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"There's really no game? No big competition?" I ask Valmir.

He shakes his head. "We were dumped here. Discards and unwanted scraps, if you will."

"I'm not a space scrap," I protest. "I'm from Arizona! This isn't possible?—"

"There are entire species that make a good living kidnapping humans and enslaving them," Valmir says. "You might have been from Earth at some point. Now…" He gestures with one hand. "You get to call this place home."

Fucking great. I ignore the swell of panic in my chest and eye my surroundings. There's a warm pool, yes. Big cave. Great. But just outside the entrance are dozens of hovering snow-people, waiting to be fed or they'll pitch a fit. The valley is picked over. It's cold and bleak and isolated and something has to change.

I am not having a fucking baby here.

I pull free from Corvak's arms and turn to face him. "New plan. We're not staying here."

"Where do you want to go?" he asks.

I gesture over my shoulder at Valmir. "To this beach. I want to be with others if I'm having a baby. There's no way I'm doing this alone."

"You're not alone. I'm here."

I don't answer that, because he knows nothing about babies. Hell, I know nothing about babies. I shake my head. "It's not enough."

The look of hurt on his face is quickly gone, but I know I've wounded him with my answer. "We will do what you want."

CHAPTER

TWENTY-FIVE

CORVAK

I dislike Valmir intensely.

I know I shouldn't. I know he is injured because of me and doesn't want to be in our cave. I know if I was in his position, I would be unwilling to help anyone. But the more he talks to Aidy, and the more she asks him questions, I find myself imagining things. I picture picking him up and tossing him down the cliff. I think about going over and just snapping his neck, or bashing his smiley, smirky head against the wall.

"Who was the last person to have a baby out there on the beach? What was she like? How old is she?" Aidy is asking.

Valmir makes a face. "I don't know. I don't pay attention to who is breeding." His tail thumps, all agitation. "Are we planning to go back to the beach soon? When? Because the sooner I get this ankle looked at, the better."

"We need more answers before we establish a travel plan." Aidy turns to look at me. "What am I forgetting to ask, love?"

Crossing my arms, I try not to scowl too much. It's not Valmir's fault that I hate him simply because Aidy is so focused on him right now. "How many days' travel from here is it?"

"With me and my bad ankle? And with a female in tow? Many."

Aidy makes an outraged sound and stands up. "You act like I need to be carried. I can walk."

Valmir shoots her a doubtful look and glances over at me, repeating himself. "Many days."

"You're the one that's going to need a piggyback ride," she mutters and gets to her feet, shooting me an aggrieved look that warms my heart. It makes me feel better that he annoys her, too. My chest—my khui, as he calls it—purrs with contentment.

Aidy moves to the cookfire and scoops the snow-people's bowl in the pouch, getting the last bits out. She heads to the entrance and hands the bowl to the nearest waiting male. He snatches it from her hands and turns away, hunching over it so no one will try and steal his food, while the others clustered nearby hoot angrily, waiting their turn.

"That's all the food," Aidy comments to me. "And this valley is completely denuded at this point. Maybe we should think about leaving sooner rather than later."

"Good, because I've got somewhere to be." Valmir's tail swats on the floor again, his only sign of agitation. He is doing his best to seem bored, but I am not fooled. He's mentioned several times that he wants to leave, and it's not just because of his ankle. Something else is on his mind, but he won't say what.

"Tell me more about this healer first," I demand. "And babies. She can make it come out of Aidy? Safely?"

"It's called giving birth," Aidy says to me, a smile curving her lips for the first time this day.