Page 101 of Centaur Bolt

By the look on Vali’s face, she was thinking along the same lines. “Can you be fast?”

“Sprint rather than marathon? Not as much fun.” The Satyr wrinkled her brow and pouted.

“It’s all we have time for,” I pointed out. “Either sprint, or we’re going back now.” But my eyes had strayed to a booth filled with bright clothing—I wasn’t ordinarily a clothes hound, but I spotted a gorgeous deep-blue flowing shirt that graduated to silver…

Oh, my. “We can meet you back here in, say, an hour?”

Vali sighed as she addressed a relieved Kiko. “You’re lucky we want to shop.”

The Satyr was already moving away. “I will meet you in front of that building in about an hour.” She pointed to a grocery store along the edge of the market.

“One hour, not about,” the Dragona corrected, but Kiko had already vanished into the maze of booths. Vali shook her head. “Feel like we’ve just released a Wyvern among Ninacs.”

“What’s a Ninac?” I was only half listening. My fingers were running along the blue shirt, which felt as silky as it looked.

“A small, slow-moving herbivore,” Vali muttered, digging through the rack of clothes. “Oh, look at this one!”

The golden blouse she held up would look stunning on her. But then, most things would look stunning on her.

“Do you often wear clothes?” I asked. Her yellow scales hugged her gorgeous body, and every male that passed the booth ogled her.

“I used to wear them all the time.” The thought seemed to sober her. “I need to rebuild my wardrobe.”

As an underlord’s daughter, she must have been wealthy. What was it like to go from that to nothing? She certainly had an appreciation for fine clothes, but one by one, she put them back on the racks. All except for a short tunic that shimmered a soft gold.

As near as I could assess, some of the prices were high—but others, not so bad. When I consulted with Vali, she deduced I’d gleaned more from the currency exchange than she’d expected.

“I’d like to buy you something,” I offered. Which surprised me, because I wasn’t normally a generous person.

It surprised her even more. “Why would you do that?”

My mouth opened, and the truth spilled out. “Because it makes me feel good.” Then I grinned. “Of course, I can’t afford much.”

“You don’t need to do this,” Vali hedged. But she clutched the tunic a little closer. It had a full flare that was almost a skirt, and it was apparently on sale.

“That will look amazing on you,” I said. “Call it an early birthday present.”

Vali’s brows rose. “But my birthday isn’t for months.”

I shrugged. “That’s okay.”

“I don’t know what to say.” The emotions chasing across her face showed her confusion.

“Thank you will be fine.” I smiled at her.

Her amber eyes gleamed at me, and then she smiled back. It was like the sun emerged from the clouds for just an instant. “Thank you.” She put the tunic over her shoulder and started digging through the rack before her. “Let’s find something for you, then, shall we?”

We lost track of time as we dug through the racks of first one booth and then another. After I paid for our purchases, we found ourselves enraptured by a jeweler’s glittering merchandise.

When we emerged from that experience, each wearing rings that apparently changed color with our sexual desires—I bought an extra for Kiko to test the truth of it—I realized the light had receded until it was barely visible above the booths.

Kiko had been gone for over two hours. So much for the sprint.

Vali glanced nervously around us. “We need to be getting back. Like, now.”

I didn’t need to be told—the clientèle roaming the market had altered. Some booths were closing shop for the day, pulling down metal shutters clearly designed to keep out determined thieves.

We made our way back to the food mart, which had already closed. Which was too bad because I was, predictably, hungry. “I hope she’s okay.” I squinted into the shadows of the alley alongside the building. “Maybe separating was a bad idea.”

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