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  “No, it’s fine.” Becca knelt and rubbed one of the leaves between her fingers. She remembered seeing something like them lining the hammock bed young Truth had slept in when Vashtar had showed them his worst memory. “These are the leaves of the tree we’re in right now?” she asked.

  “The same.” He gestured at the blankets. “The bed coverings were a gift from my ama when I first moved to my own lodge. They are actually meant as a gesture of hospitality for only the very young or the very old but since Truth said you were unused to our weather…”

  “Yes, thank you. They’re lovely.” Becca remembered the ragged bit of cloth the young Truth had been wrapped in and shivered. It would have been awful to climb into that nest of cold, waxy leaves without any blankets at all to keep warm with.

  Thinking of that, made her remember Garron’s words about how Truth had taken blows meant for him. She felt her heart swell when she thought of Truth protecting his younger siblings. No wonder the dark twin had had so much bitterness and pain in his heart! No wonder it had taken him so long to come around to the idea of accepting love from Far and herself!

  But he’s accepted it now, whispered a little voice in her head. The question is, what are you going to do about it? Can you accept it too?

  Again something Garron had said came back to her. “When you have the chance to be with someone you love you must take it quickly, before it can be snatched away.”

  Should she take the chance that she had been offered with Truth and Far? That was the question that nagged at her after she told Garron good night and snuggled down between the two thick blankets.

  Despite her weariness, it took her a long time to fall asleep and when she finally did, her dreams were strange and troubling. She seemed to see a long, strange beast made of scales and feathers. It whipped through the air as sinuous as a snake and had sharp talons and a spiked tail. It’s huge, leonine head had a gaping maw of knife-like teeth and a twisting red tongue. But most disturbing of all were its eyes. When it turned to look at her they were a vivid turquoise blue.

  Sky eyes, Becca thought and woke up with a little cry of confusion and fear.

  “Shh, it’s all right, Rebecca,” someone murmured.

  “Did you have a bad dream, mi’now?” another deep voice asked.

  “Far? Truth?” She looked at them sleepily and yawned. “So glad…you’re back. Yes, really weird dreams.”

  “Forget them and go back to sleep. You’re safe now.”

  The two of them slid into bed beside her—Far on her left and Truth on her right. Becca snuggled between them and, finally feeling safe, allowed herself to drift back into a dreamless sleep.

  Chapter Thirty-six

  “We dug all day. It’s nowhere to be found.” Truth ran a hand through his hair in obvious frustration. It had been a long, frustrating day of digging in vain out in the frigid cold—made possible only by the soil warming equipment Garron had loaned them, since the top layer of soil around the elder tree they were digging under was frozen solid. But no matter how long or how deep they delved, no ancient cache from the long dead Orthanxian civilization had appeared.

  “Are you positive the coordinates you have are correct?” Garron ladled out a steaming bowl of what looked like navy blue chili and handed it to his older brother along with a hunk of coarse grained purple-gray bread. Truth had finally agreed to quit when it got dark and now they were all sitting around the low table in front of the fire eating dinner—or evening fare as the Rai’ku called it.

  “As certain as we can be,” Far said. He dug the curved end of some kind of bone—which was apparently the Rai’ku version of a spoon—into his own bowl of chili and took a big bite. “Mmm, delicious.”

  “Vashtar did say the box might have shifted locations,” Becca pointed out, accepting her own bowl of blue chili from their host. “It has been two thousand years, give or take, since it was buried.”

  “I keep feeling that we are close—very close,” Truth said. “But we’re missing it somehow.”

  “I felt the same thing, Brother,” Far said. “That the cache is somehow eluding us.”

  “I felt that too,” Becca said. “And it’s so frustrating. I can’t help feeling like we’re doing something wrong. It’s like when we were in the Mindscape—or thought we were, anyway—and we were trying to project something to eat and we got cardboard chum pizza and wormy cupcakes.” She sighed.

  “Those don’t sound like very appetizing dishes,” Garron remarked dryly, handing her a piece of bread.

  “Not nearly as good as your cooking.” Becca smiled at him and took a big bite of her purple-gray bread. It reminded her of a cross between cornbread and blueberry cobbler and was by far the best thing she’d had to eat so far on Pax.

  “This is some of the best mebbix stew I’ve ever had,” Truth said, taking another bite. “My compliments, Garron.”

  Their host nodded. “I’m glad you like it. But to get back to your problem, I’m afraid you’re going to have to find whatever it is you’re looking for soon. There has been some…unrest about your digging. The few Kindred who live here are not concerned but some of the Rai’ku are saying that you’re molesting the elder trees.”

  “What? Absolutely not,” Truth declared. “We’ve been very careful to not so much as scratch the bark of the elder tree we’re digging under.”

  “It’s not really the digging they’re upset about, Truth,” Garron said in a low voice. “I’m sure you know that.”

  “Yes, I know.” The dark twin sighed and put down his bowl. “It’s the perversion going on right before them. How is Ama taking it?”

  Garron coughed. “She’s turned her back on you publicly as well as privately now. I’m sorry, Truth, but you can’t very well be surprised about it.”

  “I’m not,” Truth said stoically. “I expected nothing less.” He shook his head. “We’ll just have to try again tomorrow. It must be there somewhere! I know the tree we’re digging under is the one Vashtar meant for us to look at—the coordinates he gave were very exact.”

  “I hope you find it,” Garron said. “I’ll host you for as long as you stay. The laws of hospitality and privacy should protect you as long as you’re under my roof—I hope anyway. But I can’t promise what might happen after you leave my lodge.”

  “We’ll just have to be careful,” Far said grimly. “And fast. We’ll find it tomorrow—we have to.”

  “I hope so,” Becca said anxiously. “I just want to be away from here. No offense, Garron.”

  “None taken,” their host said. “I have often felt the same way myself.”

  “Why not come with us to the Mother Ship?” Truth asked. “I’m certain you’d be welcome. Well—after we cleanse the ship of unwanted demons and secure the Unmated Males area, anyway.”

  Garron shook his head. “Like it or not, my life is here. But thank you for your generous offer.”

  “You might rethink it at some time in the future,” Far said. “There are many Earth females with minds ready to align with those who have Kindred blood.”

  “I thank you but…” Garron cleared his throat. “I’m sure Truth told you something of my past. I don’t…don’t wish to align with anyone.”

  “I understand,” the light twin said quietly. “Just know that the offer is still open if you ever change your mind.”

  “Thank you.” Garron nodded. “Would anyone else like more mebbix stew?”

  “I would love some but I can’t eat another bite.” Becca smiled at him. “Thank you anyway—it was delicious.”

  Truth sighed. “It’s time we were getting to bed anyway. If there really is unrest about the digging, best we get up as early as possible to start again.”

  “A good thought, Brother,” Far said. “If we can find the cache and retrieve the pendant before most people are up, we’ll be on our way back to our shuttle before anyone can get too outraged.”

  “Yes, that’s…a really good idea.” Becca tried to manufacture a yawn