Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 85553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
I think about last night and how I touched him and inwardly cringe at my actions. It’s going to be really hard to convince him I don’t want resonance now, after I grabbed his dick…dicks. Maybe I was so drunk I imagined two. I don’t know if I find the thought of a double-dicked lizardman exciting or terrifying.
Both, I decide. It’s both.
I finish my food quickly and Callie holds a hand out to take the bowl from me. “Thank you.”
She waves a hand at my words. “Think nothing of it. The tribe works together. We make breakfast at the main fire each morning and anyone is welcome to come eat. Some people like to make their own meals, but for those that don’t cook or are going hunting, we rotate chores so someone is always up very early and making breakfast. There’s usually a dinner on the communal fire, too.”
I bite my lip. “I don’t think I know how to cook.”
“You can learn,” she says with a shrug. “Or if not, you hunt. Or you work hides. Or something. Everyone figures out what they’re good at and contributes in some way.”
It sounds really nice but also a little terrifying. “What if we don’t contribute enough? What if someone feels like we’re not pulling our weight?”
“You’ll know,” Gail says. Her expression turns sympathetic. “But really, we haven’t had that problem before. Not everyone’s a hunter, but everyone helps out. There’s no checklist of chores you have to complete to get fed, though. Just do your best. We all know it’s hard, especially at first.”
“It’s a lot,” I confess in a small voice, the reality of my situation threatening to overwhelm again.
Gail moves over a seat to sit next to me, placing a comforting hand on my arm. “We know. But that’s why you have everyone else to lean on. We’ve been through the same thing.”
“Are you a clone, too?”
She grimaces. “Okay, most of the same thing. But I was snatched from Earth, just like you. I was held captive by aliens for a few years before I ended up here. The point is, no one comes here well-versed in everything they need to survive. We all have to learn this place.”
Callie nods, gesturing at herself with the wooden spoon. “You got questions? You come ask me. I’ll give it to you straight. About resonance, about babies, about whatever.”
“I already resonated,” I add in a timid voice.
“Oh, it was you?” Her brows go up. “To the lizard guy? I heard he was kinda…a lot.”
A mortified giggle escapes me. “That’s a good way of putting it.”
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, my mate was an absolute shit to me when we first resonated and I wanted to choke him.” She puts her hands in the air as if to shake an invisible throat. “But we figured each other out and we’re happy. So don’t give up hope. The khui usually knows what it’s doing. And you’ll probably make pretty babies. He has nice hair.”
He does have nice hair, I have to agree. But I don’t want to point out that I’m not sure about the babies part. That I’m holding in my pocket what Flor told me—that the healer can turn things off if we need to. I got the impression that it’s the nuclear option, so to speak, but it’s an option at least.
“She doesn’t want to think about resonance right now,” Gail says defensively. “If she did, she’d be with him instead of sleeping with the other ladies. Give her time to figure things out.”
Callie looks like she wants to say more. She frowns in our direction and then shrugs and turns back to stirring the food. “Some of the other ladies should be waking up soon.”
It is rather quiet. I sip my water, glancing over at Gail. She has a basket near her old seat that looks like it’s full of sewing. Another woman approaches, this one freckled with red hair, and she’s leading a few young boys and has a younger child in her arms. No men, though. In fact, as I look around at the scattered huts, I see a few with smoke coming from their tops, and a person or two standing out by the shore, but I don’t see the other gladiators that arrived with us.
I don’t see Skarr anywhere. I rub my chest, because the constant resonance thrum that’s been present since that fateful day is silent. It’s…odd and vaguely unpleasant, like my khui is punishing me for not doing the deed with him yet. “Where is …um, everyone?”
“Everyone, or just Skarr?” Callie asks.
“Hush,” Gail scolds her as my face burns. “She came out here for a meal, not an interrogation. And as for the others, I don’t know. Some of the women are sleeping in. Some have babies and husbands and get started later than others. It’s still pretty early, but you can see a few people are fishing over by the shore.” She points at the forms in the distance. “Everyone’s got things to do, even though there was a party last night.”