Pluma Creo, still mute since he was the individual acting while we played our game in the living room, dropped his arms. His shimmering eyes rolled grandly. He sighed heavily but, by the twitch of his plump lips, he appeared to find my outburst humorous.
“Oh.” I huffed and crossed my arms, sitting back further on the couch. “He said it. I thought maybe you had them here.” I rolled my own eyes. “This is an ass-backward planet.”
“So you’ve said.” Pluma Moir chuckled softly. He glanced at the halo-clicker. “You three had better hurry up. You only have thirty seconds left before it’s Jax’s and my turn.”
I glared at him, but quickly sat forward when Pluma Creo started flapping his arms once more and turned slowly in a circle. Mutely, he eyed the ground below him, like a flying… “Predator!” I thumped Stiller’s arm. “It’s some kind of bird of prey.” I had no clue what type of animals they had here, but that was definitely a bird he was imitating.
“Hush,” Stiller mumbled, his eyes avid on Plume Creo. “I know that. I already guessed dragon.”
“And what a fine guess that was.” I snorted, but fell silent when Pluma Creo fell to the ground…and started crawling like some sort of insect. His glowing eyes scoured the each of us, and then he lunged right at me.
I shrieked, throwing my hands up in front of my face just as he wrapped his arms and legs around me, holding me tight against the couch in the silence. When no further attack happened, I slowly pulled my hands down, enough to peek above my fingers at Stiller. “You better know what type of damn animal–”
“Lavano!” Stiller slapped his leg in victory, cutting me off. A huge grin etched his handsome features. “That’s definitely a Lavano.”
The halo-clicker sounded an alarm, announcing our turn was over.
Pluma Creo squeezed me in his arms, then quickly jumped up. He was grinning from ear-to-ear. “Yes.” He walked to the halo-screen, flicked his finger so the screen rotated to our line of vision. The word ‘Lavano’ was clearly visible. He smirked at Pluma Moir. “Three points for us. Two for you.”
Pluma Moir actually scrunched his nose in annoyance, a scowl gracing his distinguished features. “You have two other people on your team. I only have one, and he’s not from Triaz.”
Readjusting my clothes – my oversized borrowed clothes – I asked, “What’s a Lavano?”
Pluma Creo ran a quick scan on the screen, and produced a picture.
I could only stare. It was Charlie. “You…um…acted like a Lavano was a bad creature.”
Pluma Moir stood from his chair, getting ready to take his turn. “They are. They’re nasty beings that hide in the depths of the underground, but take flight occasionally. Their wings hide under a tough scaling that makes it near impossible to clip the wings. But, not only that, the males have a horrid habit of abducting our females.”
I didn’t really want to know; my palms were beginning to sweat. “Why?” But I had to ask.
“When the Lavano male is ready to breed with a Lavano female, he takes the weakened Mian woman as a present. The female Lavano uses the Mian body as a hatchling cocoon for her offspring.” He paused thoughtfully. “Of course, that happens after the mother kills the Mian, guts her, and feeds on her organs. Once the offspring hatch, they eat the remaining bones of the Mian as their first meal.”
The blood drained from my face, leaving me lightheaded. “That’s…disturbing.” This unwanted revelation would make visiting Charlie’s lair again problematic. It just goes to show that I would never know who, or what, to trust on this planet. I waved a hand when all the men in the room eyed me like I was going to puke – which I was precariously close to doing. “Keep playing. I’m fine.”
Stiller grumbled quietly, “You’re a terrible liar.”
I shuddered, my mind still reeling over a Lavano’s reproduction processes, and then motioned again with my hand. “Perhaps I am, but it’s much better playing Charades than thinking about a revolting creature like that.” And what could have happened to me.
Pluma Moir watched my hooded gaze a moment longer, but then he nodded. “True enough.” He set the halo-clicker for the countdown. “This is much better than that.”
Not to mention, I was feeling a hell of a lot better now that I wore the Solo over my Cold Mark. It had only been on for three hours, but it was working wonders. All the pain I had felt was gone. My moods swings from the pain had diminished. I felt like me again. It was a damn miracle of inventions. The last thing that I wanted was to think about my ‘friend’ Charlie giving me as a ‘present’ to his lady-bug-friend. That was bone-crunching gross.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
My eyes flew open, instantly alert at the new, lively noise. I surveyed the parlor where I had fallen asleep while sitting on the couch and watching a flicker show. Jax’s head was resting on my lap, while his feet rested on Stiller’s thighs. Stiller had slumped slightly, so his head of rumpled hair was resting on my shoulder. Both were completely out, snoring softly in the subdued light.
I stayed quiet when both Plumas streamed from the kitchen into the parlor. They moved on silent feet until they stopped in front of the halo-screen. Someone was calling them.
Pluma Creo glanced over his shoulder and stared directly into my eyes. He knew I wasn’t asleep. “I need you to stay silent while we speak with your Vaq.” He raised a white brow when my expression went completely blank. “Can you do that, Ms. Valorn?”
I nodded once, my stomach rolling with unease. I still whispered, “I don’t want to go back to them.” Please don’t make me.
His crystal blue, gleaming eyes narrowed. “What did they do to you?”
I snapped my mouth shut. They wouldn’t understand. They would think me childish.
Pluma Moir ground his teeth together, but when he spoke it was gentle. “We’ll need to know eventually, Ms. Valorn. You will have to tell us.” He shook his white, long hair back behind his shoulders, showing the tops of his pointed ears in sharp relief. “Earlier, Killeg didn’t lie. Mian cherish females. The fact you are Human doesn’t change this - as long as you live on our planet. We will protect you, rather than negotiate, if we feel it’s warranted.”
That was the problem. My pain was a matter of the heart, not a physical ailment from my Vaq. It definitely wouldn’t warrant their protection; shelter that could possibly start even more conflict for the east and the west. I sighed heavily when the halo-screen buzzed again. “It’s not anything to start a war over.”