Page 25 of Primal Call

Jasper straightened, his face set with determination. “I’ll use it to get back home, of course.”

Kyral watched him closely, noticing the tightness around Jasper’s mouth and the way his eyes didn’t quite meet his own.

Something about that answer rang false. Kyral didn’t like it.

“Is that so?” Kyral asked, leaning forward slightly. “You don’t look too happy about it.”

Jasper’s eyes widened in shock, clearly caught off guard by Kyral’s observation. For a moment, he seemed at a loss for words. “I—” Jasper started, then sighed deeply. “No, you’re right. It’s not the whole truth.”

“So what is it you really want?”

Jasper’s gaze turned defiant. “Are you commanding me like a slave now?”

Defensive, huh? Kyral had touched a nerve. He shook his head slowly. “No,” he said firmly. “I’m not.”

Jasper looked down at his hands, fingers twisting together nervously. “Then I don’t have to tell you.”

Kyral narrowed his eyes but gave a small nod of acknowledgment. “Fair enough.”

Settling down on the ground, Kyral made himself comfortable for the night. He glanced over at Jasper one last time before closing his eyes. “You don’t need to tell me your secrets,” he said quietly. “But if your dream makes you look that unhappy, it’s not really your dream.”

With that, he shut his eyes, leaving Jasper to his thoughts and the silence of the night around them.

Chapter eleven

Jasper struggled for breath in the stifling heat of the bar, the oppressive air thick with the mingling scents of sweat and aggression. The Borraq crowd that surrounded him was a mass of golden skin and sharp horns, their jeers like a physical weight pressing down on him.

He stood on the auction block, exposed and vulnerable, with Rivek's hand gripping him like a vice.

The slaver's voice rang out, oily and triumphant, as he paraded Jasper before the crowd. "A fine specimen! Perfect for your every need!"

Jasper's eyes darted frantically through the sea of Borraq faces, searching for any sign of Kyral. Kyral's calm, steady presence had been his only anchor in this chaos, but now there was no trace of him.

Kyral's absence was like a black hole in Jasper’s chest, sucking away any semblance of hope he had left.

The crowd's noise grew louder, more intense. Jasper's heart pounded in his ears as hands reached out from the throng, clawing at him. The touch of their rough skin was searing hot against his own, yanking him in every direction at once. He tried to twist away, but there were too many of them.

"Look at this one squirm!" one Borraq called out, laughter following his words.

"He’ll be fun to break," another added, voice thick with cruelty.

Panic surged through Jasper like a tidal wave. His breaths came fast and shallow, his vision narrowing to pinpricks as he struggled against the hands that bound him. The fear was a living thing inside him, growing larger with each passing second.

"Kyral!" he tried to shout, but his voice was swallowed by the din.

The Borraq pressed closer, their leering faces filling his vision. He felt himself being dragged down into the mass of bodies, the auction block disappearing beneath him. Jasper thrashed desperately, but it was no use; he was drowning in a sea of golden skin and malevolent eyes.

His own screams mingled with the laughter around him until they were indistinguishable from one another. He fought to get away, to escape...

But there was no escape from this hellish tableau.

No Kyral to save him this time.

Jasper woke up with a start, a terrified cry escaping his lips.

He blinked rapidly, trying to reorient himself. The alpine landscape slowly came into focus, the distant howl of a night creature echoing through the trees. Jasper's breaths came fast and shallow as he tried to calm down.

His heart pounded painfully in his chest, each beat reverberating through his entire body. Sweat clung to his skin, clammy under the night's chill. The shadows of the wilderness around him seemed to close in, the remnants of his nightmare refusing to let go.

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