Page 23 of Tharn’s Hunt (Barbarians of the Dust #2)

Before she can say more, footsteps echo from the cave entrance. I tense automatically, my claws flexing instinctively before I catch the familiar scents. Jus-teen. Rok.

But Jah-kee does not know their scents.

Jah-kee startles as Rok steps into the cave. Her entire body stiffens, her eyes going wide as they lock onto his tall, lean form. Her trembling hand instinctively reaches out toward me. “ Tharn ?”

Before she can continue, another figure appears behind Rok, smaller and quicker.

Jus-teen steps into the cave, her face shadowed at first but quickly brightening when she sees Jah-kee awake. Her eyes widen, and then her expression crumples, her lips parting with a sharp inhale.

"Jacqui!" she exclaims, rushing forward in a blur of movement.

Jah-kee barely has time to sit upright before Jus-teen drops to her knees beside her and throws her arms around her—tightly, desperately, like a hunter clutching a kill. No. Not like a hunter. Like someone holding the most precious thing in the dust.

Emotions ripple through the cave. Raw and sharp, impossible to ignore even for one like me. Jus-teen shakes as she holds her sister, her entire body trembling with relief, with the weight of fear finally lifting.

"I thought you were dead," Jus-teen chokes, her voice breaking. "I thought—" Her words cut off, swallowed by a sob that echoes through the mindspace like a distant storm.

Jah-kee’s arms come up slowly, as if she doesn’t trust her own strength, but then they tighten around Jus-teen with equal ferocity. "I thought you were dead too," she whispers. "I came looking for you... and I—I didn’t know if I’d make it. I didn’t know if you were even alive."

Jus-teen pulls back just enough to look at her sister’s face, her hands framing Jah-kee’s cheeks as if she needs the physical proof that she’s here, alive, breathing.

"You stupid, stubborn idiot," Jus-teen says, her vocalizations thick. "Why didn’t you stay with the group? Why didn’t you wait?"

Jah-kee lets out a trembling laugh, one that sounds wet, as if she might choke. I stiffen but force myself to remain still. "You left first, remember? What was I supposed to do? Just sit there while you wandered off into this deathtrap of a desert?"

Jus-teen shakes her head, laughing and releasing wetness from her eyes at the same time. "Of course, you came after me. It’s what you do. God, Jacqui..." Her voice cracks again, and she pulls her sister back into a fierce embrace, clutching her like she’s afraid she’ll disappear.

Water swells in Jah-kee’s eyes, too, spilling over to streak her cheeks. The sight makes me stiffen some more, but Rok's steady “ Do not be alarmed ” holds me still.

"I’m alive," Jah-kee murmurs. "I’m alive."

"But you almost weren’t," Jus-teen vocalizes fiercely, pulling back again to scan her sister’s face, as if memorizing every detail.

"You almost—" Her voice stops, and she presses her forehead to Jah-kee’s, her hands still cupping her cheeks. "Don’t you ever do that to me again. Do you hear me? Don’t you ever scare me like that again. "

"I won’t," Jah-kee whispers, the vocalization breaking. "I promise."

She smiles faintly, but the expression falters as her water-filled gaze flickers past Jus-teen’s shoulder to where Rok stands near the cave entrance. Her hands tighten on her sister's arms.

“You sent an alien to find me,” she vocalizes. “You made friends with them. Are there more?”

Jus-teen pulls back, glancing toward Rok and then back at her sister, her lips twitching faintly. "Yeah, there are more of them. They’re called the Drakav, and they’re the reason we’re all still alive."

“All?” Jah-kee’s eyes search her Jus-teen’s, almost as if they have a mindspace of their own. “The others?”

Jus-teen does that chin-to-chest thing, more water swelling in her eyes, and they embrace once more.

For a moment, the cave is silent except for the sound of their breathing, the quiet sniffles as they hold each other. Even Rok stands quietly at the edge of the space, his expression solemn.

I step back, giving the females space for their reunion, though every instinct screams to remain close to Jah-kee. Rok joins me, his expression knowing as he observes my obvious reluctance.

" Your female awakens ," he projects privately, his mental voice tinged with satisfaction. " Good. The bond will strengthen now that she recovers ."

I bristle at his phrasing. " She is not 'my female,' " I project back sharply. " At least, not in the way of the Law of the Dust. She is Jah-kee. She is... "

I falter, unable to define exactly what she is to me. Not prey. Not clan. Not... anything I have words for.

Rok's smug knowing floods the mindspace. " Yes, brother. I recall similar protests when Jus-teen first arrived ." His gaze shifts to where the two females embrace, his expression softening. " At first, I thought her a brazen male scouting to destroy us and I, too, denied what the light revealed ."

I follow his gaze, watching as Jus-teen fusses over her sister, checking her temperature, helping her drink water. They look so similar yet different. Jus-teen's features sharper, her manner more open. Jah-kee, even weakened by fever, is more guarded.

" The light ," I project hesitantly, keeping my mental voice private between Rok and myself. " What does it mean? Truly? "

Rok is silent for a long moment, considering. Finally, he replies. " A marking. A blessing. I believe the light chooses those who are meant to bond across worlds ."

" And this... bond. It causes pain when separated ?"

Rok's gaze sharpens, focusing on me with sudden intensity. " You have felt it already? The pain of separation? "

I think of the hollow ache in my chest when I was forced to set Jah-kee down, and when she left me to go to the firebloom cave. " Yes ."

" Tharn ," Rok projects grimly. " If the light has chosen, the pain will grow until the bond is completed ."

" Completed ?" I repeat, my unease growing. " How is a bond... completed ?"

Rok's amusement returns. " You truly do not know what comes next ?"

This smug-faced ka-vrakt.

I look away, uncomfortable with my ignorance. Hunters learn the ways of tracking, of fighting, of survival. We are not taught about... whatever this is that happens between male and female.

" How could I know ?" I project defensively. " Until Jus-teen arrived, we had never seen females. There are no teachings about thi s."

" As there were none for me ," he acknowledges, his thoughts gentler now. " I learned as the bond grew. As my body changed. "

My gaze drops involuntarily to Rok's loincloth, where the evidence of his successful adaptation is difficult to miss. The impressive bulge there is unlike anything I have seen on other hunters. Then my eyes fall to my pouch, still flat and unremarkable.

Drak.

Rok follows my gaze and makes a sound suspiciously like a snort. " It changes, brother ," he projects, his mindspeak rich with mirth. " When the time comes. When the bond demands it ."

" And until then ?" My gaze slides to Jah-kee. Still hugging her sister-female, her eyes find mine. My dra-kir does a hard thump.

" Until then, the light calls. The pain grows when separated. The body prepares ." Rok shrugs, the motion fluid and unconcerned. " It is not comfortable. But it is necessary ."

With Jah-kee’s eyes still on me, the next question feels the most important.

" And ..." I hesitate. " How did you convince Jus-teen to... stay? To accept the bond? "

Rok's expression turns thoughtful. " I did not convince her ," he projects slowly. " She chose. As all females must. I merely... showed her what could be between us ."

" How ?"

A slow, satisfied look spreads across Rok's face. " I shared her water ," he projects, his mental voice dropping to a lower, more intimate register.

I blink. I know this. I have been preparing for this.

Rok’s gaze slides toward Jus-teen. " Water comes from many places in a female's body. The sweetest flows when pleasure peaks ."

My gaze shifts back to Jah-kee. Rok speaks of the moisture between a female's legs, and the memory of her that night, when she pulled her hide-coverings away and I saw the temptation that is her smooth curves?—

" This... water sharing ," I project carefully. " It pleases females? Makes them wish to stay? "

" Oh my GOD ," Jus-teen's mental voice cuts sharply into our private conversation. " Are you two seriously discussing oral sex right now? "

I jerk my head up, startled to find both females staring at us—Jah-kee with confusion, unable to hear the mindspace conversation, and Jus-teen with a mixture of horror.

" Oral ?" I project, confused by the term. " Is that what you call it? ” The word feels wrong.

Jus-teen makes a strangled sound. " Please stop talking about going down on my sister while I'm trying to help her recover from nearly dying ."

" Going down? " I repeat. This is also a strange phrase. “ Another odd term.”

“I prefer 'water sharing,’” Rok adds in . “It is accurate and... reverent ."

Jus-teen’s face flushes bright red. "Oh my God, I can't with you two," she vocalizes loudly, throwing her hands up in frustration.

Jah-kee’s gaze flicks between the three of us, her confusion growing.

"Wait... wait, wait, wait," she stammers, her voice hoarse but gaining strength. "You’re communicating with them? Like...how? They’re not even talking!" Her brow furrows. "What’s going on?"

Jus-teen hesitates, her gaze darting to me, to Rok, then back to her sister. She presses her lips together like she’s debating whether or not to explain.

"I…" Her words trail off as she glances at Rok, who rises and takes a step closer, giving his silent support. "Okay, fine. Yeah. They’re talking. To me. In my head. Telepathically." She waves her hand around. "Consider it alien brain magic or something."

Jacqui blinks, her mouth falling open. "What." Her gaze shifts to me. “Tharn too?”

"Yes," Jus-teen continues. "He’s probably been projecting at you this whole time. But since you’re not in the mindspace, it just looks like he’s staring at you like a creep."

Jacqui’s jaw drops further, her gaze snapping to me. "Wait. WAIT. He’s been—so when he just stares at me like that, he’s actually?—?"

"Talking," Jus-teen confirms. "Yup. Like, full-on sentences. It’s a good thing I’m here to play translator, or you’d assume he’s just zoning out and plotting your demise."

Jah-kee’s cheeks flush, her hands gripping the edge of the stone beneath her. "And... what exactly has he been saying?"

Jus-teen pauses, her lips twitching. It’s not hard to catch the flow of conversation from what she’s projected back into the mindspace. She glances at Rok, her expression clearly asking, ‘ Do I tell her ?’

I stiffen, my claws flexing against the stone floor. " Her recovery ," I project firmly, my voice directed at Jus-teen in the mindspace. " Tell her I was speaking of her recovery ."

Jus-teen arches a brow. "Her recovery?"

" Yes ."

"Not, for example, water sharing?" she vocalizes out loud.

Jah-kee brightens suddenly, her expression softening. "What about water sharing?" she says, glancing between Jus-teen and me. "Oh no, he’s been the one sharing his water with me this whole time.” Her expression crumples. “Is he saying I’ve been drinking too much?"

She groans, her cheeks coloring as she meets my gaze in earnest. "I’m sorry, Tharn, I really tried not to. Once I’m on my feet, I’ll share my water with you anytime if you need it."

Jus-teen freezes mid-breath. Her eyes widen, and then she claps a hand over her face with a loud groan. "Oh God," she mutters, her voice muffled behind her fingers.

Jah-kee’s brow crumples. "What? What did I say?"

" I was speaking of her recovery ," I project sharply, my projection tight and strained.

Jus-teen lowers her hand, her face now bright red, too. "That's not—Jacqui, that is not what he meant by water-sharing."

"What?" Jah-kee asks, her gaze darting between us. Her confusion only deepens when she notices Jus-teen’s flushed face. "Seriously, what did I say? I meant it! Tharn kept me alive, didn’t he? I’d share my water with him anytime!"

Jus-teen groans louder, burying her face in both hands now. "Oh my God, Jacqui, stop talking."

But the echo of her words moves through Jus-teen and into the mindspace. The tension in the cave seems to expand, pressing heavily against my chest, and my dra-kir stumbles painfully. Her words echo relentlessly, vivid and impossible to escape.

She would share her water with me .

My claws scrape against the stone. My breathing quickens. The implications flood my thoughts, and I can barely contain the surge of emotions crashing through me.

A sudden sense of warmth touches my mind, as if sensing my rising panic. It is Jus-teen. " Tharn ."

I don’t respond. My thoughts whirl uncontrollably, my pulse roaring in my ears.

" Tharn ," Jus-teen projects again, her mindspeak more insistent this time.

But it’s too late. I turn abruptly and stride toward the far side of the cave, my claws flexing and unflexing as I try to calm the storm within me. My movements are stiff, uncoordinated, and I hear Jus-teen groan again behind me.

"Oh great," she mutters. "Now you’ve broken him."

"Broken him?" Jah-kee’s voice is startled, concerned. "What? What did I say? What’s wrong with him?"

"Nothing," Jus-teen says, dragging her hands down her face. "He’s fine. He just… needs a minute. Or an hour. Maybe a day."

I press my back against the cool stone of the cave wall, inhaling deeply and trying to steady my racing thoughts. But Jah-kee’s words linger, impossible to ignore.

She would share her water with me. Anytime.