Severed Read online

  “So it would seem.” Lucian had a broad brimmed hat on himself, woven of some thin, blue straw. It managed to hide his features fairly well, although his olive green coloring, out of place in an area where most of the males seemed to have blue skin tones, still stood out.

  “It looks like a happy place,” I said, looking around at all the stalls set up along the dusty main road. “I wonder why he moved so far away?”

  Lucian shifted. “It can be…difficult to stay in a place where everyone else you know is finding partners when you yourself cannot,” he said in a low voice. “It’s one of the reasons I take so many business trips myself—to get away.”

  “Maybe that’s it, then,” I murmured. I could see no other reason Drace would want to get away, even though Drace’s hometown of Renth was very different from Lucian’s.

  Though I hadn’t gotten much of a chance to explore the desert city of Y’brith when we’d been there, it had obviously been a teeming metropolis filled with skyscrapers and all the hustle and bustle of a major urban hub. Renth, sitting just on the edge of the wild K’drin jungle, couldn’t have been more different.

  It was small and quaint and everyone seemed to know everybody else. At least, they all seemed to be calling each other by name. I bet myself it was one of those places where everybody knows everybody else’s business and isn’t shy about sharing it. No wonder Drace had left Lucian and me on the edge of town with instructions to keep a low profile.

  It shouldn’t be that hard to just stay out of the way while Drace bought supplies, I told myself. At least it hadn’t been so far. As long as we stayed to the far edge of the market and kept our faces covered, no one bothered us. But Drace had been gone a long time now—much longer than we had thought he would be—and I was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

  I didn’t mind the heat or humidity of the jungle town, although Lucian had commented several times he felt like he was breathing underwater. I’m a Florida girl, after all—heat and humidity were nothing new to me. No, what was bothering me was the large amount of jalla berry juice I’d had with breakfast that morning before we locked up Lucian’s ship and headed for town.

  The juice was one of the Denarin foods I actually liked—a pale blue liquid about the consistency of orange juice but with a flavor like fresh nectarines and raspberries and some exotic spice I couldn’t name. It tasted amazing and when Lucian, whose turn it was at kitchen duty, had realized I liked it so much, he had simmed me a whole lot more of it on the spot.

  Back on Earth, I would have tried to check the nutritional information—the sugar in juice can rack up the calories fast. But here on Denaris, I was kind of playing fast and loose with my calorie count. So I drank every drop of the sweet and spicy blue juice, enjoying it immensely.

  I hadn’t regretted it a bit…until just now. Because now I was beginning to feel the very real and urgent need to pee.

  “Lucian,” I said, shifting from foot to foot on the dusty road. “How much longer do you think Drace is going to take?”

  “I don’t know.” He frowned. “My understanding is that they don’t use credit much in the jungle regions. They prefer a system of bartering—which can take some time.”

  “Great,” I muttered, shifting again. “Just great.”

  “Is something wrong?” He frowned at me in concern. “I can feel your discomfort. What is it, Rylee?”

  “I…um…” I sighed and pressed my thighs together. “That juice you made me was really good but I, uh, think I drank too much of it. I have to…I need to find a ladies room.”

  “A ‘ladies’ room?” He frowned, looking at me as though I was speaking a foreign language. “Why should you need to find a room exclusively for ladies?”

  “It’s just a nice way of saying I need a restroom. You know—a bathroom? A place to relieve myself?” I said impatiently when he still continued to look confused. “I’m trying to tell you I have to pee, Lucian—really badly.”

  “Oh!” He frowned. “Well, I’m not sure if the trees around here provide sufficient privacy.”

  “I don’t want to pee behind a tree!” I exclaimed.

  I wished we could just go back to the ship but the parking area was over a mile away—I would never make it in time. I would just have to find someplace in town to take care of the call of Nature. But where?

  “What about that shop there?” I asked, pointing to a quaint little store across the bustling, dusty street. “Do you think they’d have a restroom I could use?”

  Lucian frowned. “Possibly but I really don’t think it’s a good idea for us to interact with the natives here.”

  “Why, because you’re a Fang Clan guy?” I asked.

  “Exactly.” He looked grim. “We aren’t openly at war with the Claw Clan but we’re enemies just the same. Our second natures do not get along well at all.”

  “Second nature?” I thought I remembered Drace saying something about that earlier. Something about how he’d had to use his second nature in order to get Lucian out of the desert without being bitten by the goddess-insects himself? I wasn’t sure but something like that.

  “Yes—the forms we are able to take for defense if need be. Although those of my clan believe it is low and improper to do so. Anyway, I’m sure the people of Renth wouldn’t take it very kindly if they knew one of the Fang Clan was in their midst.”

  I wanted to know more about the whole “second nature” thing but I felt like my bladder was about to burst.

  “Well they don’t have to know you’re here,” I said tartly. “I’ll just go over myself.”

  “What? Alone?” Lucian looked worried and I felt a burst of anxiety coming from him. Ever since the little sex show we’d put on for Lord Mandrex’s benefit, I’d been catching little snatches of emotions from both of my guys. “Rylee, I don’t think that would be safe,” he objected.

  “Why not?” I demanded. “I’m a grown-ass woman—I can look after myself. I’ll slip in the shop, use the restroom, and be back before you know it. It’ll be fine.”

  Lucian still didn’t look very happy about it. “Are you certain you can’t…er, hold it until Drace returns? He could probably tell us the safest place—”

  “Sorry,” I interrupted him. “But I’m literally about to burst here. Look, don’t worry.” I put a hand on his arm and squeezed. “I’ll be fine.”

  Before he could protest any more, I hurried across the dusty street, headed for the little shop.

  The store was made of some kind of pale green wood that looked like it had been weathered by years of rain and wind. There were three steps leading up and a little porch on the front where several locals were chatting and playing what looked like a complicated game of alien checkers—or whatever board game they played on Denaris. Honestly, I didn’t take the time to look very hard—I had to go so bad by now my eyeballs were floating, as my friend Zoe would have said. I ignored their curious glances and stepped inside, sliding the pale green door open to enter.

  Inside, the tiny shop looked more than a little like an old fashioned General Store you might see on a Western…until you looked a little closer at the merchandise they were selling here. Along the wall there were black barrels filled with various things—a kind of purple grain…some things that looked like orange rocks floating in green liquid…a yellowish substance that looked a little like yogurt although I was sure it wasn’t. There were also rows and rows of wooden shelves filled with alien food products that would have fascinated me if I hadn’t needed to pee so badly.

  Lucian and Drace had explained that not everyone used a food-sim to make their meals—in fact, most people still cooked the old fashioned way. I could see the appeal of that and I promised myself I would come back and do a little browsing if Drace said it was safe. But right now I really needed to get to a bathroom.

  There was a long, wooden counter made of the same pale green wood as the outside of the store that ran along the front. Behind it was a small woman with pale, silvery gray skin and a