Stolen by the Zandian (Zandian Brides 7)

He seems as surprised as I, but a slow smile spreads across his face. “I like the sound of that on your pretty lips,” he murmurs, leaning in closer.

For a split second, I think he’s going to kiss me—and I lean in, dying for the contact, but the sound of a cracking branch has us both whirling.

“Just a falling rock.” Khrys points as some boulders loosened by the storm rattle down the hillside into a swatch of broken branches.

His shoulders straighten, and he looks focused. “Let’s go.”

To my utter joy, we find the tan bags untouched, right where we dropped them. There are no antlex around now, and the unpicked flowers are shredded to a pulp. The once-full field is now a vast marshy wasteland of broken stems and crushed petals, and all of the pollen has been washed away.

“Thank stars these are here.” I grab the two sacks I filled as Khrys takes his own. The waterproofing seems to have held, and that makes me almost gleeful with relief.

There’s a strange squeak beneath my boot. I scream and jump. “What is it?”

I step backward, ready to attack, heart racing, but it’s only a small creature. About the length of my forearm, it’s got blueish fur and large golden eyes. It stares up at me from the muck and moves its littles paws upward as if begging for food. Squeak.

“Khrys? What is this?” I’m entranced and on guard at the same time. “It’s so… cute.”

He bends down. “I’ll be sword-sliced. It’s a whimmit.” he laughs. “Master Seke’s information didn’t say those lived here.”

“Is it toxic?” I ask although from his demeanor, I can guess that it’s not.

“Not to Zandians or humans. They’re a kind of rodent. Not the smartest. Look.” He reaches down and touches the thing on its back. “They have no sense of danger.”

It immediately arches upward into his hand and makes a loud rumbling noise. “Stupid. I could kill it or eat it at once.”

He taps it a little harder. It growls at him as if irritated and stops rumbling.

“But you barely eat.” I reach down, too. It sniffs my hand then pushes its nose into my fingers. It rumbles again, louder, but it seems to be a happy sound. “It’s adorable.” The creature pushes closer and puts its paws on my leg.

Khrys sounds disgusted. “They’re a nuisance when we’re on missions. I can’t stand them. Always getting in the way.” He bends down to the whippet. “Shoo! Get out of here.” He gives it a little push.

The creature ignores him. It continues to paw my leg.

“You don’t have them on your planet?”

He shakes his head. “Thank veck, no.”

A strange thought occurs to me. “Can we keep it?” I feel a sudden surge of affection for this little beast, who—out of nowhere, and for no special reason—is being, in its own way, kind.

“No.” His voice is short and holds no room for debate. “Absolutely not. The craft isn’t fitted for wildlife. And we don’t need this—thing—back on Zandia.”

I shriek out a giggle as it licks my hand with a bright purple tongue. “It likes me.”

“It would like a bundle of rocks.” Khrys shakes his head. “Come, Kailani. We need to focus.” He points. “The craft is back that way. Let’s go.”

“Okay, I’m—”

/> A sick sense of deja vu fills me as the zing of an arrow fills my ears.

“Veck, the locals are back!” Khrys curses. “They waited for us to find the bags. It’s an ambush.”

“They’re approaching from the north.” I assess the area, senses on high alert. My muscles tense in preparation for a fight. I listen and learn the sounds of their feet. My vision clears, and I focus. “At their pace, we have thirty seconds. They’ve not surrounded us yet. We can run for it before they get close enough to aim properly.”

“You can’t make it to the craft fast enough.” His voice is tense. “It’s past your endurance distance. I’ll hold them off while you get a head start, then I’ll catch up.”

“We should fight together.” The idea of running on my own fills me with panic.

“No.” He snaps it. “On my command, you take your sacks and run to the craft.”