fuck,” I muttered, “is this?”
Bo glanced back at me once, shamefaced but with a stubborn glare, and practically carried Krey to the cabin. My cabin. Then they disappeared inside, and he slammed the door shut behind them.
I turned my xilde over to Graez and strode after them, concerned that somehow my overflowing jeqwa had caused Bo some serious brain damage. “Bo,” I yelled, kicking the door open so hard it hit the wall.
He froze as he smoothed the bedcovers over Krey’s small form, his face paling as he looked at me.
“Has the jeqwa driven you completely mad?” I asked, crossing my arms.
“Er…”
“He gets a tent. Not my bed.” I shook my head. Then, slightly amazed, “You put him in my bed.”
“Ah…Er…” He looked down at the big-eyed Drimuti then back at me. “I’m addled, Dexx. I’m just going to say it. I’m downright addled.”
“Put him in his tent,” I ordered. But when he leaned over to scoop Krey from the bed, I added, “Show him to his tent.” I didn’t want Bo to put his hands on the Drimuti again.
We were both just a little addled.
But when Krey, swallowed up by his ill-fitting clothes, his cap firmly on his head, tried to stand, he cried out and sank back to the bed. “I hurt my ankle when I fell from the xilde. I can’t walk.” He put the back of his hand to his forehead and swayed. “I may faint.”
“Fuck, Dexx,” my guard said, practically wringing his hands. “You’re not going to use the bed anyway. You never do. Can’t he sleep here?”
I released a long sigh and gestured sharply. How in the fuck had a street kid managed to remain so fucking delicate? He could take a punch like a grown man, but then be overcome by the vapors at the thought of bedding down under the sky.
Drimuti were freaks.
“Thanks, boss,” Bo said, grinning, then ushered the boy back into the bed.
I went to the fireplace to build a fire, and Bo went outside to get a bowl of stew, and I realized that something had changed. We were treating Krey like a princess. We were treating him like he was unofficially my intended, fated mate, and it was as disturbing as it was irritating.
“Thank you, Dexx,” Krey said.
I shuddered, swore, and then left the cabin as hurriedly as I’d entered it.
I had to get away from him, because I wanted just about more than anything to stay.
Chapter Fourteen
KREIA
The bed was soft as clouds compared with what I was used to lying on, and for the first time in forever I was comfortable. But…I was also cut off from everyone. I lay in that amazing bed after I’d eaten my dinner, and I was so sore and tired and it felt amazing, but I couldn’t see or hear Dexx. I couldn’t see anyone. I felt alone and I didn’t like it at all.
I’d much rather have spent the night out there with the rest of them. With Dexx. I’d been lying about my ankle to stay in his bed, and that hadn’t worked out because he’d left the cabin. Now I was stuck in this room pretending like I couldn’t walk.
The next morning, I was awakened by one of the guards coming in to build up the fire. I was disappointed that Dexx never made an appearance. Not even Bo had shown his face. After I scarfed down my breakfast, I decided to leave the little cabin.
I’d already explored it, but I’d found nothing personal at all. Anyone could have lived there. It was neat, clean, rather barren…and would have been perfect for a couple who were getting to know each other and wanted nothing more than a bed, a fire, and some food.
And soon, that was going to be Dexx and me.
When I stepped outside the cabin, I shivered at the cold, gray morning, immediately searching for one big Craeshen. I didn’t see the point in coming here, honestly, but these men seemed to love the place. They needed a break from the city and apparently this was what passed as a vacation for them.
Corsov was beautiful in its awful grimness.
I walked through the camp outside the cabin, forgetting to breathe as I took in the sights and sounds of the deadlands.
I could understand how the place had gotten its name. There was a dark starkness to it that was eerie and mysterious. There were hundreds of trees with silver trunks and black and dark green leaves, interspersed