Page 35 of Keeping the Human's Heart

We’re greeted by an overseer, a growly man who’s short and square and reminds me the tiniest bit of Drazak. He doesn’t need to be tall to be intimidating.

“What’s this?” the overseer asks, arms crossed. “More hands? It won’t do us much good unless?—”

“She will solve your problem,” the skinny man announces, passing him my rope. “She worked on a trollkin farm and claims she can operate the equipment.”

The overseer turns to me, surveying me carefully.

“Interesting.” He tugs on my rope. “Let’s see, then.”

I’m shown to one of the tillers, which these idiots can’t figure out how to use. I explain the method that Drazak taught me once upon a time and show them how to attach the tiller to a horse.

“We’ve been using it all wrong,” the skinny man says, taking copious notes.

The overseer nods in approval. “We can get started right now. There are plenty of winter crops we can plant.”

In a way, I feel as if I’m betraying Drazak and Han’zir by giving out this information. Who knows who lived on this farm before the humans came? But this is what I have to do now to survive.

When night comes, I’m tied to a pole in the barn and left to sleep in the dirt, with only a lantern to cast any light. The overseer’s dog, a big black creature with white and brown markings, lies down next to me and curls against my side. I can’t help thinking of my hayloft and the time Han’zir slept with me there, bundling me up tight in his arms.

Chapter 15

Han’zir

I can feel her somewhere out there. Almost see her, like a candle flickering in a far-off window. The closer we get to her, the faster my heart beats, guiding me steadily in her direction.

I’d always dreamed of finding the mating bond and meeting someone meant for me. My parents didn’t have it, but my uncle did. I knew whenever I saw him with her that it was out there for me, too, but I never thought I’d find it this way. As much as it hurts to remember how Esme ran from us, I also remember the joy of the three of us being together. And oh, how pure and good that joy was. I close my eyes and think of her face smiling, her lashes fluttering as she fell asleep in Drazak’s arms, how it felt to be buried inside her and clutching her close to my chest. How every time I watched Drazak’s glorious cock slide in and out of her, watched her laugh or make that cute little frowning face when she concentrated, I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

I cling onto this, using it to guide me to her. Where it leads, I don’t know, but I have to hope that she wasn’t brought to us, our truth shown to us, just to have her taken away.

It’s ominous walking down trollkin roads and past abandoned trollkin homes. We’re deep in occupied territory now, but have gotten lucky enough not to run across any human soldiers. We found one man, wearing a badge much like our Esme had been when we first found her, running for his life.

We let him go. He was very grateful.

On our third day, though, we come across the first farm. We’re about to stroll through and search for spoiled food when we hear voices. Drazak seizes me by the arm and we duck behind a patch of brambles.

Humans. They’re in the fields, harvesting our crops, making a mess of them. Equipment sits abandoned, some of it disassembled.

“Shit,” growls Drazak. “Is this where she is, Han?”

I shake my head. The flickering light I’m certain is our Esme is still farther on. Drazak grunts in annoyance.

“We’re going to have to stay here then, until dark. We can’t be seen.” This is empty farmland, certainly no woods to hide in.

So, we make camp and wait. In the meantime, I study the humans going about their business. It’s embarrassing, really, watching them puzzle over the equipment. And they’re harvesting the tubers much too early.

I drift off while we wait, but Drazak remains steadfastly sitting, staring off into nothing.

“What are you thinking about?” I ask as the sun starts to dip below the horizon, and the humans retreat indoors for their meal.

“I’m trying to find her,” Drazak says, his eyes never leaving the patch of sky he’s been focused on. “I want to feel her like you can.”

I put a hand on his shoulder. “We’re connected to different parts of her, in different ways,” I say. “It doesn’t mean you’re any less of a mate.”

He sighs and leans back, finally looking at me. “If we manage to find her, what do we do? How do we convince her to come home to us?”

I shake my head. “We’ll have to figure it out when we get there.”

When the sun has gone down and it looks like the humans have retired for the night, we start across the field, hoping no one catches sight of two trollkin wandering through the darkness.

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