Captive of the Horde King (Horde Kings Of Dakkar #1) - Zoey Draven Page 0,62
still and let him explore your scent.”
“Why is he doing this?” I hissed again.
“He is curious.”
I pushed further back into Arokan, just moments from climbing over the fence, but he held me still. It took me a moment to realize that I’d turned to him for safety. It took me a moment to realize that he must truly think I was safe, or else he would never let the pyroki near me.
That knowledge made me blow out a breath, made me try to relax as I kept still and let the beast sniff me.
Something cold and wet and slimy touched my cheek and I realized it was the snot from his nose. Gross.
But after a few long moments, the pyroki finally lost interest and slowly backed away, trotting over to another pyroki, who it smelled too.
A deep sigh of relief left me, but it didn’t last for long. Soon, Kailon came over, sensing that his master was near. Unlike the other pyroki, Kailon didn’t take an interest in me, only had eyes for Arokan and seemed to marginally tolerate my presence.
“Why do you fear them so much?” Arokan asked softly, reaching out his hand to stroke Kailon’s neck.
I looked into the pyroki’s red eyes, remembering that red peering at me in the ice forest on that cold night—
“A pyroki killed my mother,” I told him, the words tumbling out of me and I couldn’t look away from Kailon.
Arokan’s arms tensed around me.
Or, rather, I killed my mother because a pyroki had mauled her in such a viscous way that there was no hope left for her.
“So, you see, I will always fear them,” I told him softly, “because I know what they are capable of. I’ve seen it.”
“Kalles—”
“Don’t,” I whispered. “Please.”
Arokan took my hand and pressed it to Kailon’s snout, though my whole body tensed.
“I am sorry about your mother, Luna,” he said in my ear. “But know this…Kailon is loyal to me. Kailon has saved my life many times. Now, he is as much yours as he is mine. He will serve you if you ask him, he will be bound to you if you ask him. He will never harm you so you never have to fear him. They are intelligent creatures, sometimes more intelligent than we are.”
Kailon’s scales felt cool beneath my hand, but Arokan’s hand felt hot.
“I know you fear them. I feel your body shaking, feel your heart thundering in your chest,” he whispered, but I never took my eyes away from Kailon’s. “You make me proud, kassikari.”
My breath hitched, surprise washing through me.
“You fear them, but you are here. That should make you proud too,” he told me.
He was being kind again. And just like last time, I didn’t know if I liked it. Because it made me feel things I shouldn’t.
Finally, I turned my head to look directly into Arokan’s eyes. They were so black that I saw my reflection in them, that I saw Kailon’s reflection in them.
I thought about what Hukan said—that I would never be strong enough to stand at Arokan’s side—and I thought about what she’d offered me to leave him—my old life.
I thought about telling him about Hukan’s betrayal, but I kept my mouth shut on that subject. She was still his family and I would need to tread lightly.
“Stop being nice,” I whispered.
His grin made my belly warm. “I forget that you do not like it, kalles.”
He released me then and I let my hand glide away from Kailon’s snout. Arokan said something in Dakkari—a command—and his pyroki obeyed, wandering off to eat.
When I felt like I could breathe again, I realized that many eyes were on us. The pyroki master, Mirari and Lavi, the two guards assigned to me, the two Dakkari males who’d been speaking with Arokan, in addition to members of the horde that had been wandering by at the time.
My cheeks flamed, wondering if they’d seen my fear, hoping they hadn’t.
When I looked at Arokan, he was back in Vorakkar mode, looking down at me with his stoic expression, so unlike the teasing warmth of his voice a moment before.
You make me proud, kassikari, he’d said.
I nodded up at him and whispered, “Thank you.”
He inclined his head and a moment later, he turned and left.
I watched him go, watched him return to the Dakkari males and they resumed onwards towards wherever they’d been going. I bit my lip, swallowing, before turning back to the pen.