Page 32

CHAPTER

TWENTY-THREE

CORVAK

Aidy retreats into our room without complaint, and it only worries me more.

She doesn't like to be seen as weak, or useless.

The fact that we have a stranger here and she is not fighting to ask him questions tells me how poorly she truly feels.

Surely she would say something if she was not fine… wouldn't she?

I cannot help but worry over her. Aidy is everything to me.

I regret that I had the idea for the army.

I regret that I've encouraged the snow-people in their worship.

If I had not, Aidy would not spend her days cooking for them.

Perhaps she would be less sick, less tired.

I hate that I spent the last several days hunting down the stranger, only for him to annoy me with every word that comes out of his mouth.

Now that I am back at the cave, I can at least do my share and Aidy can rest.

With a glare at Valmir, I stalk over to the cookpot and scoop the battered bowl into the stinking soup. It smells foul and the contents look worse, but the snow-people don't care. They wait outside hungrily for what Aidy cooks them, as if it is their right to demand food from us.

I'm growing very tired of them.

Bowl in hand, I move to the front of the cave and make a furious gesture.

Kneel. The waiting males drop to the ground where they are, hooting and sniveling.

The nearest takes the bowl when I hand it to him, and I head back into the cave to wait for him to be done.

I crouch at the entrance, keeping one eye on the snow-people… and one on the stranger.

"Neat trick," Valmir says. "How'd you teach them how to do that?"

Should I tell him the truth of it or let him wonder? With a narrowed gaze, I watch my opponent and gauge him. "It is no trick. They worship me."

His brows go up. "How did you manage that?"

"I am sure you would like to know." Does he take me for a fool? Does he think I will spill everything if he asks in a friendly tone? I am not an idiot and this is not my first fight…well, it is, but he doesn't have to know that.

Valmir shakes his head, closing his eyes once more.

There is strain on his face, and his ears are flat with pain.

He rubs his knee as if that will somehow help his foot, making a face as he does.

"I guess I'm more curious why you'd want to spend all your time with a bunch of crazy metlaks instead of heading out to the beach with the others.

All the gladiators have gotten a little soft since arriving, but they're friendly.

And there's always things to eat, people to help out.

" He opens his eyes and pointedly stares at my crude clothing.

"People that can teach you how to take care of yourself and your mate. "

He implies I am not taking care of Aidy, that I have not done everything I can for her.

He doesn't know what we've been through.

He doesn't know that her illness is destroying me inside because I can't help her.

He doesn't know that I would take on all of it, that I would be sick instead, if it would only make her feel better. He's just trying to get under my skin.

It's working, too. I hate that most of all. I force myself to be calm, because Aidy wants answers from him. "Metlak," I say slowly, turning the word over in my mind. "Is that what they are called? The snow-people?"

Valmir rolls his eyes. "They're not people. They're wild animals."

"They are people." Not reasonable ones, not clean ones, but they are people. They have their own language and their own beliefs. But if he dismisses them as non-threatening, it is better for me. "You do not have metlak on the beach?"

He huffs. "Not at all. They avoid that side of the mountains because we're there. The only reason I've come this far on my hunt is because"—he stops immediately and then rethinks his words—"because of curiosity."

Interesting. There's something he doesn't want to tell me. "Are you alone?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" He smiles, all sharp teeth, and I know he is lying. Somewhere out there are more gladiators, then, likely traveling with him, banding together to ensure their success in the game.

"Why are you out here? Why so far away from the beach?"

He smirks. "Hunting, of course."

It sounds like bullshit to me, but it's also obvious he's not going to tell me his real reason for being out here. "Tell me more about this beach you are so fond of, then. You make it sound like we should go there, yet you tell me nothing of it."

"Why do you care if you're not planning on going there?"

"Intel," I say bluntly. "Information is everything in a game like this."

He scrubs clawed a hand down his face. "There's no keffing game ."

"How many live at the beach?" I continue, ignoring his protests. "Five? Ten? Twenty?"

He shifts his weight, trying to get comfortable in the spot where he collapsed, and grimaces in fresh pain.

"Look, I'll tell you whatever you'd like, but my ankle is killing me and I don't want it to set crooked.

There's not a healer anywhere on this side of the mountains—unless you or your mate know something I don't—so can you give me something to splint it? "

I eye his bad leg. This is not faking, I know.

There's a limpness to the injured foot that tells me it is as broken as he says it is.

I can only imagine the pain, but he is managing to hide it well, which tells me he is stronger than he wants to let on.

I nod and get to my feet, as there is no honor in maiming your opponent so he cannot fight as well. "We have extra bones and some cord."

"Bones and cord. Fantastic. Just what I was hoping." His sarcasm bleeds through his words. "Can totally see why you're hiding out here." He gestures at our surroundings. "Why give up all this?"

I throw the longest bone I can find in his direction. "I didn't ask you."

"In case I only mentioned it about five times, there's a healer at the beach," Valmir continues. "She can heal almost any injury with just a touch of her hands. This ankle would be child's play for her. Whatever is going on with your female would also be no problem."

So there is something wrong with Aidy? More than just bad food? She reassures me that she's fine, but I worry. Always I worry. I rub my chest, the humming increasing when I think of my brave, lovely human. "There is nothing wrong with Aidy."

He doesn't respond. When I move to hand him the cord I promised, both of his triangular ears swivel towards me. "Keffing hells, man. Are you…resonating?"

Resonating? I frown. "I don't understand what you are asking."

He gestures at my chest, eyes wide. "The humming. You and the woman? You…you don't know what that means?" At my scowl, he continues. "How did you know you needed a khui to live?"

"I followed a group of you and watched them take one for themselves."

"But…you don't know what it does." His voice is flat, the words a statement and not a question. "Did you know that you and the woman are clones?"

I guessed as much for myself. And with Aidy's lack of memories, I'm not surprised that she is one, too. I dismiss this with a flick of my hand. "We know. Tell me more about the parasite, the khui. I know it ensures survival. Tell me why."

Again, he doesn't answer me properly. "You are humming when you are around the female?" He rubs his mouth again. "Kef me, I thought you two couldn't get any messier than my situation. Here I am, wrong again."

"What does it mean? The humming?"

The male just eyes me. "You and Aidy…you've mated, I assume?" When I scowl at him, he puts a hand up. "I'm not asking because I want to muscle in. I'm asking because if you have, I think I know why your female is sick."