Page 82 of Ruby
I take a deep breath and switch to Azoeul’s language to introduce them.
“Nice to meet you. Let’s get to our island,” Kira says
Although the woman’s nosiness rubs me the wrong way, she and Azoeul are bonding over their love of weapons not long after we leave the shore.
We swim, my exhaustion weighing me down, but Azoeul is just as adept at swimming as everything else and he stays with me to share his toneless encouragement.
Halfway to the island, I notice someone already bobbing in the surf ahead of us, long yellow hair writhing in the air. She bounces with the waves and starts firing off questions without breathing.
“Your coloring is so beautiful,” she says in the chirping voice of before, making me realize this must be Eli.
“Is that two different eyes that you got? Do they see better or worse? Are you getting wings or just feathers? Is that…”
I stare at her, my mind slow. She does not stop.
“Later, Eli,” Kira barks and Eli stills her mouth, though she keeps bobbing in the water like she is reciting more questions in her head.
Near the shore stands a large purple figure, broad and hunched like he’s trying to make himself smaller. He hovers at the edge of the water, stepping forward, then back, then forward again, clearly wanting to approach but unsure if he should.
Kira grins wickedly at him. “She needs to be isolated so she doesn’t take on your traits, but relax, big guy. You’ll get measurements soon enough.”
He nods, but the movement is stiff, mechanical, like he learned how from watching someone else do it.
I finally get what Kira means about what she’s “packing” and I feel dumb all over again. My mind isn’t working right after all of the insanity. I definitely don’t want tentacles. Or fur.
Fuck.
We hit the shallows and immediately get swarmed by creepy, many-legged creatures pouring over the rocks. They rub against me, braying in the most alarming way.
I yelp and start batting them away. “Absolutely not. I am not turning into a furred spider—”
A calm voice cuts through my panic. A tall, composed, green-glowing male stands farther up the sand, watching with analytical focus.
“You will not acquire traits from them,” he says evenly in accented English. “They are not sapient.”
I freeze mid-swat. “You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
I slowly lower my hands, ready to try to figure out a place to pat them when the tall male calls them with a whistle and they skitter away as fast as they arrived.
Behind us, the water explodes again.
A familiar woman, sharp-eyed and confident, rides a massive beast straight out of the water like she was born doing it. The creature bounds into the clearing with terrifying grace before she slides off its back and immediately starts giving directions.
It’s Ree.
“We found Ani,” Eli shouts to Ree, her tone gleeful.
“Well done. Now, up the shore,” she says in a guttural language. “Move.”
Everyone moves, staying far away from Azoeul and I.
As we climb the rocks, Ree looks toward the large purple male. “Did you use the sanitizing spray on the isolation camp?”
He nods again, that same unnatural, too-precise dip of his head.
She studies him for half a second, then says, “Good.”
