After a moment, he snarled. "I don't suppose you have a better way of occupying our time? There's nothing on that's even good enough to rot my brain with."
Kiara laughed, understanding his mood all too well. "Other than eat friggles and humans, what do you like to do?"
Hauk stood and towered over her. "Anything beats talking."
She sighed at the underlying hostility in his words and indicated the closet in the hallway with her thumb. "I have some games."
Without a word, he moved to the closet and began rummaging through her things. He emerged with a wide smile, his fangs flashing. "Tareba!" he exclaimed, pulling out the strategy gam e. "Would you m ind playing?"
Kiara smiled in disbelief at his exuberance. "Of course not," she said.
He was like a child with a new toy as he pulled out the pieces and set up the board.
A smile curled her lips at his enthusiasm. "Where'd Nykyrian go?" she asked while she watched him .
He looked up from the box with a stern frown. "Did you ask him?"
"Didn't have time."
The frown lessened. "He went to get information about the people after you."
She licked her lips, trying to bolster her courage enough to ask the next question. "Why is Aksel Bredeh so important to Nykyrian?"
"What do you care?" he barked.
Kiara glared at him, her cheeks warming in anger over his unwarranted hostility. "You guys have to be the most defensive group alive. Mia kitana, can't I ever get a simple answer out of any of you?"
Hauk laughed deep in his throat, a sound that she found far from comforting. "You're right. We are a prone to evasiveness. You should play Questions with them sometime.
I've never seen anyone hedge an inquiry better than Nykyrian and Rachol."
It was magical the way his personality changed from coarse to friendly. "I'm not even sure what went on between Aksel and Nykyrian. Then again, there's not much I am sure about where Nykyrian is concerned except for the fact he would die for me."
She frowned at the newfound knowledge. "Why do you say that?"
"He's taken enough shots protecting my hulking ass over the years."
Kiara watched him finish setting up the game, thinking about what he said. "Have you ever seen him smile?"
Hauk closed the box, his eyes carefully shuttered.
"No."
His response brought an ache to her chest. She used her next ploy to gain more tidbits about Nykyrian from him. "How long have you known him?"
Hauk gave her a cold stare. "Since he was nine."
She dropped her jaw in shock, his revelation pouring through her. "And you don't know him well enough to have ever seen him smile?"
Hauk shrugged. "He doesn't smile. Hell, he barely speaks. It was worse when he was a kid. At least now he doesn't glare and hiss every time someone speaks to him."
Kiara's heart lurched at the thought. Nykyrian was a strange fascination for her—the more she learned about his past, the m ore she wanted to know all about him. "Then you've seen his eyes," she said, hoping to find out why Nykyrian hid them.
Hauk sat perfectly still and watched her. "Yes, I have."
"What do they look like? Yours?"
"If he wants you to know, he'll take his glasses off. Were I you, I wouldn't wait on that day."
Kiara sat back on her heels, gnashing her teeth in frustration. At this rate, she'd die of old age before any of these tight-lipped misers gave her any information about their beloved companion.
Well fine, she'd just have to see if she could get a glimpse of Nykyrian's eyes by herself.
She never could stand a mystery and she wasn't about to leave this one unsolved!
Six
Kiara and Hauk were watching a comedy when Nykyrian returned. She looked up at him with a smile, but he didn't even bother to glance in her direction. Disappointed, she shifted her gaze to Hauk who offered her an apologetic shrug before standing.
"Well, I guess it's time for this baby-sitter to evaporate," Hauk said, nodding to Nykyrian. "Beware of her roast," he said before leaving them.
Nykyrian looked at her. "What was that about?" he asked gruffly.
Kiara shrugged. "He told me he liked it. Would you care for any? I left a warmer on the stove." She tossed the pillow from her lap and uncurled her legs.
"I'll get it," he said, dropping his pack by the door.
He was acting strange, even for him. Kiara watched him move slowly to the kitchen, a deep frown on her face. What had happened?
Several minutes went by as she waited for him to rejoin her, but he stayed in the kitchen out of her sight. Worried and curious, she went to check on him.
He sat at the table, his food untouched. His head was propped against one arm and he appeared to be staring at the table as if something had his mind transfixed.
"Is something wrong?" Kiara asked.
Imm ediately, he straightened up and retrieved a fork. "I'm just tired," he said before taking a bite.
Kiara sat down across from him. Drawing her legs up in the chair, she propped her chin on her knees. "Hauk and I spent the afternoon playing games," she said, trying to bring him into conversation and out of the melancholia he seemed to be wallowing in. "Do you play any?"
His grip tightened on the fork. "No."