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“How long until we reach Zanthia?” I ask. I have to start planning how to teach the guys what they need to know before I leave. As tempting as Akiyra is, I don’t feel the same pull that Fynn clearly does. Maybe it is because he met her before our lives were flipped upside down. Either way, it doesn’t matter. I have something I have to do before I can look to the future. I never thought I would have the chance and now that I do, nothing will stop me.
“Tiri?” Akiyra questions.
“The trip to Zanthia will take three days at our current speed, but we will need to slow down. We should arrive in five days.”
“Thanks, Tiri.” She turns her attention to all of us. “Let’s walk and talk. Any questions you have, Tiri can handle them. Though I don’t mind answering what I can, some things I don’t know. Tiri is in charge of our courses, monitoring the ship for any maintenance issues it might have and being a basic pain in my ass.”
“Akiyra, such words of love. I might just swoon,” the upper-crust voice purrs overhead. “Remind me of this the next time you ask for a shower instead of the sand tunnel
It is all I can do to not burst out laughing at the scowl on Akiyra’s face. Her eyes swing to me.
“Sawyr! You are not laughing at me, are you?” Her glare is almost ruined by the slightest twitch of her lips.
“No, ma’am. I’m happily admiring the stars.” I look straight at her blue eyes.
She takes a step towards me. “I. don’t. Believe. You.” Each word is punctuated with a step until she is standing a breath away. I swear I can almost feel her chest moving against mine. She looks up at me through long eyelashes. Up close her eyes are more a light gray with a deep violet ring around them. It is hard to look away, they are mesmerizing. But my gaze is torn away when small hands are placed on my chest and she shoves with all of her strength.
“Wha—?” I yell, waving my arms as I fall backward, landing in the pit with the pile of pillows and blankets. I heard more than felt Jax scrambling out of the space so as not to be landed on. Looking up, Akiyra is standing hands on her hips, laughing at me.
“Your face!” She gasps. “It was priceless.”
I look at her and slowly move so that I am on my knees. The bottom of the pit is a deep mattress that I sink in to. Crawling on my knees, pushing blankets and pillows out of my way I stalk her. The closer I get to her, her laughter starts to fade away, her small white teeth pull her lip into her mouth.
“Sawyr?” Her voice is somewhere between nervous and laughing. She doesn’t know if I am offended or not, never having spent time with me.
“You dare to push me?” I growl, a smile playing at my lips. By now I am close enough that I can reach out and grab her. But instead, I stay on my knees and circle around her. “Your punishment is to walk the plank.”
My head butts up against her knees, and instead of her moving towards the pit, she falls backward over me!
“Akiyra! Are you okay?” I am stuck on my hands and knees, her legs slung over the back of my shoulders.