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“Come,” he said.
Another order.
It didn’t matter.
I followed.
Chapter 5
Bracken
“What is wrong with Clem?”
I glanced over at Kiar, who was using his large body as a bed for Clem and Sun. Sun slept peacefully, more or less tangled in Kiar’s scales. But Clem? My Clem was twitching, murmuring, thoroughly disturbed.
How many nights had he been acting like this now?
It seemed like nothing was as it used to be ever since we’d woken up in that cell. Clem used to sleep like a baby. All of us had been confident about our places in the world.
Kiar reached over Sun’s sleeping form, looking to me with hesitation, before stroking Clem’s head. I was curious as to why he was treating him so nicely, almost as if he were his mate. He used to dismiss Clem with a hiss at the slightest annoyance. And Clem had been happy to trot after me, his dearest “friend” regardless of what anyone said about him.
It was a nice change of pace, to see them getting along for once. A change that I somehow liked.
That in itself was odd… I used to be more possessive. I would lose my mind if anyone tried to touch my pet. The idea of someone else touching Clem still made my blood boil, but Kiar didn’t feel like someone else anymore. In a way, he wasn’t separate from me. I didn’t mind him being close to Clem or Sun.
I still wanted to be in charge of their pleasure though, there was no denying that part. At least Clem’s magic hadn’t changed everything for me.
Clem gasped, his body jerking in sleep without waking him and Kiar shook his head.
“Something is wrong,” he said lowly.
I swallowed, not saying a word because normally, I used my claws, strength and size to fix things, but I didn’t know what to do here.
“He is fine,” I said, gruffly. “It’s just a nightmare.”
Kiar gave me a curious look, perhaps wondering if Clem often had bad dreams terrorizing him at night. Then he nodded and swung his girthy tail in such a way that it pinned Clem down.
Clem struggled instinctively for only a moment and then sighed and sagged, soothed by the weight.
Good. At least Kiar knew what to do with bad dreams.
I turned away, determined to keep watch while the others slept. It was all I knew how to do.
Nothing so much as stirred through the night.
I was surprised by how quiet it was. We had escaped from prison after all. We were wanted dead–and had already been executed. Why were we not being tracked down by the current noc king to be removed. Or perhaps we were being followed and they were terrible at their jobs.
I snorted.
When Hadi ordered someone dead, I had made sure the job was done. These new noc royals were pathetic.
When the morning sun began to stain the sky a pale blue and the others began to stir, I was restless, eager to be of use.
I managed to keep my mouth shut until they were standing and stretching before I could hold it in no longer.
“Come,” I said to Kiar, who was still stretching out. “We need to find more food.”
“No,” Sun said. “Please. We ate enough yesterday.”
