I'm not sure how I feel about big cats, but Alice assures me that Sterre—her new pet—loves both pregnancies and women. "Straik won't mind if it makes me happy. You want to bring a cake back with you? We can have the machine whip up some more."
Alice makes a happy noise. "I bet Jade would love some, too. Not sure about Helen. She loves noodles." She rolls her eyes as if that's the weirdest thing possible. "Here we are, finally away from noodles, and Helen still wants them."
"Ruthie loves noodles too," I admit, sitting up. My stomach is finally full of crackers and I'm feeling a little better.
She shakes her head, digging into another bite of cake. "I can't believe you have a clone. That's fucked up, dude."
"No," I correct. "I have a twin. No one's been cloned here."
"Right. Wink wink. Speaking of clones," she says around a mouthful, "where the hell did Salvotor run off to?" She gets to her feet, wiping crumbs off her dress. "I'm supposed to be watching after him so he doesn't get into trouble."
I get to my feet, too, since it's long past time I should get up. "I think the others were going to find him new clothes? You know, since I barfed on the poor guy?"
Alice waves a hand. "He should be used to it. Jade is a puke machine, poor thing. She hasn't puked on him yet, but he knows pregnant ladies have volatile stomachs." She pats her belly. "Except me. I can eat anything. I'm a human goat. It's awesome."
"Braggart," I tease. "Okay, fine. Let's go check in on your buddy and then we find my husband."
We leave the mess hall and head toward the crew quarters in the Eye. The ship is rather quiet, and I know most of the crew is waiting on the bridge for instructions and watching over Ruthie. It wouldn't surprise me if she was showing them all how to play poker again. Apparently she became quite a cardsharp over the last few years and is pretty good at some alien game called “sticks,” too.
One of the doors is open, and I nudge Alice, pointing at it. There are low male voices coming from inside, though I can't make out what they're saying. It doesn't sound like an argument, though. As we approach, I hear what sounds like throaty laughter, and when I peek inside, I'm not entirely surprised by what I see. Dopekh leans against the wall next to the shower, his arms crossed, and his red face looks even more red than usual. Leaning over him with one hand pressed against the wall near Dopekh's ear is a shirtless and muscular Salvotor, Alice's new friend. He says something to Dopekh and runs a knuckle across the a'ani's chest, grinning.
Alice sighs. "For fuck's sake, Salvotor. It's been all of five minutes. Can't you keep it in your pants?"
Salvotor just grins, glancing over his shoulder. "It is in my pants. And Dopekh was just letting me borrow some of his clothes. Can't I show my appreciation?"
Dopekh blushes even harder. I suspect his pining for Kazex is going to die a swift and painful death, which is probably for the best.
"I thought you liked boobs," Alice grumps.
"I like everything," Salvotor declares, and gives another smile to Dopekh that's full of promise. "Everything."
If Dopekh got any redder, he'd probably combust.
91
STRAIK
Luckily, Kaspar is the only one that punches me in the face. Adiron shoves a fist in my gut, then rumples my hair and locks an arm around my neck. "I don't know whether to kiss you or kill you for abandoning us on that ship," he tells me. "You scared my mate and I don't like that."
"Mate?" I wheeze, thumping a hand against his thick arm as the other two brothers settle in the room. We're not in a dungeon, but one of my uncle's drawing rooms instead. That's an excellent sign, as far as I'm concerned. It means that the va Sithai brothers are going to whine at me for a bit, but they're not going to actually harm me. I'm relieved, because I'm already eager to get back to Ruth's side. But first, I suppose I have to play along in their games. "What female's desperate enough to take your ugly ass on?"
"Jade," he announces smugly, and then tightens his arm around my neck a split second later. "Wait, did you just insult my female?"
I make a garbled sound of protest, and the room starts to turn black at the corners of my eyes. Someone thumps on Adiron's shoulder, and in the next moment, I'm released, coughing, as air floods into my lungs again. I rub my throat, glancing around. The room is fairly small, no bigger than the bridge back on the Darkened Eye. One wall is nothing but windows, giving a view of the pastoral farms covering the green and gold hills in the distance. It's quite a lovely view, and one I think my Ruth will enjoy. The rest of the room is austere, with my uncle's house insignia carved into the center of each otherwise plain gray wall. The center of the room is a heavy black table with several equally heavy carved chairs surrounding it. As I rub my throat, the three brothers sit opposite me, their expressions displeased.