The Arrival (Birthright Trilogy #1) (52 page)

'The end result is pretty similar.'

Sian got up and stood in the middle of the room, where we could all see her.

'It feels weird doesn’t it? Being told and then beginning to realize you have an immense gift. It’s very strange.' She stroked our emblem, embedded in the table in Kassie’s corner.

It was embedded in every wall and door in our Quarters, and most furniture. Elena had explained about it, the second evening we spent in here. The emblem was a large circle of gold split into quarters by two narrow strips of gold. Each quarter contained a polished cabochon stone that represented an element. It started at the top right with a deep green tourmaline for Earth, then went clockwise to Air, a golden citrine, then Fire, a deep ruby, and Water, a bright blue sapphire.

Elena had also commissioned a piece of jewelry for us each, with a stone showing our Element. I’d chosen an amber ring. The ring was silver and very simple. I lifted it to the light and stared through it again. Pieces of leaf appeared to sparkle like gold within the amber.

'Meh. Enough.' I hopped up.

'Where you going, Cat? Kassie called out.

'To find Alek.'

'What, are we not good enough for you?' Loi teased.

'Yeah sorry, Loi, you just don’t kiss as well as he does.'

They laughed as I stepped into the corridor and closed the door behind me. I knocked at the guys Quarters down the corridor. That makes the rooms sound close, but in reality the corridor was l-o-n-g. If you did laps of the floor, you’d get fit very quickly, or die trying.

The door opened and Alek looked at me in surprise.

'Cat! I thought you were going to sleep?'

'Can’t, I’m too bored to sleep.'

'That doesn’t make sense,' he laughed and ushered me in.

I looked around with interest. It was a very similar style to our Quarters, but they each appeared to have separate rooms.

'Where are the others?'

'Rumal and Daron are downstairs at the Great Hall, and Sabyn went for a night flight with Tomiar. We thought you’d all gone to bed.'

'The other girls might have by now, but I’m bored.'

Alek was a little perplexed by that and led Cat to his room. Settling on to the couch together he pulled her back into his arms.

'What do you mean by bored? Wasn’t this week hair-raising enough for you, literally?' The results of Kassie’s thunderstorm had been impressive. He felt her sigh.

'That’s not what I meant. I mean I’m bored of training. And fighting. It’s all we do.'

Well that was true
. And they hadn’t really seen much of Elion, or anywhere else, for that matter. He kept forgetting they were new to this world.

'What if I promise you something completely different on your day off this week?'

Cat twisted to look at him.

'How different?'

'We’d have to get the griffons to leap, to get there and back.'

'Really? It wouldn’t tire them out too much?' She looked excited now.

'It’s one of the places we first began practicing leaping to, they’ll be fine.'
When I woke in the morning I raced around getting ready leaving the others staggering about in my wake.

'Slow bloody down, Cat,' Kassie growled and I stuck my tongue out at her.

'Not my fault you’re tired. Blame that on Rumal.'

She laughed, and swatted at me when I zoomed past to borrow a comb from her dressing table. I dressed carefully this morning, selecting pieces I tended not to wear. While I might want to take it slow with Alek, for the moment, that didn’t mean I couldn’t tease him. And I was still considering my ‘take it slow’ notion anyway.

Loi hurried along after the other three as they raced to the Griffons Quarters. She still felt a bit raw from the attack the other night. Her dreams were full of that nasty creature, and in the background of every dream, a woman laughed. She couldn’t seem to get that laugh, cruel and callous, out of her head. Sabyn waited for her when they arrived, and while everyone else fussed around getting ready, he took her aside into the stable-hands room.

'Hey,' He had a hand to her cheek as he stared with concern into her eyes. 'How are you?'

Tears tumbled out when she tried to respond and he sat and pulled her onto his lap.

Sabyn knew she hadn’t gotten over the shock yet and felt a moment of anger at Elena. Sure, she might be able to patch them up after a fight, but that didn’t change the fact that it had happened. Loi had looked like she walked on eggshells since the attack, but she hadn’t spoken about it at all. Perhaps his timing was off, approaching it now, but he wanted her to genuinely enjoy today. As he rocked her, smoothing her hair, she began to speak.

'Can’t get it out of my head.'

'I know.'

She was quiet again and he hugged her tighter.

'It’s normal, Loi, honest.'

She nodded against his chest.

'Silly isn’t it? But I just feel so, so, vulnerable and,' she gulped, hesitating, before continuing. 'Weak.'

He knew what she meant. Loi had trained for years to learn to defend herself and with it came a confidence in her abilities. To be caught out like she had, made it feel as though none of it mattered.

'It’s not silly Loi.'

He told her about the time he’d been caught out.

Loi listened in astonishment as he described all the feelings he’d gone through when it happened. Fear, revulsion, shame. Just the same as she was feeling. The anxious flutters in her stomach dissipated a little and she managed to stop crying. He gave her a loving smile then kissed her deeply.

When he pulled away, leaving her heart pounding, he pressed his forehead to hers.

'I promise, Loi, I will do everything I can to see you safe. And believe it or not, you’re going to be more than capable of wiping out dozens of nasty creatures with a thought very soon. That’s the reason Elena’s pushing you so hard. The four of you are going to be extremely formidable.'

His words echoed in her mind. She’d doubted her abilities since the attack, but he said it with such reverence.

'Really?'

Sabyn chuckled, 'Out of this world.'

Then pulled her in for another kiss.

Alek helped me into a heavy overcoat as Sabyn and Loi came out of the back room. We could see she’d been crying, but the smile she gave us seemed brighter. I caught Sabyn’s eye, mouthing "thanks" once Loi had walked past.

'Hurry up people.'

We turned and laughed at Citaan, all ready and waiting on Phroma’s back, bouncing with excitement. The heavy overcoat she wore concealed her baby bump, and at the moment she looked like an over-tall, impatient child. Alek still hadn’t told me where we were going, but if I went by Citaan’s reaction, it was good.

Alek snapped the last clasp on Cat’s overcoat and tossed her up on to Loushka’s back.

'Hey. Manners much.' Cat poked her tongue out at him.

He glowered at her.

You can’t actually die from sexual frustration,
the annoying voice in his mind pointed out. A certain part of his anatomy disagreed. It didn’t seem fair that she could strut around in that and still have the, go slow, rule in place. And really, those thigh high boots ought to be worn over pants. Not under a skirt with splits on either side, several inches higher than them. Maybe he should make her wear the coat while they were there.

‘Good luck with that.’
Loushka smirked at him.

‘Stay out of my head,’
he growled.

‘What’s the problem with her skirt? At least she can move easily, and I recall Rayna wearing less.’

Alek froze.

‘Crap.’

Loushka laughed which caused everyone to turn and stare, as he flushed at the thought of having to explain that to Cat.

I wriggled inside my coat, trying to get comfortable. We all had to wear the coats, as when the griffons leapt it apparently got very cold.

I hope we leave soon; I’m melting under all this fabric
. The men were lucky; they just had to wear their armor.

I wonder what Alek said to Loushka that was so funny?
He doesn’t look amused. He had been scowling at me since I strutted in this morning but now appeared distracted.

‘What was that exchange about?’
I thought to Loushka

‘Alek will have to explain. Nice outfit by the way—why has it got him mumbling about going slow?’

I chuckled.

‘That’d be my payback for that awful week he put me through. I might consider reneging, but I’m not telling him that.’

‘Nice one.’

‘Thanks.’

Alek scowled at the two of us as we communicated, and I couldn’t help giving him a naughty smile and wink. He hopped up into the front seat without a word so I took great pleasure in scooting forward and wrapping my arms tight around his waist.

‘Come on Loushka, let's go.’

‘You know I think Cat wants your attention.’

He gritted his teeth at the mocking tone.

'Alek, Alek, Alek,' Cat chanted his name in an annoyingly "cute" voice.

‘Fine. Block your mind, Loushka, if you don’t want to be scarred.’

The griffon chuckled as she walked out to the courtyard.

‘Thanks for the warning.’

He took a firm grip of Cat’s thigh and with a swift move, jerked her around, so she straddled his lap. Those emerald eyes stared up at him in pretend innocence, while the twist of her lips gave away the mischievous intent.

'Catherine.'

Hee.
Now this was fun. I couldn’t help but smirk when he said my name like that. Exasperation and frustration all rolled into one. Just the way I liked it. Opening my eyes even wider I pouted.

'You haven’t commented on my outfit. I picked it out 'specially for you.'

The affected childish tone irritated him to no end. He yanked her closer so she was hard up against his chest plate. Straight away her energy flared out and her expression changed from innocence to challenging. His body knew that look and responded. He bit off a curse.

Getting a hard-on while wearing armor is NOT comfortable. The chuckle Cat gave, suggested she knew all too well what’d just happened.

'Oi,' Rumal yelled from Kerak’s back.

'Cut that out you two, there’s a time and a place and it ain’t now.'

Like you can bloody speak, he thought, how many nights have you been absent from the Quarters. Everyone else in the group hooted and hollered at the couple.

Might as well give them something to yell about
. He cupped a hand behind her head and kissed her, bruisingly hard, venting a little of his frustration.