Chapter Ten
There was nobody in Violet’s room when she got back there, which was just as well. She wanted to shower and change before anybody noticed that she smelled like sex and looked like she’d styled her hair with an electric mixer.
Once she’d freshened up and put on a pale-blue wraparound sundress that she’d brought with her from Earth, she went in search of Dorcas.
One of the metal serv-bots that glided through the palace led her to an outdoor area, where she found Dorcas sitting with a group of enraptured older Vulfans – teaching them how to play poker.
One of them, an older male with a scarred face, seemed particularly entranced as he showed Dorcas his cards.
The flowerbeds were laid out in geometric lines, almost like a maze, but instead of boxily shaped privet, they bloomed with a mad riot of exotic flowers and fat, juicy-looking fruits. Violet was tempted to reach out and pick one, the smell was so sweet and tart and delicious, but as she passed, she saw a plant snap at an insect, like a Venus flytrap. She pulled her fingers back quickly. She’d do well to remember she was on another planet and didn’t know which plants she could eat…or which might try to eat her.
Here and there along the paths were statues of Vulfans in both humanoid and animal form, cunningly wrought from twisted boughs of the red-black wood that was native to this world. Shiny serv-bots glided between them, looking charmingly out of place with their fluffy metal petticoats and shiny 1950s-style hairdos.
“Ahem,” Violet said loudly. When Dorcas held up a finger indicating that she should wait, she said more loudly, “No, now.”
“All right, you know the basics.” Dorcas winked at the older man. “Good job, Fife!” And then she grabbed her purse and let Violet lead her away.
Violet looked at Dorcas askance. “Where did you find playing cards?”
“They have this guy here who’s called a castle master – I guess he’s like a steward. Name of ZuraI. I had him print them out for me and round up some of the retired Vulfans so I could teach them how to play. Why did you pull me out of the game?” Dorcas asked with annoyance, holding her purse tightly against her chest with one arm wrapped around it.
“What are you hiding in your purse?” Violet demanded, reaching over, but Dorcas tightened her grip on it.
“I thought so. You cheated at poker and won a bunch of jewelry. I know you too well. Go give it back.”
“Spoilsport! And is it really cheating if I made up my own version of poker and therefore I’m following the rules and—” Dorcas pouted at Violet’s glare and headed over to the table where the Vulfans were still playing. She emptied her purse out on the table, then she and Violet resumed their walk.
“How did the training go?” Dorcas asked. “Are you a master of kung-fu now? Or whatever they do here? Wolf-fu?”
“In one session?” Violet laughed ruefully. “Martial arts experts train for years to get good. Decades. Also, remember this is me we’re talking about here.”
“Oh, right. Lovely, sweet, kind, annoyingly honest…clumsier than a drunken camel.”
“Thanks, I think.”
Dorcas looked at her closely. “You like him. Even though he gets under your skin.” It wasn’t a question.
Violet tried for a casual shrug. “Well, he does get under my skin, that’s for sure. He’s rude, bossy, a bully, obnoxious…and those are his good qualities.”
“Can you see any kind of future with him?”
“Honestly, all I can see is getting my heart broken. Best-case scenario, I’ll have a fun time doing it.”
It was the aftermath she was worried about. She’d definitely had a fun time last night – more than fun. Amazing. Delirious. Mind-blowing. But now she felt the ache of his absence.
They strolled for a few more minutes in silence. Vividly pink wisps of cloud streaked the lavender sky, and Violet took a moment to drink in the strange scents of the castle grounds. Would she ever get used to living on this alien world? Not that she’d have to, she quickly reminded herself. Despite his flaws – and she was keeping a list – Treffon had never deceived her. He’d made it quite clear from the start that she wasn’t his true mate.
She pushed down the lonely feeling that thought gave her and tried to enjoy the view as they strolled through the labyrinth of flowers and fruits. A gentle slope gave way to a steep valley, and in the distance, Donnelle sat on the horizon, low-slung, decrepit buildings downtown giving way to glittering spires of glass in the pricier districts on the other side of town. Hovercabs buzzed around the city like insects feeding on a lopsided flower.
“Don’t look now, but we’re being followed,” Dorcas said in a low voice. She tightened her grip on her cane. “And that’s why the thunderstick will come in handy.”
Violet felt a flare of panic. She kept the same pace as she had before, but casually glanced around. Someone was indeed following them as they walked between the riotous flowerbeds. They’d walked a little distance from the castle, and were completely alone now.
Should Violet scream for help? If anyone wanted to take her out, help wouldn’t get there in time. The assassin would almost certainly be killed before he or she got off the grounds, but that would be small comfort to Violet if she was dead.
“Let’s split up,” she whispered. “It’s me they’re after. I’ll lead them away.”
Dorcas glared at her. “No! Even if you are the world’s most annoying goody-two-shoes, you’re still my great-niece.”
Violet widened her eyes and tried to look scared and helpless. “But I need you to run back to the castle and fetch the guard.”
“Nice try.”
“Stubborn old senile delinquent,” Violet muttered.
“Useless young twerp.”
Violet and Dorcas altered their path to head back towards the castle, but the person behind the head-high borders kept pace with them.
“All right, I’ve had it,” Dorcas snapped. She suddenly jammed her cane through a small gap in the plants. There was an explosion of flames and sparks, and a scream of pain from the other side of the foliage.
“Help!” Violet shrieked.
Suddenly they were being swarmed by Thorolf pack members. They burst out of cunning hiding spots among the plants, they dropped from tree branches…she’d never been alone after all.
The man staggered to his feet, groaning, as Violet and Dorcas rushed around to the other side to see who the assailant was.
To Violet’s shock and horror, it was Kroi. Allison’s mate. He was kneeling on the ground, shaking his head and groaning.
What the hell? Why would he want her dead?
“Kroi! It’s been you all along!” Violet gasped in dismay. Allison would be heartbroken.
“No, no, Treffon sent me,” Kroi groaned.
“You’re saying that Treffon sent you to kill my great-niece?” Dorcas shrieked in fury and jabbed at him again with the cane. He barely rolled out of the way in time, crying out in pain as he did so.
“No!” Kroi protested. “He sent me to test your situational awareness. He wants to be sure that you will be aware if someone is following you.”
One of the guards nodded. “This is true. He told us of his plans.”
Kroi climbed slowly to his feet and looked miserably at the ground. “I should have been able to evade detection. I’ve taken the evasion course three times. Now Treffon will be even more disappointed in me. I am not worthy of being a warrior.”
Anger sizzled through Violet’s veins. “Oh, wolf up already,” she snapped. “You nearly gave me a heart attack! I want to speak to Treffon right now!”
“I will take you to him,” one of the men said. She recognized him as Tristao, chief of the guard for the entire Thorolf pack.
Tristao led Violet and Dorcas through the maze to an open field, where groups of Vulfans were sparring. There were bleacher-style seats on the sidelines, and Zura, who was sitting there, waved her over.
Dorcas flicked an annoyed glance at the fighting. “This is like watching sportsball, but even more boring because nobody’s betting,” she said with a look of distaste. “Pass. As long as my great-niece is safe, I’m going to go back to playing cards.”
“Behave,” Violet called after her as she headed back towards the palace. Dorcas ignored her.
With a sigh, Violet joined Zura. There was a pitched battle going on in the field, with a dozen Vulfans in their wolf form, sparring and snapping.
Somehow, instinctively, she could tell which one was Treffon. He was the enormous shaggy wolf, almost five feet tall at the shoulders, his pelt a stunning gunmetal gray tipped with silver at his snout, ears, and massive paws. His eyes were a deep crystalline blue even in animal form. He moved with a stalking strength and grace that screamed “predator”. It should have made Violet feel like a prey animal. It didn’t. It made her feel warm inside. Safe.
“They are sparring,” Zura explained as Violet sat down next to her.
“I hope they leave some for me, because I’m going to tear a strip off his hide.” Violet scowled and explained what had just happened.
To her surprise, Zura burst into laughter. “You shock-sticked Kroi? I wish I had been there to see that!”
“Are you forgetting the part where your cousin is so crazy that when he’s too busy to stalk me, he has other pack members do it for him?”
“That is actually an incredibly…you humans would call it romantic. An incredibly romantic gesture. He is showing you that he wants you to be safe.”
“Please,” Violet scoffed. “He doesn’t have a romantic bone in his body, and he doesn’t care anything about me.”
“Of course he does.” Zura looked surprised. “Can you not tell? I have seen how he looks at you. I have seen the change in his behavior, just in the very short time that he has known you.”
“What kind of change?” Violet asked, surprised. “He seems very…angry. Focused and intense.”
“Pshaw.” Zura snorted. “You have not seen him angry. His dark mood is lessening. I can see it in the way he speaks to people, and I can feel it in his energy. Our family has some psychic powers, and we can sense each other’s moods and emotions.”
“That’s not necessarily because of me,” Violet protested.
“It most assuredly is.”
“He told me that I am not his true mate,” she protested.
“I know.” Zura looked downcast at that. “But still, you are the only woman he has shown any interest in, in my memory. I have tried to introduce him to many potential mates over the years, and he has always rejected them.”
Irrational rage burned through Violet at the thought of Treffon being with those women. Had he touched them the way he’d touched Violet? Kissed them? Made them cry out his name?
“Oh, do not worry, he has never actually spent time with any of the women I have introduced him to,” Zura said, as if she were reading Violet’s thoughts or feelings. She opened up a flask and gulped down half its contents in one swallow.
“Ooh, I’m parched. Is that stuff any good?” Violet asked.
“It is a brew that cannot be metabolized by humans. Lorn! Bring the human a drink!” Zura called out to a nearby Thorolf, who hurried off to obey her command.
“Thanks. It’s just that I… If I’m not Treffon’s true mate, I’d always feel that I was second best,” Violet said.
“I believe that you two could make each other very happy,” Zura said to Violet. “Not all Vulfans are lucky enough to meet their true mate, but they can still make successful matches with someone else. They can enjoy, ahem, certain activities with each other, and take pleasure in each other’s company. You know about the population wars? When the cyborgs released the virus that killed off ninety percent of our women, thirty years ago? Many of our men lost their true mates and were forced to make matches that were more for breeding purposes, or to keep their sanity.”
Shouts rang out from the field, and Violet turned to look at the fight.
One of the men had shifted back into humanoid form…and hurled a spear directly at Treffon. The spear lodged in Treffon’s flank, and his fur was instantly stained red. The attack sent a shockwave through Violet, and she felt her own ribs throb in sympathy.
“No!” she screamed. All her annoyance at Treffon was forgotten. She leaped off her seat and ran towards the field.