As they continued toward the water station, Kai’s mind was swirling with both apprehension and joy at the thought Aodh had claimed her to his people.Even though she wasn’t sure how long she and Morlie would be staying, it was good to know she wasn’t just a warm body in Aodh’s bed.
Her thoughts ran to Ninki, and she wondered if the other woman had heard that Aodh claimed her and what she thought about it.Like Aodh, she hadn’t seen Ninki in the large hall, either.A part of her mind taunted her with images of the two being together.Fidelity wasn’t something preached about inside the wall.Not when the government paid stipends for babies.People got together with whomever they could to try and conceive.
She shoved away the wayward thought of Aodh caressing and kissing Ninki like others in the room.“So, is your boss here?”
“No.Before I left the office, Mckenna went out on his rounds, and then he was headed to the practice arena.”
Kai wanted to ask more questions, but she didn’t wish to give Yeongi the impression she missed his boss or needed to know his whereabouts every moment.She was fine as long as Aodh wasn’t standing over her and harassing her with the nonsense of staying in his territory.Or worse, setting his intense opal gaze on her and causing her mind to short circuit and her body to ache with need so dire all she wanted was for him to touch her, kiss, and caress her in ways that made her feel so good.
“Here’s the water.”Yeongi lifted a big pitcher.
So preoccupied with thoughts of the man, who she wasn’t trying to be distracted by, Kai didn’t realize they had arrived at the station.Her cheeks heated with embarrassment.She hoped they had not been standing there for a while.
“Thank you,” she mumbled.Kai was glad Yeongi had come along because she wasn’t sure she would have been able to manage it.She grabbed two glasses and let him fill them.Kai wondered how children could get refreshments if the containers were so heavy.That’s when she realized something she’d missed while staring at the couples engaging in sensuous acts: no youth younger than Eilidh and her group were present.
She figured most parents probably kept them at home in the evening if such lewd behavior happened in the hall.
“I think I can find my way back.”Kai turned toward the tables to return to her sister.
“I’m sure you can.However, I consider it an extension of my responsibility to the Mckenna to assist you where possible.”
His words reminded her of Tana’s vow.She could see it would be difficult getting Aodh’s people to comprehend she was more than capable of caring for herself and Morlie.“If you insist.”
Yeongi nodded and continued to walk with her.“If you don’t mind, I’d like to introduce you to Calida, my mate.I’m usually busy with my duties to the Mckenna, but she could be a friend for you.”
Kai smiled up at him as they walked back.“I think having a friend here would be helpful.”
Aodh’s interactions with her seemed genuine, but the man was so commanding and stubborn that having another’s perspective about things in the territory would be helpful.
Back at the table, she set one glass of water down and glanced toward the center of the floor where Morlie stood, moving to the music with her new friends.Her sister looked a little awkward as she danced.Morlie’s swaying hips and swinging arms weren’t as fluid as the others, but they didn’t have much time to dance beyond the wall.It was work, work, work...and tend to the sick.When they were younger, their mother occasionally borrowed a record player and albums from the archive room.After dinner, she would let them dance and sing before bed, but that was before their parents became ill.
Kai turned one of the vacant chairs around so she could face the dance area.She observed the radiant joy that lit her sister’s eyes and pulled a wide smile over her lips.This was how she had always wanted to see Morlie—alive and free.
If you leave here, can you promise her that life?
“Kai, this is Calida.”Yeongi returned with a tall, curvy woman with thick, wavy, brown tresses hanging to her waist.
Kai smiled at the pretty woman, glad to get out of her head.“It’s nice to meet you, Calida.”
“Do you mind if I join you?” Calida gestured toward the empty seat beside her.
“Please do.”Once Calida had turned a chair around and sat, with Yeongi following suit next to his mate, Kai asked, “Do you work with the Mckenna, too?”
“Oh, no.My position is in Com.I help with communications for the territory and across the Great Heaths.”
Kai frowned.Staring into the woman’s face, she repeated the foreign term.“Great Heaths?”
Calida offered her a kind smile.“Yes, the deep, vast, cavernous area between the continents.”
“Ah, the oceans, you mean.”Kai figured it was simply varied terminology.She’d been taught geography during her years in the Dispatch school.The different oceans looked huge and appeared breathtaking.Kai hoped to see at least one of them eventually.
“No.The oceans, as we all knew them, no longer exist.”
What?Kai could only stare at the woman.Her mind could not seem to comprehend what the other woman was describing.
Yeongi leaned forward to look past his mate to Kai.“It is hard to explain.One day, maybe you can come by the leadership building and see the maps.”
Kai nodded and picked up her glass of juice for a drink.Glancing back toward her happy, gyrating sister, she began to have doubts.If what the two people beside her stated was true, that the world had changed so drastically in twenty-five years, what was in store for her and Morlie beyond Aodh’s territory?Not only the possibility of other shifters or beasts but the land.How would they navigate something neither of them knew anything about?