Human Bait

Chapter 39: Look At Me

The next thirty seconds passed in a series of false starts. Zhina opened her mouth with a wet cluck — snapped it shut. Ivogg flipped out a palm — buried it in his colorful apron. I sucked a breath through my teeth — blew it out.

Rekkan recovered first. "Well, fuck. You're not dead."

Serigg's chuckle rattled through the open hall. "Nice to see you again too, Rekkan."

Zhina wheeled toward Rekkan's pale-faced uncle. "Mekkar, you told us you watched her die."

Ivogg stepped between them with a pained breath of laughter. "Hold on there, Zhina. Mekkar obviously thought she was already dead when he left, and he's just as shocked as the rest of us right now." The strain made his voice even more nasal than usual. "Right, Mekkar?"

Mekkar's throat convulsed. "Well, I watched the Implanted surround her, but then I accidentally, uh... didn't see the rest."

"You ran away?" Zhina's fists dug into her wide hips, and her nostrils flared. "All this time, whenever anyone casted doubt on you, I defended you. 'He wouldn't abandon her like that,' I told them. 'He loved her.'"

"I did love her." He rotated the silver cuff over his wrist and licked his lips. "I mean, I —"

His vocal cords collapsed, but I read the last part on his lips.

I do.

Serigg shook her head and snorted, shuffling loose flaps of skin. "When Mekkar left, I fought my way through the hoard and took cover in a shed." Her words blurred as though speaking with a mouthful of food. "I almost bled to death alone in that shed, but once the Implanted scattered, Mekkar returned. He bandaged my wounds, treated my fever, helped me regain my strength. I could almost have forgiven him for running, but then..."

"Then he left?" said Zhina, voice dripping derision.

"No." Serigg's eyes pierced Mekkar, who stared at his shoes. "Then I left. I told him to move on with his life and pretend I had died."

Ivogg tugged at his checkered orange tie, pulling it looser. "But why?"

"Because of the disgust in his eyes. We vowed to love each other until our souls rejoined Ether, but the moment the physical attraction ceased, so did our vows."

"None of that's true," Mekkar whispered to his feet.

"Oh, really? Then look at me."

His gaze lifted in several spasmodic movements. When his eyes reached her face, his head dipped once more.

Serigg rolled her eyes, the right eye glossy brown like a walnut shell and the left curtained by a sagging eyelid. "Well, there it is. True love."

I side-glanced Rekkan, who still refused to look at me, and felt a sting of empathy. I had no reason to believe the physical attraction between us had dissipated, but that knowledge did not make his evasion any easier.

Ivogg smacked his lips. "Serigg, I'm afraid I don't understand. You pretended to be dead for years, and now you show up like nothing happened? What changed?"

"Are you disappointed, Ivogg?" Sweet, sticky honey coated her voice. "Would you prefer I stayed dead?"

Ivogg blinked, eyes wide and luminescent behind the glint of his glasses. "I — Serigg, of course not! We are delighted to have you here." The words tumbled from his mouth. "Are you staying? We'd love for you to stay. In fact, we were all just talking about how much we..."

He trailed off when he realized Serigg was not even looking at him. Her eyes fixed past his shoulder. On me.

"You must be Zafaru," she breathed. "You look just like Lazora. What do you think of the Refuge?"