The Heartstone Saga by Archibald Bradford (short novels in english .TXT) 📕

“Aaand I forgot how bonkers you lot were.” Cordelia said with a roll of her eyes as she turned to Miranda and her bond-mates; “Nice to see you.”

Though she said the words, it was plain she was just being polite.

She’d never forget who it was that sent Rebecca into danger when Bethany Sinclair was still running the criminal underworld in the city.

“Sorry for barging in.” Miranda murmured.

“They were looking for Becks.” Christine explained with a smirk; “Is she around?”

Jez nodded excitedly.

“Yeah, she wants to see my bathing suit! Do you think she’ll like it?”

Distracted from her complicated feeling regarding the Aegis operative and her Lapine friend by the rapid questions, Cordelia looked to her sister.

“Shopping, I needed more cinnamon. I was going to make some more rolls tonight for you to take to school.”

Christine huffed.

“Cordy, most of the professors and at least half of the students are putting in orders to size up their overalls. You don’t need to fatten up the whole friggin university!”

But Cordelia wasn’t listening; her eyes, wide with excitement, had fallen on Milly.

“Milk! Can I buy some of your milk Milly?! Please!”

“Oh!” Milly blushed, but quickly smiled; “Of course! But you don’t need to buy it.”

“That’s bad business.” Nina remarked, bored of the reunion already; “Where’s the big bug at? The one with the bazongas? I thought she’d be here.”

All eyes turned to her, but no one dared question her word choice.

“She’s... out.”

Cordelia had just remembered the last conversation she and Oldeera had about the young Aegis trainee and her cheeks turned a bit pink.

Oblivious to her discomfort, he smiled at her and there was a sudden awkward lull in the conversation, during which Kala and Jez slipped out onto the streets in search of Becks.

Chapter 26:This is Me Flirting

Rebecca walked down the streets, lost in thought.

In one hand she had a little bag of groceries, including the cinnamon for Cordelia, in the other was her application to the Aegis academy. With Miranda’s endorsement she had a real shot, but rather than filling her with hope as it once did, it now filled her with apprehension.

What if she couldn’t cut it?

What if she had to stay in Algrade?

Could she even go back to being a courier again given how her last job ended?

What about-

Her cavalcade of doubts were suddenly cut off when something warm and wet wrapped around her midsection, gooseflesh spreading across her exposed naval as she looked to see a strange fleshy cord around her.

“What the heck?” She mumbled.

Then a familiar voice sounded behind her.

“Ayffe caughw hew! Amb thews mo esthcape!”

She turned to see Jezebel, crouching ten feet behind her, her posture showing off the gentle curves of her green body in her skin-tight pink bathing suit.

Like an angler reeling in a catch, the Gripau flexed her tongue and slowly began to pull the startled bunny towards her open mouth.

Stumbling a bit, Becks took hold of the slick tongue with both hands as she tried to keep her balance.

“Wh-what are you doing Jez?!”

“Cwaiming hew fow mye mithtress!”

“What?”

She was right in front of the frog now, Jez’s face inches from her tummy, but the frog did not release her tongue, and her nearness did not make her garbled speech any more comprehensible.

Then a pair of strong arms wrapped around Rebecca’s waist to join the Gripau’s appendage as someone hugged her from behind.

“She said she is claiming you for our mistress, which isn’t entirely accurate.”

The Lapine looked up and over her shoulder to meet the face of Kala the Amazon, her smile warm and welcoming.

“Yeth ith isth! She’th ouws mow!” The Gripau argued into her naval.

Kala reached around Rebecca’s back to ruffle the Gripau’s damp green hair.

“No. She is still hers. We are simply here to visit. Not to kidnap her.”

“Aaaww!” Jezebel whined, her tongue finally going slack and retreating into her mouth rapidly; “Alright, but if she tries to get away I’m going to catch her again!”

Though she appreciated being released from the frog’s bizarre grip, the bewildered bunny was still playing catch up.

“We are here in the city with our wife, and when we heard you were still in the city-” Kala shrugged as she explained; “We thought you might appreciate a visit from some familiar faces. Everyone is waiting for you at Queen Oldeera’s hive.”

“I think technically it’s Queen Cordelia’s.” Rebecca mumbled, but allowed them to lead her back to the hive in question.

As they walked Rebecca was both nervous and excited about seeing Miranda again.

The operative had been her rock throughout her ordeal with her horrible ex-girlfriend; especially afterwards, when she broke down in her arms in the Aegis compound.

So when they entered the living room of the hive and the Lapine heard Miranda’s gruff voice again, a thrill of excitement shot through her and her heart began to pound.

With Kala and Jez right behind her, she stepped down into the sunken part of the floor at the center of the room where the circle of couches were.

Though there was only face she wanted to see at the moment, when she caught sight of Nameless’s she perked up a bit; the Empath having helped her deal with the tangled mess of emotions that Bethany Sinclair had left her with.

“Wow, hey, so it’s really nice to, I mean, I was thinking that I don’t know if- eep!”

Jan surprised them all by cutting off the bunny’s floundering by tackling her to one of the couches with a feigned snarl, Erica having to roll to one side to avoid the scrum, a quick hiss coming out of her throat before she could stop it.

Jan didn’t care, her tongue already going to work on the Lapine’s face as she greeted