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 snort. Highly unlikely.
Just then, Flor and her mate come running forward. “What the fuck?” Flor cries. “Someone said you guys were fighting? What’s going on? And why is he bleeding?”
“All is well,” I reassure the frantic female, trying not to sound too smug. “I incited violence to ensure resonance.”
Her eyes go wide. “What the fuck?”
“We are gladiators,” I tell her, as if this is not obvious. I raise a bicep and flex it just in case she wishes to admire it. “You said a khui will select the best of males to mate with the best of females. What better way to show a khui that I am the best than to show off my fighting prowess?”
The female stares at me. She turns to her mate and shakes her head. “You handle this.”
“I do not know what there is to handle, my F’lor.” I’rec rubs a hand down his face and scowls at me. “You know this is not how resonance works, yes?”
“It seems to work for me. My hot blood has shown it what a fierce warrior I am. That I am the best.”
“And the most modest,” the female snarks. Then, she looks around the camp. “Okay, I’rec, you handle Skarr here and I’ll go after Vivian.”
I pause, rubbing my thrumming chest. “Who is Vivian?”
The female stares at me. “Your mate, dummy.”
“Ah. She ran off.” I continue to rub my chest, and then wonder if I should rub lower, because parts of my anatomy are definitely aching. I pause. “Should I go find her? Pleasure her? Surely now she will want it, and then I will win the breeding competition.” Already I have a leg up on the others.
The female—F’lor—shakes her head. “You wait here with I’rec. I’ll go find her and talk to her.”
“But I am the one that resonated,” I point out. “I should find her in case she wishes to mount me.”
I’rec snorts, casting a look over at his mate.
F’lor just shakes her head. “Something tells me that isn’t going to be a problem, buddy.”
She steps forward, only for her mate to tug her arm, stopping her. I’rec shakes his head. “No, my mate. He is the one that resonated. Let him go and speak to her. I know you want to help, but you cannot help this.”
“I can talk to her—”
“You have talked,” he says gently, pulling her close to him. “She knows how resonance works, yes? Let them work it out between them. You would only be in the way.”
They share a secret look and she leans in close to him, whispering. “Something tells me their resonance isn’t going to work out as easily as ours.”
“I don’t think anything is going to be easy with that one,” he says, and grins over at me. “Good luck, my friend. You will need it.”
Friend? Friend? Is that like…an ally? A teammate? But needing a second person in a battle implies I am weak. I draw myself up to my full height, glaring at the amused male and his mate. “I do not need friends,” I inform him. “I am strong enough on my own. I am the best, the fiercest.”
“That poor woman,” is all F’lor says.
Chapter
Seven
VIVIAN
If I’m keeping a tally of pluses and minuses for this day, I’m afraid we’re veering into the negative.
It started out good. I got shoes and warm clothes. Plus and plus. I worried nothing would fit because I can’t remember what size I am. I can’t even remember what my face looks like. I just know I’m tall and leggy and my hair is this muddy blondish-brown and hangs past my shoulders. I asked Flor for a ponytail holder of some kind and she handed me a pointed bone, so I jabbed it into my bun, Flintstones-style. The shoes are hand-stitched with lots of warm fur on the inside, and the tunic has stitching that goes up the front so it can be fitted to the person wearing it. Everything fits and I feel less like a rejected clone and more like a human being.
Lunch was hot and tasty and I didn’t even have to watch anyone butcher any animals to make it. Another plus.
I remembered camping and how to make fire. I’m useful.
These are all pluses, and it gives me a feeling of relief to be able to sit by the warmth of the fire and continually poke it to keep the embers bright. I’m doing something instead of just crying, at least. Maybe this will jog more memories for me and I’ll remember things like where I live and my name.
Even just a syllable of a name would be nice.
Flor tells us that we’re going to be heading out tomorrow for her home. It’s on a beach, where the cliffs keep the worst of the winds off of them and the temperature is slightly more moderate than here in the mountains. A more moderate temperature sounds like another plus to me. I’m even looking forward to meeting the others stranded here, because I’m hoping that more conversations will spark more memories. I’m looking forward to warm housing too, of course, but right now, the memories are bothering me more than the weather.