Page 3 of Orange Lake
“I was surprised,” I told everyone. Roqs snorted. He doesn’t believe my bullshit because he knew I had a different reaction when I realized I could smell Brin on him. Whatever is happening to me is not normal. I could not afford to seek any healers at this point. Not after what happened yesterday.
“We went to the bar.”
“Ah, that bar,” Crix crooned.
Jigen snorted. Apparently, there was a story there but they are not inclined to share.
“How would you know which bar?” Roqs inquired.
“There is only bar Zirc frequents. He will only go to the best mead in town,” Crix explained. True. I go there for the mead.
“But Crix has other tastes,” Jigen teased.
I knew where this was heading so I needed to cut to the heart of the matter.
“Then Kilo arrived.”
That shut them up but put their backs upright.
“You were frozen?” Jigen asked. He wears contacts on his eyes so others wouldn’t see his eyes are a shade of white and violet.
I nodded. So they knew that the situation was grave because it was a raid. I knew Roqs is waiting for my signal on how much information we can share. But these are my brothers in arms. We are fighting for a cause and no matter how much I want to shield Brin, I cannot keep her secret in this.
“Except for Brin.”
Jigen gasped.
“How is that possible?” Crix shouted. He and Jigen wanted to get close to Brin but my growl stopped him.
“Where did he come from?”
“Is he a spy?”
“You said he came from the sky?”
I roared. That shut them up. I do not tolerate males who are shouting at my face. Roqs was sitting quietly in his space, legs crossed in front of him as if watching a game. Volks is also being silent but I can hear his thoughts. He too wants to know a lot of information. Information I also do not have.
“I do not know the answer to any of your questions,” I said in a soft voice. We have excellent hearing. Unconsciously, I checked that there was no spike in Brin’s pulse.
“Maybe we should wake him up,” Crix suggested, looking at Brin.
Everyone stiffened because they knew it was a wrong thing to say to me. I was about to stand up when Jigen put a hand in front of Crix.
“It’s okay, Zirc,” Jigen said, looking at me. “Crix doesn’t mean anything by it.”
Crix looked apologetic but having lived as a Royal in the Purple Tribe kept him from apologizing out loud. However, it appeased the beast in me. I sat down back to my seat.
“How did you survive?” Volks had the right question.He moved towards his mates, urging them to give me space. I felt better when Crix and Jigen moved back to the desk table.
“As we all know, even if we are stuck frozen when Shura is fired upon us, we can still see, hear and feel. And I saw from my position that Brin was still moving. He actually stood up and tried to move. Then he even tried to look out the window and see what was happening.” Which really ticked me off. How could Brin not run away from danger? Why would she run away from me?
“I do not know how but I can feel my tail moving when he passes by me.”
“That’s it Zirc,” Roqs cut in. “How were you able to move?”
That shocked the others. One cannot move for hours when you are stuck by a Shura. Even for a neko and other alien life forms.
“I felt something within me driving me to put Brin out of harm’s way.”
