A Girl From Nowhere (The Firewall Trilogy #1) - James Maxwell Page 0,29
up.”
Realization dawned in his eyes. Color came to his cheeks; he was obviously remembering the encounter at the spring. Thoughts visibly crossed his face, but slowly his expression changed.
“That’s not true,” he said, meeting her gaze. “I wouldn’t lie to you. And especially not like that.”
“I’ve been around a lot of men—”
“But you haven’t been around me,” he said.
Without another word, Taimin led Griff away.
Selena had been prepared for lies or obfuscation. Taimin’s reaction wasn’t what she had expected. She tried again to farcast, allowing her eyes to become unfocused and her mind to wander. Again, she found nothing.
But her talent could be unreliable. She turned her head, and found herself watching the distant, broken cliff.
The golden sun had moved to a lower position in the sky. The hilltop with the two leaning rocks was high, with a clear view in all directions. Following the bottom of the cliff, where their path would have taken them, she saw a line of shadows. The shadows were cast by tiny figures, walking in single file. Only one race had that strange, hunched posture.
As soon as she saw the group of bax, Selena’s eyes widened. She turned back to Taimin. Now that she was inspecting him, she saw scratches on his arms and hands. A few of the grazes looked bad. He had torn his vest low on his abdomen, revealing an angry red patch where he had smashed his body against the rock.
He had risked his life to warn her.
She glanced at Lars. He would have left. If Lars had to choose between putting himself in danger, and leaving her behind, he would go without a moment’s thought. Even if it meant finding the white city for himself.
She returned her attention to Taimin. He looked toward her and held her stare. There was depth in his eyes. They were brown and warm. The golden sun burnished his dark hair and made his skin glow.
The moment was interrupted when she saw the mantorean Lars had traded with walk over to Taimin. She was close enough to hear the exchange.
“I saw your supply is low. These are for you, young warrior,” the mantorean said.
Taimin’s face showed surprise as the insect-like creature held out a bundle of arrows. “Why?” he asked. “I don’t have anything to trade.”
“They are my gift to you. Not all humans are kind to my race. Please take them and remember. Perhaps you will treat the next group of mantoreans well.”
Taimin thanked the mantorean as he took the arrows. His face was troubled, and Selena remembered their conversation when they were approaching the hill for the first time.
Lars’s growling voice made them both turn. “Come on, both of you. It’s time to go.”
7
“Take off your vest,” Selena said.
Taimin was leaning with his back against a rock wall, resting in the shade. Not far away, Griff was sprawled out, fast asleep. A rumbling sound came from Lars, who lay snoring on his blanket under the shelter of an overhang. The golden sun Dex blazed from high in the sky. The day was still, without the slightest wind to dispel the heat. Until Dex began to fall, travel was unthinkable.
Taimin stared wide-eyed up at Selena. “What?”
She crouched at his side. Her voice was firm. “I need you to take off your vest.” Taimin noticed that she had a clean cloth and a water flask in her hands. When she saw his reluctance, she raised an eyebrow. “You saw me naked, but you’re too shy to take off your vest?”
“I didn’t choose to see you naked,” Taimin said. As soon as he said it, he wished he could take the words back.
“Ah, so you did see me.”
“No. Yes.”
Cursing his tongue, he stopped talking, and instead gave a sigh and pulled his vest over his head. He glanced down at himself. His chest was lean; there was no soft layer below the skin at all. His abdomen rippled with ridges, and from his navel a sparse trail of dark hair vanished below the waistline of his trousers. The graze on one side of his chest looked bad, but he’d had worse. Black specks on the wound indicated bits of rock or dirt.
“Lean back,” Selena said. She inspected the wound for a time, so close to him that a few strands of her black hair tickled his chest.
“Do you know about wounds?” Taimin asked.
She looked up at him. “I took care of children,” she said; clearly she thought that explained enough.