Chapter 18 #2
That was enough. Working with Ren was only tolerable because the male was competent. However, his chatter had been nonstop for days with endless questions, commentary, and opinions that Zalis had not asked for. He could not listen to another word from this male.
“You should not speak of my mate,” Zalis warned.
“Why? We are brothers now,” Ren said.
With one hand gripping the edge of an open panel, Zalis rolled his shoulders to stretch sore muscles.
The height restriction on the maintenance tunnel required that he dip his head when standing to avoid hitting the ceiling.
Built for civilian height requirements, the cramped tunnels were not comfortable for a Mahdfel, certainly not one with horns.
He was tired. He had hit his horns more times than he cared to count in these cursed maintenance tunnels.
He had not spent enough time with his mate.
Other people spoke more to her than he had in days.
The taste of her had faded from his tongue and it infuriated him that there had been no opportunity for more.
Now this male—this liar—claimed some familial connection.
“You are not my brother,” Zalis said, stressing each word. “You are not my friend. We are colleagues and that is the extent of our relationship. The sooner you stop prattling, the sooner we will be done with the task, and I no longer must listen to your voice.”
His bitter words hung between them.
“I have been bullied by more intimidating males than you,” Ren said, breaking the silence. His normally jovial expression vanished and his barbed tail rose over his shoulder, as if threatening to strike.
“I am not a bully.”
“It is odd.” Ren folded his arms over his chest and gave Zalis a skeptical look.
“I have always assumed you were reserved. Havik and Lorran say you are pleasant. Thalia enjoys your company. Gemmarae insists that you are sweet. Even Emmarae admires you. It seems everyone has a positive opinion of the male standing before me and yet I find him to be nothing more than a tiresome bully.”
“I am not a bully,” Zalis repeated.
“I heard your conversation with the constable at the hospital.”
Fair. He had bullied that constable.
“Why do you treat me with such hostility?” Ren asked. “I have been intimidated and browbeaten by males more frightening than you because I am small and I bested them all. Do not be deceived by my stature.”
Zalis nearly laughed. “No.”
That was clearly not the correct response. Ren took a step forward, hands clenched in a fist.
“Because you are a liar, Ivon Ren,” Zalis clarified.
There. It did not erase the male’s anger, but he felt lighter for the admission.
“I do not know how you convinced Emmarae to forgive you, what lies you spun, and I do not care to know. You will not speak to my mate. You will not speak of my mate nor look at her. I will not have you whispering your poison to her.”
Somehow, during his speech, the paneling buckled and distorted under his grip.
He ripped it from the wall, metal tearing in jagged strips around the screws.
Typical. Inferior material, failing under the slightest stress.
The mining company used the cheapest materials and achieved the expected results. Wet cardboard would last longer.
“This is why I am with you and not with my mate. I must rebuild this substandard moon,” Zalis snarled and tossed the abused panel to the ground.
Ren glanced from the Zalis to the panel and back, clearly unimpressed by the random destruction. “No one is perfect. I have made mistakes, that is true. The question of forgiveness concerns only my mate and myself.”
Tension crackled in the air.
“A sanctimonious attitude is a dangerous thing,” Ren said. “Fling too many accusations and eventually people will look at your own misdeeds. What will they find?”
A great many things. Necessary things that he would do again.
Zalis sniffed, smoke tickling his nose. That was not tension. That was an electrical fire.
“Extinguisher. Now.” He hauled himself back inside. Smoke filled the tunnel, stinging his eyes.
Ren tossed up the extinguishers, both of them, and climbed in. “Tear off the panels and I will spray. Quickly. If the fire spreads to the junction—”
“I am aware.” The network for this building would be ruined. The entire electrical system would be destroyed. All his work—days of frustrating work—gone.
Zalis removed the panels, not bothering with tools and electing to rip them away. The panels would have to be replaced but speed was the key to success.
Ren sprayed as Zalis stripped away the panels. One by one, they worked their way down the tunnel to locate the source of the fire and extinguish it.
Zalis examined the culprit: an overloaded circuit.
As labeled, it should have been able to handle the power flowing through it.
Curious. The circuit was either faulty or lesser quality materials were used during construction and mislabeled.
He held the circuit up to the light, noting the melting plastic.
A powerful blow in the center of his back sent him forward. His horns slammed into the panel, crunching on impact.
“You hit me,” he said, brushing bits of plastic from his hair.
“I forgot about the horns.” Ren swung the extinguisher.
Anger simmered inside him. Being a target was not a new experience.
Large as a child and even larger as an adult, the other warriors always set their sights to take him down.
Zalis held his own in a fight. He was not upset or ever surprised about being pulled into conflict.
What angered him was the indignity of being attacked from behind. The male lacked honor.
Zalis took a step back into the wall to avoid the blow.
He grabbed a wrench from the toolbox on the floor, raising it in time to block another swing from the extinguisher.
A direct blow would cause no lasting damage beyond minor aches.
Two solid blows might break his skull, which he would rather avoid.
Ren’s tail hooked around his foot, throwing his balance off enough that the next swing of the extinguisher caught his jaw.
Static filled his vision and the metallic taste of blood flooded his mouth.
Zalis wiped the back of hand across his split lip. “I forgot about the tail.”
This was a proper fight. What happened on Tholla with Niklas had been necessary but satisfying. That male was not a true opponent.
Despite his size, Ren was a worthy adversary. Perhaps because of his size. Always disadvantaged, he had to work harder and be clever with his strategy, which Zalis could respect.
Fighting Ren was a pleasure.
The narrow confines of the maintenance tunnel put Zalis’ superior size and strength at a disadvantage.
Ren was fast, true, but they were in such close proximity it did not matter.
Ren was always in arm’s reach. It did not matter how slowly Zalis struck or moved to dodge.
There was nowhere to go. They moved forward and then immediately back again.
Feet slipped in the fire suppressant foam.
Ren swung.
Zalis blocked and swung with his wrench, colliding with the chitin of male’s tail. Frustratingly, it creaked but did not crack.
Ren lunged. Zalis caught the male in a grapple.
They strained against each other, neither having enough of an advantage to break the hold.
Ren lacked stature and muscle mass. The height limitation of the tunnel required Zalis to be hunched over.
He simply could not leverage his superior height against the wiry male.
His foot caught the toolbox. Combined with the slippery foam, they both crashed to the ground.
Ren released his hold and rolled away.
Zalis sat up and laughed. The sound bounced off the tunnel walls, echoing down the corridor into darkness.
Ren looked alarmed. “I hit your head too hard. You are damaged.”
“That was a good fight.”
“I have never heard you laugh.”
“No, you haven’t,” Zalis agreed.
Ren rubbed his upper arm. A blow from the wrench tore through fabric and broke the skin. Blood stained the cloth. “I never lied about my mate. I withheld information.”
“Omission of truth is effectively a lie.” Zalis pushed aside a damaged panel covering and leaned back against the wall.
“When I joined this clan, I was unsure how a human mate would be received. Humans were not welcomed in my previous clan.”
“You have been in Paax’s clan for some time. You know humans are welcomed. Celebrated. You kept Emry a secret.”
“No one asked.”
That seemed unlikely to Zalis. “Not even Havik? He is your friend.”
“He had trouble of his own and perhaps you have noticed that Havik can be selfish and inconsiderate.” Ren moved to sit next to Zalis, stretching his legs out. His tail unfurled next to him, and he made a noise that sounded supremely relaxing.
Ren bumped their shoulders together and said, “Regardless if you like me or not, our mates are twin sisters. We are in each other’s lives.”
“That is true.”
“The warlord is also a twin.”
“That is also true. It is common knowledge,” Zalis said. He was unsure where Ren was headed with this line of questioning.
“Is Paax similar to the previous warlord? No one speaks of him.”
For good reason.
“His name was Omas. They were similar in appearance only. Their temperaments were very different.” Zalis had been a young recruit when he joined the clan under Omas.
He had known of Paax, a respected scientist, at the time, but they had never met.
“You are fortunate that you never served under Omas. He was cruel.”
Zalis wanted to explain more. Omas had not always been cruel.
Grief twisted him after losing his mate.
He made unreasonable demands. He forbad new mate matches and drove away those already mated.
Zalis had been on the verge of leaving when Paax defeated his twin in battle and became the new warlord.
“My previous warlord was also cruel,” Ren said.
Zalis sensed there was more to that statement but did not press. Ren would share in time. He said, “We fight like brothers.”
Ren’s posture perked. “I never had a brother.”
“Nor have I. The idea intrigues me. I must warn you; my mother is very… enthusiastic.”
“Mothers love me,” Ren said with confidence and his tail thumped against the floor. “They are forever feeding me. What is her name?”
“Lyresh. My father is Zamos.”
Ren repeated the names. “You are fortunate to still have both your parents. When will we visit? When is the next Sangrin holiday? I should bring a gift. What is our mother’s favorite color and perfume?
Does she like felines? I will give our father a traditional glass blade from the sands of Rolusdreus. ”
Zalis never had a brother. He suspected he would enjoy the experience.