Page 20 of Victoria's Discovery

Victoria releasedthe breath she was holding and followed behind Thegan as they joined Thorn where he was sitting by the blocks in the middle of the cage.

Settling on the floor, she cautiously reached for one and slid it closer across the pellets. It looked… not good, and definitely not like food, but that’s what Thorn had said it was. Assuming, of course, their word for ‘food’ and ‘poison’ weren’t similar and she hadn’t misheard.

Using her fingers, she broke off a small, spongy chunk from a corner and gave it a sniff. For all that it looked gross, it actually smelled pretty good, like garlic and rosemary. Victoria raised it to her lips, intending to give it an experimental lick, when a hand shot out and covered her mouth. And her chin and nose.

Brows shooting up, she followed the huge, tattooed arm up to Thorn’s scowling face.

“Whaarr ooh ooing?” she mumbled from behind his hand.

In answer, he held her gaze and pointedly took a bite of his loaf, his expression leery and guarded as he slowly chewed.

Oh. He’s testing it.

Pulling his hand away, she gave him a look that was both appreciative and disapproving. “I wasn’t going to just dive in, Thorn. I was going to lick it first and make sure I didn’t keel over dead.”

He just kept staring and chewing like he thought she’d shove the food in her mouth if he so much as glanced away.

Once he swallowed, she gave him a probing look and asked, “Well? Does it taste like poison? Do you feel okay?”

In answer, he nodded once and gestured for her to eat. “Kalaus.”

“Kah-lace,” she repeated, assuming it meant ‘safe’ or ‘go for it,’ since he followed it up by taking another bite, and Thegan began eating, as well.

Still cautious, in case it wasn’t poison for them but was for her, Victoria took a small nibble then immediately grimaced when the taste of fish, chocolate, and bitter kale hit her tongue.

“Oh, that is not good,” she mumbled around the bite of what could only loosely be called food. “What kind of fiend picked that flavor combination?”

Swallowing repeatedly, the nibble settling in her stomach like a rock, she set the rest of the chunk back down. She wasn’t hungry enough, yet, to stomach it. Thegan and Thorn didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong with it, however, because in the time it took her to eat a crumb, they’d somehow managed to polish off half a loaf each.

“Holy shit. How did y’all eat that so damn fast?”

While she politely waited for them to inhale the rest of their loaves, Victoria glanced across the aisle into Vi’kail’s cell and saw that the hose had dropped off food for him, as well. He, like the giants, didn’t seem to find the bricks horribly disgusting, because he was chowing down.

When she saw him glance around surreptitiously before breaking off a small chunk, she cocked her head curiously, wondering what he was doing. Her confusion deepened when he covertly flipped back the flap on the pouch strapped to his thigh and held the chunk near the opening.

She leaned forward, squinting at that pouch, then gasped softly when the cutest little thing she’d ever seen popped out and snatched the food from his hand.

He’s got a pet!

She’d only gotten a glimpse, but it looked like a mash-up of a hairless flying squirrel, a pocket-sized dragon, and a lemur. It had two broad ears, or maybe they were feathers, on the top of its head, greenish-black in color with a bright yellow circle centered on each, reminding her of the pattern on butterfly wings made to resemble eyes. Its face was dominated by two big, black eyes and a pointed snout. What she’d seen of its body was covered in soft-looking scales that seemed to shift color in the dim lighting of the cargo hold.

Just then, it glanced up and looked right at her. Smiling in delight, Victoria subtly lifted a hand and waved her fingers at it then almost died of shock when it lifted its little clawed hand and waved back at her.

Holy shit! It waved at me!

Biting her lips to hold in a squeal, she quickly checked to make sure no one else had seen the adorable little beastie that she’d just claimed for herself. Releasing a breath when she found everyone occupied inspecting their food, she looked back only to find Vi’kail had closed it up in his thigh pouch. Jaw dropping at the injustice of him robbing her of the cuteness, she met his gaze with an indignant frown.

He looked both amused at her reaction and a little worried, probably because he hadn’t wanted anyone knowing he had a pet. Giving her a warning look, he pointedly swept his gaze over the other caged people then shook his head.

Victoria understood and agreed. She didn’t want anyone else knowing he had an adorable little monster in his pocket either. Mostly because she didn’t want whomever took them to confiscate it, but also because she didn’t want anyone else getting ideas about claiming it for themselves.

Nodding seriously, she pretended to zip her lips which seemed to confuse him, but he must’ve gotten her meaning because the tension left his shoulders, and he gave her a conspiratorial smile.

Victoria blinked, feeling her cheeks warm at that smile.

Damn, he’s cute.

Thegan murmured her name questioningly, drawing her attention to him. When he started to look over his shoulder to see what she’d been staring at, Victoria reached out quickly and touched his knee.

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