Unbondable(Kindred Birthright #1) - Evangeline Anderson Page 0,46

eyes are always looking for stimulation and there isn’t any here,” Raak said. “I’d tell you to shut them but it doesn’t make any difference since your lids are invisible too which means they don’t block out any of the light.”

In fact, light was all there was to see around them, though even that didn’t vary in the slightest. The area around them was uniformly lit with a soft, golden glow which seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.

“Come on, we can’t keep Qi waiting,” Raak said and she heard him shift, as though about to move forward.

“Wait—at least take my hand. I’ve never been here before and I have no idea where I’m going!”

Reaching back, Kara grabbed for his hand, only to feel something long and hard and hot in her palm. Whatever it was seemed to throb as she wrapped her fingers around it.

Kara frowned. What in the world?

“Uh…that’s not my hand, baby girl.” Raak’s deep voice sounded slightly strangled. “That’s my, uh…”

“Oh!” With a little gasp, Kara snatched her hand back. She was certain that her cheeks were bright red with a blush of mortification, even if Raak couldn’t see them right now. “I’m so sorry,” she exclaimed. “I didn’t mean to—”

“I know you didn’t,” Raak interrupted her. “Don’t worry about it. Just hold out your hand and I’ll hold out mine.”

Kara did as he said and after a bit of fumbling in the empty air between them, they managed to take hands again and then Raak gave her a little tug.

“How do you know which way we’re going?” she asked as she stepped forward tentatively, following him. The floor beneath her feet felt smooth and cool and featureless.

“Just walking straight ahead—it’s what I did the first time I met Qi and eventually I ran into him,” Raak said. His deep voice coming from the empty air at her side was both comforting and unsettling at the same time.

This must be what it feels like to be a ghost, Kara thought to herself. Present but unseen.

Raak led her along for what felt like a long way. Kara wondered if the whole house was bare or if there was furniture somewhere and they were just walking past it. Maybe they were in a long hallway that led off to other rooms and if she let go of Raak’s hand, she would find them.

But then again, what if there was something awful waiting in the emptiness on either side of her? What if there was some kind of alien monster she couldn’t see or hear which was watching her hungrily from only a few feet away?

The thought made her shiver and grip the big Unbondable’s hand even tighter until he murmured,

“You all right, little girl?”

“Fine.” Kara tried to make her voice sound normal but it came out high and squeaky instead. “Just a little freaked out, maybe,” she admitted in a low voice.

“Don’t be,” Raak assured her, giving her hand a little squeeze. “Everything is gonna be just fine, baby girl—I promise you.”

“It is my palace you are standing in and so I shall be the one to make the promises,” a voice said.

It was soft and high with just a hint of the chiming quality of the reflective plant people outside, Kara thought. Also, it was coming from about ten feet above their heads. How big was this Qi anyway? If it was Qi who was speaking to them. She had a mental image of one of the silvery plant people grown to an enormous height and towering above them, huge but unseen.

“Greetings, Qi,” Raak said, addressing the invisible being with ease. “I have come to trade with your people once again but this time I bring a female with me who has need of your infinite wisdom.”

“My wisdom, is it?” The soft, high voice sounded amused. “Well then, I will be pleased to help your female if I can, Raakshas. You are welcome in my Palace of the Unseen, as always. But before I can offer any assistance, you and your female must consume comestibles with me.”

“Uh, he wants us to eat with him?” Kara whispered to Raak.

“It’s a courtesy,” the big Unbondable whispered back.

“But what do they eat? Is it even safe for us to eat their food?” Kara asked.

After all, if the Xephronians were plant-based life forms, weren’t they likely to live on a diet of dirt and water and carbon dioxide? What kind of meal would that be? Would she be able