Captive - Cheryl Brooks Page 0,51

destined to be their mate.” He glanced up. “Ever met any Mordrials?”

She shook her head. “Never heard of them.”

“They have psychic abilities and can control at least one of the elements. Althea is an empath who controls fire and earth.”

“Sounds like a dangerous woman.”

“She is, and so is her mother, Tisana. She can shoot fireballs from her eyes.” Almost as an afterthought, he added, “Actually, Althea can do that too.”

If he’d expected Klara to shudder, he’d have been disappointed. “Sounds like someone our little revolution could use.”

“Yeah, well, the gods only know where either of them are at the moment. Which reminds me…we need to find a comsystem so we can summon the troops. That was what I was going to do this morning. After the bank and breakfast, that is.” He couldn’t help chuckling. “This day sure didn’t turn out like we thought it would, did it?”

“Not at all,” she replied. “Tonight isn’t going so well, either.”

Her slightly aggrieved expression and the obvious reference to their sleeping arrangements brought him right back where they’d started. Moe couldn’t help being a little angry with her for thinking he was a criminal. At least he thought he was. Somehow or other, she’d managed to distract him. Narrowing his eyes, he glared at her with suspicion. “And you’re just trying to make me forget why I was so ticked at you. Are you really that anxious for another hit of snard?”

She threw up her hands in denial. “Just making conversation. I mean, clearly any exchange of snard is out of the question. I would’ve bunked with Temfilk, but I hated to hurt Velkma’s feelings. She’d gone to so much trouble and all.”

He knew he shouldn’t hold her snap judgment against her, but it still rankled. Possibly because he might’ve been in the Pelarus’s dungeons awaiting a turn in the arena if things had gone differently. Even if he’d managed to escape, chances were good that he would’ve wound up right where he was now, arguing with Klara. Closing his eyes, he pinched the bridge of his nose in an effort to stave off an impending headache, which was probably due to the insinuation that he was a criminal, although the howling winds might’ve been responsible.

“We can share the bed if you like,” he finally said. “I could use some decent sleep. Haven’t had much of it lately.”

“Neither have I.” Her voice was softer than he’d yet heard it as she eyed the bed with longing. More longing, perhaps, than she felt for him.

He reminded himself that Zetithian females were notoriously reluctant to mate. Clearly, the Davordian tendency toward promiscuity had been overridden by that particular Zetithian trait.

“Look, I’m sorry, okay?” she said, a note of pleading in her voice. “I wouldn’t have sold you. Temfilk was all for recruiting you from the beginning. He would’ve talked me into it eventually.” She put up a hand as he started to speak. “And it wouldn’t have taken much talking, either.”

Moe ran a hand through his hair, getting his fingers caught in the braids. Tossing the strips of gray fabric aside, he undid the braids, combing his fingers through the tangled curls. All of a sudden, he was more tired than he’d been in recent memory. His eyes were dry and gritty, his back ached and so did his neck, probably from trying to sleep while sitting against a wall the night before, the bit of nooky notwithstanding.

Klara pulled back the covers on the bed. After a moment’s hesitation, she took off her jacket. Her boots followed. Moe wondered when she would stop, which she didn’t until she was down to her underwear.

She reached out a hand. “Come on, Moe. Take your boots off and lie down. We can sort this out when we’ve rested.”

“You don’t expect to be attacked in the middle of the night?” Considering what Temfilk had told him about her when he’d stood watch the night before, for her to let down her guard to the point of actually undressing was a fairly rare event.

“Believe it or not, I actually don’t. With you and the vast majority of the female population of this city on our side, I feel surprisingly safe.”

“Me being there didn’t stop us from being attacked last night.”

“Maybe not, but you did manage to sound the alarm in time for us to escape.” She was silent for a long moment, then shrugged and climbed beneath the covers. A groan escaped her as she settled her head on the