and pointed at a sleek silver craft in the distance. “Is that your ship?”
“That’s it,” Roke told her. “Come on—we’re almost there!”
Leaning forward, Elli urged Demon on. Almost there—they were almost there. And soon she would be gone, leaving Pok and its angry prince and all the memories she’d made here behind forever…
Forty-Eight
“Where do you want to take him?” Roke asked, once they were safely in the air with no sign of pursuit behind them. The skies were empty right now but he was sure the Tenebrians would send someone after his ship if they hung around long enough.
Which was why he had no intention of hanging around.
“Him? Oh, Demon.” Ellilah sank into the passenger’s chair beside him wearily. She’d been holding Demon’s head and reassuring him during take-off so that the massive beast wouldn’t kick his way out of the cargo hold. Apparently he was settled now, or she wouldn’t have left him to come up to the front of the ship.
“Yes. I’m assuming there isn’t room for a beast his size aboard the Mother Ship?” Roke raised an eyebrow at her.
“You’re right.” For a moment she looked like she might cry. “They’d never let me keep him there. Or any other zorel for that matter. The humans would consider them too dangerous.”
“Do you have a place in mind where he’ll be safe, then?” Roke asked. “I’m sorry, but he can’t stay with me either, little priestess,” he added gently. “I don’t know how long he’d be willing to tolerate my cargo hold without you. You’re his person—not me.”
Ellilah looked deep in thought for a moment, her forehead creasing in concentration.
“There’s a patch of wild land out behind my family’s ranch on Torl Prime,” she said at last. “He can be free there and no one will bother him.”
“Are you sure?” Roke asked, frowning. “You don’t want to give him to your family?”
Ellilah shook her head firmly.
“Demon was never meant to belong to anyone,” she said softly. “Some creatures just can’t be owned—not unless they own a piece of you, too.” She looked up at Roke briefly. “Do you know what I mean?”
Roke felt his heart throb with pain and regret.
“Yes, little priestess,” he said, his voice low and harsh. “I do.” He cleared his throat. “Don’t worry—we’ll get him safely to Torl Prime.”
“Thank you.” She looked down at her hands. “And…thank you for coming to save me at the stables.”
“I should have come a hell of a lot sooner,” Roke said savagely. He was still angry with himself for ignoring the feeling of concern the Goddess had been sending him. “Thank the Goddess that Demon was there to save you from that bastard’s advances. I should have let him burn to fucking death!”
“I think the punishment of looking like he does now and living in a Court full of vain nobles who care more about looks than anything else is a worse punishment than death,” Ellilah said thoughtfully.
“You’re right. I doubt he’ll want anyone ‘Mirroring’ him now,” Roke said—and then wished immediately that he could call the words back. The last thing he wanted to do was bring up the disastrous Mirroring from the night before. “Ellilah,” he began. “I didn’t mean—”
“Don’t worry about it.” She looked away from him, staring out the viewscreen at the round globe of Torl Prime growing in the ship’s field of view. “Let’s just get Demon somewhere safe so that horrible Prince can’t hurt him.”
“Of course.” And clamping his jaw shut on all the stupid, useless things that wanted to come out of his mouth, Roke shut up and flew.
Forty-Nine
“Now, you be good.” Elli stroked the soft black muzzle for the last time. “Be safe and take care of yourself,” she told Demon. “There’s plenty of grass and a nice cold stream down in the woods over there.” She pointed towards the forest at the far end of the rolling plane, making sure the big zorel knew what she meant. “So you should be just fine here.”