Raven's Return - Ruby Dixon Page 0,64

get uncomfortable. "I'm hooking up with U'dron." Everyone laughs as if I've said something funny, and I realize I'm speaking in my lighter, sweeter tone of voice. Shit. "I'm moving in with him," I say, as if that will clarify things.

"So you can make beautiful music together?" Bridget teases.

"So we can fuck," I counter.

Bridget's eyes go wide. There's more laughter. Harlow covers her son's ears, but her lips are twitching. I notice I'rec and O'jek are hovering near A'tam, and they're all whispering together. Well, I hope they heard that, because I absolutely don't plan on changing my mind. I put my hand on U'dron's knee possessively.

"And I'm ready to talk about my adventure," I tell them all.

23

RAVEN

I put my bowl aside and sip the shrimp tea, loving the spicy taste and the warmth of it. I love U'dron's tail wrapped around my ankle, and I lean against him as I begin to talk. Everyone quiets down, ready for a tale, and I have to admit I love an audience. I've always loved performing, and telling a story gives me the same thrill that dancing—or singing—does. It's easy to slide into being old Raven, and I know I'm not being “myself” exactly when I speak. There's time enough for that later.

For now, I tell them all about how I saw footprints on the beach and went after them. How I passed out in a tide cave—I neatly gloss over the fact that Juth probably drugged me to steal me away as a bargaining tool—and woke up to meet Juth and Pak. I describe them and immediately, the island clans are uneasy.

"Outcast clan," J'shel says with a sour expression. "Why do they survive and Long Tail did not?"

"They're people," I reply easily. I launch back into my story, talking about cute little Pak and how determined he was to feed me. How Juth stuck to the rules of outcast clan even though the rest of the clan was long gone. I talk of making fire and having it put out again and shivering on the beach.

I talk about U'dron's heroic rescue, and I probably play it up a little and make it sound far more dramatic than it was. I want them all to be as proud of U'dron as I am. No one has ever, ever come for me before, and it's not something I'm going to forget, ever. As long as I live, I'm going to have the sight of U'dron surging into the water after me and fighting Juth to claim me. Even now, it makes me squirm with giddy glee…and just a hint of arousal. I never knew being rescued was such a damn turn on.

"Juth is a wily one," U'dron says, taking up the reins of my story when I pause. "He claimed the law of the beach and said that R'ven was his since he had found her." He pauses for dramatic effect and lets a low murmur ripple through the group before raising a hand to continue the story. Normally I'd be annoyed at having my story taken over, but U'dron continuing the tale feels as natural as can be. I don't mind sharing my audience with him, and I love hearing him tell it from his perspective. "Once I knew he looked at her as something to be bargained over and that he had not hurt her, we haggled. His thought was for supplies for himself and his son."

"Tell us about the boy," Harlow says, hugging her son Rukhar against her. "Was he very little?"

"Older than Z'hren, but younger than your R'khar," U'dron continues. "A smart, clever boy, too. As ferocious as his father, and a good hunter. R'ven says he caught many of the things you call 'spag-hee mon-starr' and fed her."

"Spaghetti monster," I murmur, patting his knee.

"He is born of outcast clan, then? There have been no young passed to them for the last ten turns of the seasons," I'rec points out, his arms crossed over his chest.

U'dron nods. "I think so. He and Juth knew each other well, but Juth was not his father in anything other than name. I think perhaps they are the last two survivors and Juth is caring for him." Despite the interruptions, U'dron picks up the story again, embellishing the rounds of haggling he went through with Juth in order to settle on supplies in exchange for me. He builds the story seamlessly, and I'm fascinated by the smooth tone of his voice, the way