Well, maybe not everything.
Rasia and Kai stared at each other, wide-eyed, in shock. They scrambled apart. Rasia into the shade of a thorny euphorbia and Kai against the ochre cliffs of the gorge.
He was supposed to have pulled out.
“I’m sorry,” Kai stammered, “I didn’t mean—I was trying . . . will this seed you?” Kai asked, panic shredding his voice. His breaths wheezed out of him until they became whining whispers, and Rasia grew alarmed at his failure to draw in air. She grabbed him by the face and demanded that he breathe.
“Calm down, Kai. Don’t be stupid. This little bit won’t do shit. It’s fine.”
“Kenji-ta is going to murder me.”
“He won’t,” Rasia said, certain. “Because nothing is going to happen. All those horror stories of getting seeded after one time are just what the Grankull tells to scare people. They’re horseshit.”
Kai expelled shallow breaths, jerkily nodding his head.
“Good. Now, I am going to go wash off.” She patted him on the cheek, got up, and headed toward the springs. When she was out of Kai’s line of sight, she broke into a sprint and proceeded to bathe more thoroughly than she had in her entire life.
Rasia returned from bathing to find Zephyr slumbering unaware in the shaded coolness of the cave. She’d missed him the first time she came rushing through. They all had spent the morning unpacking yesterday’s hunting haul, and for high-noon break, Zephyr had dropped down for a nap while Rasia and Kai snuck off somewhere private.
Rasia jumped over Zephyr. She found Kai outside in a fresh loincloth, washing both of their soiled clothes in the water basin. There was quite the pile, clothes from the past three days now being tended to. Rasia slid her fingers over the thin pickings on the clothesline. On a mere whim, Rasia plucked off Kai’s old caftan and tossed it on.
“I see why you like it so much. It’s crazy comfortable,” Rasia said. She gathered the bottom to crouch beside Kai and dig her chin into his shoulder.
Kai vigorously scrubbed at the clothes with soap, bubbling the water. The soapy mixture smelled fragrantly of olive oil, lime, and lavender. Rasia noted that Kai’s skin smelled much the same. He had bathed as well.
“When was your last deathsblood?” Kai asked.
“Seriously?”
“Yes. Maybe you’re right and the odds are low, but we need to keep track. It’ll be just my bad luck that I seed you. Leave it to the runt of the Grankull to not be able to do anything right but that.”
“I think all my good luck balances it out in our favor.”
He glared at her.
“Fine.” Rasia squinted and tried to count the days in her head. “I think seven days before the Forging? Calm your nips, Kai. You worry too much. You pulled out.”
“Halfway.”
“You’re being dramatic. I’m Rasia. I don’t let stupid things happen to me, especially something as stupid as getting seeded.”
Rasia hopped up and snatched the pants out of his hands. She moved to wring them out while he washed another piece of clothing. “We’ll be more careful from now on. We’ve still got plenty of options, and after the Naming Ceremony, it won’t matter no ways. Then, we can fuck any way we want. And let’s not forget about the bodika. We can’t miss the free-for-all orgy.”
Kai scoffed. “No one is having an orgy with me.”
“But by then, you would have slayed a dragon! I’d have sex with anyone who slayed a dragon.”
Kai broke into a wry smile. “I know.”
Rasia had just clipped the damp pants to the clothesline when a cold drop of water fell sharp on her forehead and slid down her face. Rasia frowned when the pitter patter of water became more frequent. It never rained in this area outside of rainy season. “This isn’t normal.”
Kai’s eyes widened. “It’s Nico.”
Rasia tossed the pants at Kai’s face and leaped toward the nearest rock wall. She climbed to the top of the gorge and spotted a Grankull ship on the horizon. Judging by the distance, Nico would be on them by sunset. Nico was a problem, but Rasia was more concerned by the rain. The wellspring was going to spill over into a whole river soon. They needed to get out of the gorge now.
Rasia dropped back to the ground where Kai was scrambling to get on some clothes. Rasia pulled off his caftan and snatched a pair of pants and shirt off the clothesline. The shirt was still damp, but it didn’t matter in the thickening rain.
“What the fuck, Kai? I thought you could sense her location,” Rasia said as she hopped into her pants. “You were supposed to be tracking her.”
“I’ve been distracted.”
“Really? You’re really going to blame this a-mazing wet ass pussy? You had one job.”
“I blame it on everything!”
Rasia barked out a laugh. “You damn right. Okay. Get the ship ready to sail. I’ll grab what we need from the kull supplies.” Rasia turned in the direction of the cave and paused. She looked over her shoulder at Kai. “What do we do about Zephyr? Think we can trust him?”
Kai snorted. “No. He’ll want to talk to her. I’ll get the ropes.”
They nodded at each other and got to work. Rasia smiled at the way she and Kai worked together like an experienced kull. They clicked in a way she hadn’t with another person since jih. She enjoyed every moment of the situation, from restraining Zephyr in his sleep, to hauling him tied-up onto the deck of the windship, to the anticipation of Nico’s impeding arrival.
“You need to talk to her,” Zephyr insisted to Kai, grumpily awake now. Rasia loaded the windship with extra supplies from the kull stash. She even grabbed all Zephyr’s belongings and his huge-ass sword because she was nice like that.
Rasia laughed when Kai stuffed Zephyr’s mouth with Zephyr’s own shroud. Kai secured Zephyr to the railing, then crouched in front of Zephyr and told him solemnly, “Nico isn’t going to listen to me. She never has. We both know that. Sit tight, and I’ll release you when we lose her.”
Rasia did a cursory check of the gorge. She peeked her head into the cave and noted the rising water. Kai came through to grab more rope and paused at the sight of the ilhan in the corner before rushing back to the ship. Rasia glanced after him, then grabbed both the ilhan and as much olive oil as she could carry. Luckily, they had the majority of the scorpion’s jerky and sausage already stored in the hatch. Once Rasia was satisfied she hadn’t forgotten anything, she signaled to Kai “ready.”
Kai steered the ship through the rocks. Once the ship broke the gorge’s mouth and settled into a consistent speed, Rasia whipped out her map and slapped it atop the deck.
“Here’s the plan.” Rasia pinned the corners with her knees to keep the edges down in the wind. “Nico’s ship is faster than mine, and the terrain this way is pretty flat, which means she’s going to catch up. I’ll serve as the distraction, but I need you to steer the ship”—Rasia pointed to a sizable hole marring the map—“to the Sand Bowl. We’ll lose her there.”
Thunder rolled through the sky. Dark storm clouds blotted out the sun and swallowed the Desert in darkness.
Kai blanched. “She’s more pissed than I thought.”
“The rain is going to be a complication. It will soften the sand and make it harder to maneuver.”
“We could use her magic to our advantage,” Kai suggested. “Nico loses control of her powers when she’s emotional. If you can get her to expend her magic quickly, she’ll pass out. Then she won’t be able to follow us.”
Rasia grinned. “Perfect.”
The sharp rain drenched Rasia’s clothes and plastered her hair to her face. In all her time exploring the Desert, Rasia had never experienced rain like this—a rain so cold it knifed through her skin. The sand softened and sloughed beneath them.
Through the heavy sheets of rain, Nico’s windship drew nearer.