“Are we going to stop soon? I’m getting tired,” Jay called out from behind her.
Rain waited for him to catch up. They’d been climbing steadily upward through the foothills of the Quoxor Mountains. The path was narrow, and the incline made her calves burn. To be honest, she was exhausted herself, but she’d gotten into the rhythm of walking and completely forgotten about the time and place. She turned a slow circle, her senses on high alert.
“There’s a river bank down to our right. Let’s set up camp there.”
True to his promise not to bother her, Jay had walked behind and kept the pleasantries to a minimum. It was weird being so close to someone and not being bombarded by thoughts and sub thoughts all the time. She’d even relaxed her formidable shields a little, which was unheard of.
He groaned. “No fancy hotel?”
The warmth of his teasing reached her telepathic senses, and she immediately shut him out again. “They probably wouldn’t rent me a room. Not that I have the credits for it, either. Something’s up with my financial information.”
“If we get desperate, I’ll rent a room, and you can pay me back your share later, okay?”
“Sure, but I don’t think we’ll be stopping off in many towns along the way. Neveks are not encouraged to mix with the general population.”
“I’d heard that it was the other way around. That your people don’t want anything to do with the rest of Pavlovan.”
She set her pack down on the riverbank and rolled her aching shoulders. “There are some elements of the community who feel like that, but not everyone. “
“Why wouldn’t anyone want to move with the times and get out more?”
“Because when my grandparents were children, their parents were forced to hand over their offspring to be educated by the Pavlovan State in special ‘integrated facilities’ hundreds of miles away from here. You can imagine how well that went down.”
“That’s terrible.” Jay grimaced as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. “They tried some stupid shit like that on Earth a few centuries ago. It was a disaster.” He sat down beside her and stretched out his legs. “Gods, I’m tired.”
She couldn’t help but notice how fit he was. His damp T-shirt stuck to his flat stomach, and his muscled thigh was way too close to hers. He wasn’t an obviously bulked-up guy, but he was super fit. She moved slightly away, and he made no move to follow her.
“At least we don’t need a fire. I think I’d melt.” He groaned and stood up again. “I need water. I have purification tablets in my kit.”
“The water is drinkable here.”
“Not if you’re from Earth.” He winced. “Trust me, I found out the hard way. I’m told I’ll get used to it eventually.”
He ambled down to the river while she sorted out her sleeping roll and pillow. She had enough food to last her seven days. After that, she’d either need to find a store that would serve her or start hunting. She eyed her companion. He was crouching down beside the water, filling up a container. He might be able to buy food for them. She would pay him back.
A yawn shook through her. She’d barely slept since she’d signed out of the military camp two days ago. Could she trust this ‘human’ enough to sleep beside him? If she wanted to be one hundred percent safe, she’d have to drop her shields a little so that she’d be alert, and that might cause a whole other set of problems. Pavlovans tended to react in two ways to a Nevek mind probe—either they loved the sensation or hated it. Neither reaction was comfortable to the average citizen, so the Nevek people had learned to turn inward, to build their shields, and to keep everyone out.
A whoop made her turn back to the river. The human had stripped off his clothes and jumped in. She couldn’t help but smile at his exuberance and the faint hint of telepathic joy emanating from him. He wasn’t from Pavlovan. Was it possible that his apparent indifference to her abilities meant he wouldn’t notice if she kept a telepathic watch over him all night?
“You coming in?” He yelled at her. “It’s great in here.”
She shook her head and sorted out her rations. She hoped he had his own food. He looked like he’d eat a lot.
She finished setting up camp and sat down to watch one of the two suns setting behind the Quoxor Mountains. Her companion emerged from the water and walked toward her with the easy gait of a predator. He was completely naked and she couldn’t help noticing he was lean, muscled, and extremely well-hung.
She quickly averted her gaze and fiddled with her water heater. She was actually blushing, but with her skin color it was hard to notice. He slicked a hand through his short hair and shook himself like a canis.
“That was really refreshing.” He turned his back on her to rummage in his pack, giving her a nice view of his world-class ass. Normally she didn’t allow herself to check out males because a hint of interest from someone from Neveks usually sent most Pavlovans into a hysterical frenzy. Maybe because Jay was human, he wouldn’t respond that way or even notice she was looking.
He climbed back into his pants and T-shirt and sat opposite her, using his towel to finish drying off his hair. His pale blue eyes were an unusual color and unheard of for someone from her tribe. She’d watched a vidmovie at the base once about shapeshifters on Earth who transformed into wolves, and his eyes reminded her of that animal—highly intelligent and a true predator. She was right to be wary of him.
He grinned at her. “Do you want something to eat?”
She indicated her rations. “I’m good, thanks.” Good manners made her ask, “Do you have food?”
“Yeah. All I need is some water to heat up this crap.” He poked the bag and pulled a face. “It’s not great, but at least it has the required nutritional elements.”
“I have a heater.”
“Awesome.” He checked his water bottle. “This looks good now. You heat yours up first. I can get more water if we need it.”
They ate together in companionable silence, rinsed off their utensils, and settled in for the night. Rain’s thoughts flew to what she would find when she was finally home. When the request from her mother had come through, and permission had been granted for her visit, she hadn’t believed it was true. No one was allowed back into Neveks after being banished. The explanation that somehow her outstanding military service had made the application successful didn’t sound right to her. The Queen Goddess must have approved her return.
That alone gave her pause, because the Queen had more reason to keep her away than anyone. Maybe the visit might be allowed, and her death would be the price paid for it. Rain let out her breath and squeezed her eyes tightly shut. Maybe death would be worth it just to see her mother again.
She would not think about that. She would enjoy the journey with her strange offworld companion and worry about things beyond her control when she finally got there.