Orc’s Forbidden Claim (Red Planet Dragons of Tajss #33)

5. Saylor

5

SAYLOR

“ S pill? Spill what? What is this place?” I ask, hoping to distract her though I know it won’t work.

She smiles and walks past me, trailing her fingers along the shelves resting on the back wall.

“This is where Sek’su and I would meet to be alone,” she says. “Before I was able to handle… well everything.”

“You could have lost it all,” I say, then, feeling the bitterness of my situation, I add, “You should have.”

She pauses, lowering her head and sighs.

“You’re right,” she agrees, which shocks me. “I should have. I expected to. How it worked out… that was luck. Pure, simple, idiotic luck.”

“You’re the Ice Queen, Wren. Shit rolls off of ice because it is slick.”

She snorts, shaking her head.

“What a thing, isn’t it?” She turns around and takes my hands in hers, squeezing them gently as our eyes bore into one another. “I was ready though. Do you understand that? I was going to give it all up. I had to. I didn’t have a choice.”

“You always have a choice,” I say.

“No,” she says, shaking her head. “It may seem like that but…”

She trails off and I wait for her to continue but I can see her thoughts are far away.

“I was there with you, through all of it,” I say at last. “And you know I supported you.”

“Yes,” she says with a soft smile then her eyes refocus on me. “And I am here for you. Now, Saylor, my dear friend. Tell me. What is going on? Who is it?”

“Who?” I splutter, eyes widening.

Fear shoots into my heart like a bolt of lightning striking and sizzling in the aftermath. My breath catches in my chest as my heart thunders. I can’t break away from her eyes. The soft, gentle smile, the imploring look she gives. Two voices conflict in my head. One saying trust her, tell her. The other saying I will lose everything. That even she can’t understand or handle this.

“Yes,” she says, sliding her hands off of mine and up my arms to my shoulders. “Trust me. I am here for you.”

I blink rapidly. My head is empty of thoughts. I feel like I used to when my mom would catch me doing something I wasn’t supposed to be doing. No, worse, I feel like that time mom walked in on me when I had first discovered how to pleasure myself. My legs spread, fingers deep inside myself, and writhing on my bed until I suddenly realized she was in the doorway and I had no idea how long she had been there.

“I… can’t… no… it’s… nothing,” I splutter through words that don’t make sense even to me.

I’m sure they mean nothing to her because how can they? I don’t have a coherent thought to back them up. Only a wild impulse to flee, get away, protect myself. Like I did when my mother caught me. Wren pulls me into an embrace, wrapping her arms around me and holding me tight.

I don’t mean to break down. It happens without thought or intention. Tears well up and I’m sobbing before I can possibly stop it. This shouldn’t be so hard. It’s no different than her and Sek’su, not really. Khiara and I, belong together. I’m sure of it in my heart. The empty ache when I’m not with him, the unending loneliness that only his presence quiets.

“It’s okay,” Wren says, smoothing my hair and making soothing sounds. “I’m here. You can trust me. You helped me through my trouble with Sek, I’m here for you. I only want to help.”

I quit fighting the emotions. I’m not sure if I stop because I’m not strong enough or because of some understanding that I need to let them out. I sob and cry until there are no more tears. The last wracking, shaking tears fall onto Wren’s shoulder and still she holds me.

When I push away from her, she lets me go. I know I’m a mess. I wipe my eyes with my palms but it’s ineffective. I dab them with my sleeve, which is at least a little better, but will do nothing for the puffiness or the redness.

Everyone will know I’ve been crying. More fuel for the rumor mill. What was Saylor crying about? Wren was there, she must know. What terrible thing have those two done now? And imaginations will run wild. I can only begin to imagine the stories that they will come up with in response to this.

“Sorry,” I mutter, shaking my head.

“No,” Wren says, her voice stern. “You do not need to be sorry. After what I went through? You think I don’t understand. So, tell me, who is it?”

My eyes are blurry, unable or unwilling to focus on her. The edges of her form distort into shapeless points of light. I frown, rub my face, then take a deep breath.

“It’s not who you might think,” I say, voice shaking.

“Oh? Do tell, now I’m intrigued. Is it some lowborn?”

“Lowborn?” I snort. “If only. It would be so much?—”

A loud scraping sound interrupts what I was going to say. Wren and I turn together, looking up towards where the sound came from. A stream of dust falls from the ceiling in the far corner of the room. I move closer to Wren until our arms are touching.

“What is?—”

She’s cut off before she finishes because a large section of the ceiling falls. It crashes to the floor with a loud bang. We grab onto each other, backing away, but still unsure what is happening.

“Wren, we need to?—”

This time I’m cut off as a large, dark shape drops through the newly made hole in the ceiling. It lands in a crouch. Time seems to slow, and I become acutely aware of tiny details. The shape is clad in a gray cloak that pools around it, hiding the thing’s features and size.

Suddenly it rolls to one side and another shape drops through into the same place. I open my mouth to scream but no sound comes out. Wren and I pull on each other, moving towards the door as quickly as we can but it feels as if we’re moving impossibly slow. Every step drags. Gravity has multiplied until the effort to lift a foot is next to undoable. Straining muscles for what was only moments ago a natural easy thing.

“Run!” Wren screams.

We tug and pull on each other as we move to the door. The slowing of time and the increase of gravity flash and are gone. The door lurches closer. Wren grabs the side of the heavy leather, jerking it to the side. She steps through. I’m right behind her.

Something grabs onto my hair, and I’m jerked off my feet.