Page 60 of Warrior's Purpose

“Giraffes. They’re from the African continent,” Abby replied.

“Sounds good, let’s contact Frank.” Hope nodded.

He listened as Aculus contacted Frank and the sisters arranged the meeting. Once it was clear outside, he eased open the gate and they emerged from their smelly hideout. The group spread out, so they didn’t draw attention while heading to the long-necked beast’s enclosure.

“I want a snow cone,” Abby declared when they passed a café stand.

“Seriously? We just ate.” Hope quirked a brow at her.

“Humor me. We have time.” Abby sidled up to her sister. “And this will make us look normal.” Abby glanced from him to Aculus.

Even in disguise they still stood out in the human crowd, with the way they towered over everyone. Though he wasn’t sure how grabbing a snack would help that.

“Fine, get me a cherry flavored one. Ooh and some popcorn.”

“Oh no, we just ate,” Abby mocked her sister, making him chuckle.

He kept one eye on the humans moving about while Abby fetched the food. She returned with two red conical-shaped items and a bag of yellow bits he assumed was the popcorn.

“Here, have a taste.” Abby handed him one cone while passing the other snacks to Hope.

He took the red snow cone and noticed it was cold. It looked like shredded ice covered in some sort of syrup. He took a bite and smiled. It was sweet.

“Not too bad, huh?” She took the icy sweet and nibbled on it. “Reminds me of when we were kids.” She smiled wide.

He wanted to laugh at the way her lips and tongue instantly turned bright red, but kept quiet so he didn’t attract attention.

“Hope’s not the badass she thinks she is.” Abby pointed toward her sister. “She’s got a mean sweet tooth, but look at how she’s sharing with Aculus.”

He nodded in amusement and they continued on. They passed a large habitat and he halted in his tracks, his eyes going wide seeing the hairy creatures within.

They’ve imprisoned Toufik.

Ashtoret took two steps toward the tall fence. The black-haired male turned, and he noticed its arms were a little too long, its body overly rotund. As he studied the creature he saw the face wasn’t to a Toufik at all, except for all the hair. This distant cousin’s nose was much too broad and flat, the forehead sloped. Ashtoret relaxed. For a moment he’d worried they had a far larger problem than he expected to find when coming to Earth. This beast was intelligent enough, but it was content to gamble about, munch leaves, and eye its female companion.

“This way, Ash.” Abby tugged his arm.

He surreptitiously captured an image of the creature with his handheld then let Abby lead the way. They reached the tawny long-necked beasts with the giant brown spots and he couldn’t help gape at them. It was curious how they could even hold their heads up with such a spindly neck. He felt like one of the human young with the way he stared in awe at the creatures. There was nothing like this zoo on Cadi.

“Should we just sit and wait?” Hope asked.

“I guess so,” Abby replied with a shrug. “I suppose you better go so you don’t spook Frank.”

Ashtoret nodded and kissed Abby on top of her head. He glanced around, noting where the others sat or stood attempting to blend in while keeping watch for human warriors who might try to hide amidst the families. He chose a spot where he could easily watch over Abby and Hope as they waited.

The young humans didn’t pay him any attention as they jostled around him to get a better look at the long-necked creatures inside the enclosure. An older male approached Abby and Hope, and Ashtoret was instantly on alert. He took a step forward then stopped when Abby stood wearing an easy smile as she gave the male a hug.

This must be Frank.

He eased into his original position against the tree and pretended to watch the tall spotted creatures, while observing the trio in his periphery. The crowd grew loud and chaotic as several dozen lively youth arrived, inundating the path. They all wore matching uniforms and appeared to be part of an academy. The adults in the group struggled to corral the young while discussing the animals. He shifted out of their way, attempting to get a better view of Abby, Hope and Frank, then froze.

Abby! They were gone.

Overwhelming panic gripped him as he looked both ways. He pushed through the crowd as fast as he could without knocking any of the young down.

“Abby!” he yelled, not caring about the frightened looks directed his way.

Abby

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