“You killed the tiger, so it’s yours to keep, just like its claws and fangs.” She stared toward the heap of bones. “Oh, and chop off a piece of yellow aloe.” She patted one of the curly yellow plants. “The sap makes for great soap.”
I walked over to one and snapped a stalk. A golden, gel-like substance oozed between the leathery skin. “Thanks, Kiera.”
My gratitude gave her pause. She didn’t acknowledge it, though, simply ducked beneath a liana and left.
We took turns bathing. I sensed that until Kingston was dealt with, and by dealt with, I meant killed, we’d be taking turns doing a lot of things.
While Remo rinsed the pelt, using some of the golden gel to wash it, his gaze roved over the curve of tropical plants rimming the beach, over the tree from which hung another chopped-up carcass. On the summer and winter solstices, it was a Neverrian tradition to tie glass ornaments and ribbons to calimbor branches. If I squinted hard, I could almost mistake the slick, dangling meat for solstice decorations.
I squeezed some aloe from a stalk and walked until my body was submerged to my chin, then dipped my head back and rubbed the gel into my hair. The smell of sunshine and honey curled around me, soothing and sweet. I returned to the beach for more aloe that I slicked over my suit and arms, then dove in, unzipped my suit and peeled it off. After a thorough scrub, I tossed it on the beach, then attacked the rest of my skin.
“Remo, can you hand me the clothes Kiera dropped off?”
He strolled toward the low branch from which drooped a gray T-shirt and shorts for me, and a cream top with a pair of dark jeans for him. He slung his pelt to dry, then grabbed the clothes, dumping his on the beach before fording into the water with mine. Pressing one arm over my boobs, I rose.
His Adam’s apple jumped as his darkened gaze dipped to the glistening swells of my breasts. I pried the T-shirt from his locked fingers and single-handedly pulled it over my head. Once the fabric covered my torso, I lifted my hair out of the neck hole.
His eyes slowly returned to mine. “You don’t have scales here.” His voice was so hoarse it raised goose bumps on my damp skin.
“Is that what you were looking for so intently? My scales?”
His jaw flared with heat, and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Yes?”
I grinned. “Your lying skills need some improvement.”
He shot me a rueful smile, then extended the shorts. Once I took them, he turned around and treaded to the beach. The smattering of stains on the faded denim made me sigh. It was either that or my wet suit, though, and dry won over appealing. I walked out of the water, then quickly speared my legs through and buttoned them up. They hung dangerously low. Although wet, I grabbed my makeshift belt, wrung it out, and stuffed it through the belt loops.
“Can’t believe you didn’t even peek,” I said as I circled him.
He smiled down at me, his jaw still a little pink under a streak of feline gore. “I was afraid you might punch me.”
Even though he smelled of sweat and blood, I stood on tiptoe and kissed the corner of his crooked mouth. “I wouldn’t have.”
“Now you tell me?”
For a moment, as he gazed down at me, I forgot about Kingston, about the Scourge, about our useless Infinities. But then his gaze snapped to the tree line, and his arm hooked around my waist, twirling me behind him. The reminder that this wasn’t a vacation crashed through me as thunderously as the curtain of water at my back.
Hidden behind his broad body, I pulled my dust out and shaped a weapon, then whispered, “I made a wita knife.”
He reached one hand behind his back, and I slipped the golden hilt into his palm.
A man finally emerged from the dense shrubs, and it wasn’t Kingston.
Cruz froze at the sight of us. “Hope I’m not interrupting anything, but I was hoping for a bath before dinner.”
The sigh I expelled raised goose bumps along Remo’s shoulders. I extracted my knife from his fingers and made it vanish. “You’re not interrupting anything,” I called out, stepping around Remo.
“Amara, go sit on the rocks over there. I don’t want you out in the open.” He nodded to the jumble