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  “Omigoddess, Sylvan, you brought a female you’re not even bonded with to stay in our domicile? I can’t believe Mamam and Patro allowed it!”

  “Never mind,” Sylvan’s aunt said firmly when he opened his mouth to answer. “Sylvan needed a place to stay and no matter what his other connections, we are his family.” She looked at Sophie. “Can you walk now, my dear?”

  “I think so.” Sophie looked up at Sylvan. “You can put me down now. I think I’m okay.”

  “All right.” But he held her a moment longer, as though he was reluctant to let her go. Then with a sigh, he placed her carefully on her feet.

  Sophie tottered for a moment and then regained her balance. The dizziness she’d felt earlier seemed to have passed completely and she felt completely herself again. Better than herself, in fact—she felt reinvigorated. Must be Sylvan’s blood. She opened her mouth to ask about it…and shut it again when she remembered how his aunt and uncle had disapproved of his “gift of blood.”

  Nadiah had been watching her as she stood and now she touched Sophie’s arm. “You’re all right then? I thought maybe Sylvan had to carry you because your off-worlder legs didn’t work right.”

  Sophie was surprised into laughing. “No, I was just dizzy. I had a bad reaction to the cold on the, uh, surface.”

  The bright blue eyes widened. “You did? But it’s spring time—it’s barely cold at all any more.”

  “Well, it felt incredibly cold to me,” Sophie told her.

  “Sophia comes from a place which is so hot you can go down and bathe in the sea any time of year,” Sylvan explained. “And they have vents in their domiciles that blow chilly air to keep them cool day and night.”

  “You blow cold air into your dwelling?” Nadiah didn’t look like she believed it.

  Sophie nodded. “It gets so hot in summer you can’t live without the AC—uh, air conditioner.”

  “Which is why they wear lighter clothing than we’re used to.” Sylvan gave his aunt a meaningful look. “Out of necessity.”

  “Well what’s necessary here is to be decent. Especially if you’re going to accompany us to the Snowdrop Festival tonight,” his aunt said briskly. She nodded at her daughter. “Nadiah, take Sophia to her room. See that she’s matched with the right tharp and do something with her hair. We only have a few hours to prepare.”

  Nadiah clapped her hands. “Oh goody—a zan-daro! My favorite!”

  Sophie looked at Sylvan for help. “Zan-daro?”

  He frowned. “I’m trying to think how to translate but I don’t know the words in your language. It means a complete redo of your personal style.”

  “Oh, a make-over.” Sophie smiled—it seemed that teenaged girls weren’t that different wherever you went. “Of course,” she told Nadiah. “That sounds like fun.”

  “Great! Come on!” Grabbing her by the hand, Nadiah pulled her into the domicile. Sophie barely had a chance to throw a quick backward glance at Sylvan, who was watching them with a bemused look on his face, before she was dragged around a corner and into the alien house.

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  “Watch out for the heat-stream,” Nadiah instructed, nodding at a narrow channel of steaming, pale purple water that flowed down the length of the room. It was only about six inches across but Sophie could see how getting her foot stuck in it might result in another twisted ankle. She was careful to keep to one side of it as Nadiah pulled her through the living area of the house and down a long stone hallway. Kind of romantic—like living in a castle, she thought as their footsteps echoed behind them.

  “This is your room.” Nadiah threw open a door carelessly—or as carelessly as she could, considering it appeared to be made of solid stone. But as heavy as it was, she didn’t appear to have any problem moving it. Either the Primes were incredibly strong or she was really into fitness. Given the fact that they all seemed to be taller and built on a larger scale than humans, maybe the door just didn’t seem that heavy to her.

  Sophie started to go into the room but Nadiah pulled her further down the hall. “This is my room,” she said as they came to another stone door. “Luckily it’s on the other end of the domicile from Mamam’s. Still, it’s better to be safe,” she added, nodding at a flat metal plate attached to the door. Pressing her palm to it for a moment, she muttered something too low for Sophie to make out. When she took her hand away it briefly glowed bright pink and then the door swung silently open.

  “Wow, that’s some combination lock you have there,” Sophie murmured.

  Nadiah grinned. “Sorry about the security. But Mamam would have a fit if she saw half the things I have in here.” She looked at Sophie anxiously. “I can trust you not to tell, can’t I? I mean, you’re with Sylvan so you must not be a Purist.”

  “A what?”

  “Someone who’s against the trade. You know—with the Kindred?”

  “My sister was just called as a Kindred bride,” Sophie assured her. “So I have no problem with it.”

  Nadiah looked relieved. “Oh good. Well come in then, and we’ll get you ready for the feast.”

  Sophie came into the somewhat cluttered room and looked around with interest. In the middle was a low, perfectly square sleeping platform that had long round pillows on all sides. It was strewn with furs of all different colors. More fur clothing and various trinkets that looked like they might be jewelry were spilling out of drawers built into the rock walls and there was a full length 3-D viewer in one corner with a blinking red time display at the top. Most interesting, to Sophie anyway, were the holographic posters taped to the walls. They were of various large, muscular men, all stripped to the waist and smiling seductively. When she moved a certain way, some of them seemed to wink.

  “Kindred posters,” she said in surprise. “Twin Kindred…Beast Kindred…and you have three Blood Kindred.”

  Nadiah blushed. “Well you can’t blame me for having a preference! Besides, the Blood Kindred are so sexy.” Before Sophie could answer she moved a pile of clothes off the bed and motioned for her to sit down. “Make yourself comfortable.”

  “Uh…do you mind if I take off my coat?” Sophie asked hesitantly. She didn’t want to corrupt an innocent young mind—although she was beginning to wonder how innocent Nadiah was—but she was getting really overheated and was slightly desperate to get rid of the heavy vranna skin coat.

  “Go ahead and take it off—we’re all girls here.” Nadiah smiled warmly.

  “Thanks.” Sophie slipped off the thick fur with a sigh of relief, revealing the thin sundress she’d put on what seemed like a million years ago.

  Nadiah was instantly interested by the thin cotton material. “Ooo, what kind of tharp is that? Does it keep you cool instead of warm?”

  Sophie had no idea what a tharp was but she tried to answer anyway. “It’s called a sundress and yes, I guess you could say it keeps you cool. It’s better than wearing something hot and heavy, anyway. Not that I don’t like Sylvan’s coat but—”

  “Oh, is that Sylvan’s?” Nadiah’s eyes sparkled. “Is it from the vranna he killed for his manhood hunt?”

  “Uh, as a matter of fact, it is.”

  “And he let you wear it.” Nadiah stroked the thick, green-blue fur softly. “His manhood cloak. That’s so romantic.”

  “It was the only thing he had,” Sophie said, thinking that her new young friend was getting the wrong idea. “I mean, I would have frozen to death otherwise. In fact, I almost did, even with the coat on. Sylvan had to warm me up with his—uh, he had to warm me up,” she ended lamely.

  “He did? How?” Nadiah sat down beside her, blue eyes wide.

  “Oh, uh, he…he rubbed my hands and feet.” Sophie hoped she wasn’t saying anything that might give Nadiah the wrong idea—or the right idea for that matter, since Sylvan’s uncle and aunt seemed to be so scandalized by the fact that he’d given her some of his blood.

  “Oh.” Nadiah looked disappointed. “Well, that’s nice. Look, we’d bet