He’d assumed she simply had no carnal desires—and ridiculous though that was, it had been a uniquely Vaya sort of ridiculousness. You wish to possess a male? He’d have laughed if it were at all funny.
Sort of? Not as a male possesses a female, she insisted. But to be possessed and to possess in turn, as the humans do? Maybe if the idea had occurred to me as a youngling, I’d not have sworn off mating so quickly. To be “claimed” in a challenge felt degrading; especially for one like me, who is not so easily beaten. It felt dishonest to submit when I was stronger than all my would-be suitors.
How is it more honest for a male to submit to a female? Garr demanded.
I think to humans, it’s a type of play. Like wearing masks, which later they remove so that they can be equals again.
Blasphemy.
It is. But one of you will reconcile to the other, or neither will. There is no compromise between these two paths. It is either human love or Ythirian submission.
This observation took the wind from Garr’s lungs. He had no desire to crush Dr. Rae Ashburn’s desires, but nor did he plan on introducing to his people this outrageous, human taboo of mutual submission to one another.
Sir?
I’m thinking.
Sir! Your mate. She’s gone!
Garr wheeled and glanced behind them, where he’d sensed Rae moments ago. She had vanished.
***
Rae charged through the swamp with geysers erupting to her left and right. A jet burst from the ground directly in her path, spattering her in scalding droplets and filling her vision with vapor, hiding the insect swarm she’d been chasing. She felt brief terror, wondering if she’d misread Lyr’s signals.
The steam cleared before she reached it, though, and ahead was that same twinkling. She reached them and let out a whoop.
Then Vaya broke through a spraying geyser at her flank. She skidded to a stop and snatched Rae’s shoulder in one hand. “Got you, you slippery runt!”
“Let me go!”
“Where are you even going?” The giantess wheeled, searching for Garr. They must have split up.
“Home.”
Vaya narrowed her eyes. “You have a way back, don’t you?”
Rae firmed her jaw. She had no desire to answer.
But Vaya was always quick on the uptake. “You’ve got a side deal going with Lyr.” Under her breath: “Can’t believe we trusted her.” Shaking her head, she appraised Rae more carefully.
“Please just let me go,” Rae whimpered. “You know I’m not right for this world.”
Vaya nibbled her lower lip, glancing back through the fog for Garr. “Not mine to decide. It’s my prime’s.” She released Rae’s arm.
“But don’t you dare even think about running again. Your legs are short, you’re slow, and this place might just kill you for the effort.”
Rubbing her freed arm, Rae brooded quietly.
Just then, a geyser just six feet away exploded, jettisoning so much steam and scalding water that Rae couldn’t see a thing. However, it had been closer to Vaya than her, and she heard the giantess curse in Ythirian.
With the air so foggy, Rae realized it was an invitation from Lyr to flee. She took off again, spotting another reflective swarm ahead.
They proved to be the edge of the geyser jungle, and before long there were green plants on all sides of her.
She’d have cheered, except that the forest abruptly opened into a clearing—one wreathed entirely in those razor vines, so that she was penned in. More vines descended behind her, and Rae began to wonder precisely what Lyr was planning. Rae was effectively imprisoned in that circular patch of open terrain.
Then she heard it—the crunching from the canopy above her.
It was that thing, the tentacle beast from the treetops back for her again. It had followed them.
And that had been her role for Lyr all along, Rae realized. She was bait.
Chapter Six
Garr tore through the jungle, headed straight for Vaya’s shouts. She struggled through a vapor cloud, shielding her eyes and gesticulating with two hands toward the edge of the jungle. “That way! I—I think.”
Geysers cut him off. He snarled and wrapped his limbs in otoya, leaping through the steam and ignoring the searing pain that still assaulted his skin underneath.
The fabric absorbed the brunt of the heat, fibers converting thermal energy and storing it, so that he burst out the other side crackling with spare electrical discharge. It made his fine hairs go on end.
Vaya had sent him out of the forest only slightly off course, but he could scent his mate and the terror coming from her pores. He made for the dense canopy, prepared to use an otoya blade to slice down the razor vines that blocked his path.
***
That treetop monster dropped from the canopy and into the clearing. It hit the ground with an almost wet thud. Rae still had no sense for its shape, since it was the same color and texture as the squama plates and foliage of the Skorvag.