“Perhaps he’s become as cold as we’ve heard.”
“Regardless, it would be a pride thing. If someone took something of his, they’d pay in blood for that offense and lose their lives.”
“True.”
“We can’t allow Decker to get his hands on either granddaughter. Dusti might smell all human but she’s not. I tested a few drops of her blood.”
Kraven groaned. “Fantastic. That means we’ll have to take them back to our clan, where he won’t be able to get to them.”
“I know.”
“Decker will try to get them back by force.”
“I’d rather we have to fight Decker’s clan than Aveoth’s. We have a chance of winning.”
“What if he tells Aveoth we have them? Father would have to hand over the sister to avoid a fight with him.”
“Let’s worry about that after we get them to the safety of our clan.”
“One problem at a time.” Kraven nodded. “Right.” He paused. “You understand that taking them home will put us all in danger, don’t you?”
Drantos reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. “Of course I do. I’d rather deal with Aveoth directly over Decker. He’s not insane.”
“Are you certain? It’s been many years since we’ve spoken to him. He’s changed a lot since then.”
“Aveoth has honor.”
“We hope he still does. Who knows what happened to make him take over his clan. I mean, he killed his own father to do it. That’s pretty cold.”
One of the passengers started to raise hell. Drantos cocked his head, listening to what the man was ranting about. He was starting to panic the other survivors about being attacked by wild animals or dying if the wreckage wasn’t spotted by rescue teams.#p#分页标题#e#
“I’ll go deal with that,” he announced. “You work on getting them fed.”
Chapter Three
Bat collapsed on a blanket near Dusti hours later. The wind had picked up, leaving a definite chill in air. Dusti had watched her sister keep busy helping Kraven pass out the food after he’d dragged the deer carcass into the clearing. It had been impressive watching him roast meat on sticks over the fire. Afterward, Drantos and Bat worked together to get everyone comfortable enough to sleep.
“I’m never going to look at venison the same way again. It’s really disturbing how good that man is with a knife.” Bat smirked.
Dusti glanced around looking for Drantos, and found him standing too close for her comfort, dumping more wood into a pile by the fire. She still wanted to warn her sister that he was crazy. It seemed he was never going to give her a perfect opportunity so she just needed to do it. She lowered her voice.
“Remember my friend Greg?”
Bat nodded. “The nut.”
Dusti winced. “He’s bipolar. So is Drantos.”
Bat stared at her. “What?”
Dusti nodded. “Keep your voice down. He doesn’t want me to say anything to you but he’s off his meds.” She glanced at Drantos and found him staring at her. She waited until one of the passengers said something to him and he broke eye contact with her. “Don’t say anything, because I’m afraid it will set him off, but he thinks our grandfather is some alien or something. He hates him and plans to use us to get back at him somehow.”
Bat paled. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Damn.” Bat frowned. “That runs in families sometimes, doesn’t it? That means the brother might have the same condition.”
“Did you hear what I said? We’re in danger!”
“I heard. I have some clients like that. Just be cool and go along with anything he says. We’ll be rescued and the paramedics can sedate him until they get him the help he needs.”
Dusti nodded. It was sound advice.
“This sucks. I kinda like the brother.” Bat glanced anywhere but at Dusti. “He’s different. I’ve never met anyone like him before.”
Dusti worried. “You’re attracted to him?”
Bat held Dusti’s gaze. “Nothing can come of it long term but he’s definitely one-night-stand material. I admit I’m thinking about it.”
“No,” Dusti whispered. “Trust me for once. He went along with Drantos’s crazy plan of grabbing us on that plane. What does that tell you?”
“He’s probably used to dealing with the nut job and just placates him. It’s what you do. How many times have you visited Greg, only to find him wearing his metal helmet so aliens can’t feel his presence or some such nonsense? You actually told him you found an alien-free zone to trick him into going to see his doctor, so they could admit him to the hospital and put him back on his medication until he was stable again. You even wore one of his spare helmets to drive him so he felt secure that they couldn’t read your mind to find him.”