“When will you be descending into
“I dunno.” He masked his expression, shook his head. “Bad luck stalks us.”
Glyssa snorted. “Human pranks.”
He shrugged and picked up pace. The camp came in sight and she thought of pulling away but some animal roared in the forest. She flinched and matched Sanicle’s stride. No, she didn’t want to be alone outside the encampment, even if it was within view. She’d take this lovely adventure in small steps.
“What’s that?” Her voice sounded curious, not nervous, good!
Sanicle tilted his head. “Wild bissert porcine, I’d imagine.” He licked his lips. “Good eating. The smarter ones have already left the area. I’ll let Del D’Elecampane and some of the other folks who like to hunt know.”
“Ah.”
“The bissert is smaller than the average farm porcine.” Sanicle cocked a brow at her. “Only dangerous if you’re alone and citified.”
Glyssa couldn’t relax with his teasing, mostly because she didn’t like his touch, but didn’t want to offend him right here and now. She tried to say lightly, “You didn’t see my follow-up spell.” Damn, she sounded prissy.
“I’m sure you had one.” His smile said otherwise. She didn’t disabuse him of that notion, and finally they reached the camp.
They walked through the spellshield and into tent town. The first person they saw was Funa Twinevine glaring at them.
Seventeen
Zem clicked his beak.
“Greetyou, Zem. Greetyou, Jace. Andic, thank you for your company back,” she said.
Sanicle bowed and made to kiss her hand. She drew it away before he could do so and he straightened with a flushed face. His mouth turned petulant.
She bobbed him a curtsey and his eyes widened as if not many women had given him one. A self-satisfied expression formed on his face.
“We’re late to the first breakfast sitting. The waffles are probably all gone,” Funa said curtly. She turned on her heel and walked with rolling hips toward the mess tent. Sanicle’s gaze went straight to her backside and he followed, caught up with her and slid an arm around her waist.
Glyssa squatted and let Lepid lick her cheek, rubbing him with both hands. Now his breath smelled more like human food. “Did you eat, then?” she asked.
“That’s right,” he said.
Clearing her throat—how good he looked, even scowling—she said, “Sanicle said he heard bissert porcine in the forest. Will you go hunt it?”
Jace stroked Zem, scratched him on the neck. “No. I don’t need to.” He paused. “Though I could if my belly were empty. You look nice.”
She simply closed her eyes when her face and neck went fiery, inhaled a breath and fought the embarrassment. When she opened her lashes, Jace still studied her. She rose. “Sanicle frightened me. All I could think of was a whirlwind dress spell.”
One side of his mouth quirked. “Whirlwind dress spell.” Then his brows came down. “That strips you, doesn’t it? Cleans you and your clothes. The guy saw you naked.”
Glyssa stood stoically. “Yes.” She shrugged. “But if we’d been in a Druida City bathhouse—”
“Personal privacy is more prized here in camp,” Jace said. “Because we have less of it.” Then his eyes unfocused and his smile returned. “Though a lot of folk don’t mind nudity much.”
Glyssa thought he meant women. She shrugged.
“You seemed friendly enough with Sanicle,” Jace pressed.
“I’m not accustomed to being outside in uninhabited territory alone,” she said. Her gaze met his, though she didn’t tell him how much she’d wanted to see the natural beauties outside the camp with him.
The bell rang for the second seating of breakfast. “I’m hungry,” Glyssa said, surprised to find it was true. “I’ll see you later.”
Jace nodded. “Yes. Time to have Zem checked out.” He walked away and she refused to follow him with her gaze. Instead she strode to her own tent.
Eating like a bird . . . yes, they ate all the time, didn’t they?
“I think if her own FoxFam is hunting, you should be allowed, too,” Glyssa said.
Lepid’s tail drooped.
So Glyssa went past her pavilion and informed all three of the Elecampanes of Sanicle’s theory and requested Lepid be allowed on the hunt. Raz said he’d watch out for her fox, and Lepid stayed near the man as the Family discussed the matter.
When she got to her tent, she collapsed in the chair, sinking into the too-soft cushion, began to undo her tight braids, and used her fingers to comb out her hair.
Was she really so naive that scaring her had been irresistible, like Sanicle said? Probably. And she
The incident had already soured her morning, and the feelings that had welled inside her that moment on the rise fleetly sped from the grasp of her mind. She only knew there’d been a peace and a wonder . . . and . . . and maybe a love for the wilderness that called to something inside her that had never been touched before.
Or that she’d only found in Jace’s arms, years ago.
She liked this place and soon every day would bring a new discovery.
But now relations with five people, including her own self, were smudged. Sanicle thought she was a snob because she’d been stiff with him after his joke. The woman he slept with, Funa Twinevine, saw her as a rival. Lepid was unhappy because Sanicle had interrupted his time together with Glyssa, showed her more of the wilderness. Though that was not Glyssa’s fault.
Jace . . . had Jace’s feelings been hurt when he saw her hand on Sanicle’s arm, or only Jace’s pride?
The Healer Symphyta confirmed that Zem needed more weight, and sent Healing through him, but Jace knew it wasn’t enough.
And as he walked back down the main thoroughfare, and approached Glyssa’s tent, he knew what he had to do. The solution to their problem had teased the back of his mind, but he hadn’t wanted to admit it. Hadn’t wanted to think he’d have to ask a favor from the woman whose help had made him angry before.
But if anyone in camp had multiple no-time storage units, food or otherwise, it would be Glyssa Licorice who’d been outfitted by GreatLord Laev T’Hawthorn, with no expense spared.
A no-time storage unit for Zem’s recently dead, not cold, maybe blood-yet-pulsing prey, would be a good answer for everything. Especially if Zem could access the unit himself.
He angled toward Glyssa’s tent.
“Yes. I think she can help us.”
