Summer’s breath was shuddering in her chest and she couldn’t have stood if she’d wanted to, not with all the blood having rushed to her head during the climb, the terror of the ascent itself.
Ke’lar had already dropped into a fighter’s stance, his brilliant eyes searching the roof in the evening light for others of his enclosure, clanbrothers he would battle to reach the transport.
After a moment he straightened. “We are alone.”
Summer’s fingers spread wide, the clanhall’s ancient stone roof still warm under her palms from the day’s heat. She bent her head, trying not to be sick.
He crouched at her side, his eyes eerily bright in the fading light. “Are you all right?”
“I guess . . . I was wrong about,” she gasped, “being over . . . my fear of heights.”
“Darkness, heights.” He gave a quick, teasing smile. “You humans must spend a lot of time on the ground, during the day.”
“Yup,” she agreed, really very impressed with herself for not throwing up. “That’s actually how I intend to spend the rest of my life. In fact, if I ever hit the lottery, my penthouse is going to be located on the ground floor.” She shook her head—a little. “I can’t believe you did that. I can’t believe you actually got us up here. With one hand.”
He gave a light laugh. “My brother and I used to challenge each other to reach the top first. I won nearly every time. But it has been a long while since I made this climb. It was a game for us as children.”
Summer’s head came up, trying to gauge if he was kidding or not. “They let you do that? Let a bunch of kids climb up the side of a building?”
Ke’lar’s smile faded. “I imagine our mothers would have not have.”
He stood, taking her hands to raise her up with him. Her knees were shaking but she was able to walk under her own power as they crossed to the transport vessel.
She’d ridden in one of their transports only once before, when Ar’ar had brought her directly from the space-dock to the Betari enclosure. Capable of great speeds, these transports weren’t capable of space flight and were used exclusively for journeys inside the atmosphere.
And if it really was unoccupied . . .
Ke’lar went up the short ramp first, his posture tense and alert, but the cabin was empty. He slid into the pilot’s seat, already activating the door controls to seal the vessel and powering up the transport.
Her glance darted about the landing pad as she took the co-pilot’s seat. “Someone just happened to leave a transport vessel unattended up here?”
“This vessel should not be unattended, the roof unguarded, especially with members of an enemy clan about,” he agreed. “This is Ra’kur’s doing. That is what he meant when he said he would ‘await me at the center of the clan hall.’ He was telling me to go to the roof. It is the brag we would make to one another before we made the climb.”
She blinked. “You mean Ra’kur arranged this to help us escape?”
“As Jenna has the Betari occupied with a feast that involves much noise and the confusing comings and goings of many Erah clanbrothers to cover my return.”
Summer shook her head. “That’s what she must have wanted to tell me, that Ra’kur was going to—And I was so mad at her for not even trying to help!”
He gave her throat a meaningful glance. “Clearly she did not want to send you off empty-handed.”
Summer’s hand went to the jewels at her throat. “Well, damn it, I guess I should have taken the earrings when she told me to.”
“Do not worry.” He nodded to a small box left conspicuously near the control panel. “I think we will find a number of credits have been made available to us as well.” Ke’lar threw her a grin as the transport finished powering up, already using the controls to lift the vessel from the landing pad. “And I would say that we have just escaped.”
“Why would they do all this?” she asked. “Why would they think you’d even come back for me after you’d been banished?”
“Ra’kur knows me well enough that he could read in my eyes what the Betari could not—that you are my mate and I would never leave you.” He gave a huffing laugh as the trees below became a blur. “And besides, I was never the most obedient of clanbrothers.”
“Where are we going anyway?”
“Be’lyn City. There I will secure a ship to return you to Earth.”
“But . . .” She frowned. “I thought Earth’s location was secret. That it was kept that way so warriors couldn’t just go there whenever they pleased.”
“It is,” he agreed. “But it appears that encrypted into this transport vessel my brother has also provided the coordinates of your world . . .”
Nineteen
“Finally!”
Summer stood as soon as the transport door opened and Ke’lar stepped onboard. The window tinting kept anyone from peering inside to see her but being stuck in here while he ventured into Be’lyn City had her gritting her teeth.