Chapter 48
Tuvo
Instead of following the trail through the forest, Atem and Tuvo led their way through the trees back to the village. The shuttle remained there, locked and idling. Hattie looked confused when they opened it and insisted she go inside first.
“We’re not leaving, are we?” She asked, turning back as the others climbed in after her. She frowned at Tuvo, heartbreak on her face.
“No, kyrya,” he assured her, leaning his hands on the frame of the door, looking up at her from his position on the ground. “Atem and I are going to keep going on foot. You will follow us in the shuttle. We can move faster that way.”
He hated to tell her that, but she nodded once, though she looked sad. “Okay. Be careful, all right?”
“I will,” he promised, stepping back.
She gave him a weak smile just before the door slid shut behind her.
The moment she was out of sight, he looked to Atem. His Dominani grunted before turning and taking off at a sprint into the trees. Tuvo followed after, allowing him the lead as was his right.
From behind, he heard the shuttle lifting up. They didn’t attempt to wait for it. The shuttle would be able to track and keep up with them. It was more important that they move fast.
Tuvo jumped, grabbing a tree and scaling up. Ahead of him, Atem did the same on a different tree, jumping from one to another halfway up as Tuvo reached the top and began running over the trees.
He was following Atem, but not step for step. The two headed in the same direction, keeping track of the trail below as they found their own path across the trees.
It didn’t take him long to realize he knew this path.
The Three Ring’s compound hidden in the trees was made of hard stone. The fire he set hadn’t done much more than cosmetic damage. He could see the dark scorch marks as he and Atem crouched in the trees, both wearing camocloth, completely hidden amongst the green leaves.
The Three Rings had returned to their compound and reclaimed it. The watch towers had four males now, each looking in a different direction, including inside the compound. The gates were closed, and two males now stood in front of the door, guns in hand. They weren’t taking any chances.
“They’re going to see the shuttle,” Tuvo said.
“Not like we could sneak in anyway,” Atem smirked, clearly pleased at the show of force. “They’re clearly ready for you this time.”
Neither of them were worried about those guns being turned on the shuttle.
They had prepared for potential attack as part of the standard precautions in contacting an uncontacted species.
The shuttle had no weapons, as it was meant to be a harbinger of peace, but its shielding was highly advanced and could take an explosion without denting. Those guns would do nothing.
“What if we use the shuttle as a distraction?” He suggested.
Atem chuckled. “I’ll go right, you go left?”
“No enemies left alive.”
“They don’t deserve to live. Oh, by the way, don’t drink their blood.”
“Hm?”
“Female blood is an aphrodisiac; male blood is a poison. Apparently. At least, the ones that Romival and I were fighting were. Or maybe just our mates are an aphrodisiac to us. Not really certain. Best not to drink from them, just in case.”
Ah, so that’s why their blood tasted foul before.
“They don’t deserve us drinking from them anyway,” he said, growling as the sound of the shuttle engine rumbled over the trees.
“Precisely my thought.” Atem sent him a wicked grin before turning and running into the trees to make his way to one of the other guard towers.
Tuvo kept his eyes on the males below as they called out, pointing over the canopy. They couldn’t see the shuttle, but they could certainly hear it. Their guns all turned, training overhead. Distracting them from the trees.
More prepared, but still short sighted. Still not thinking to look up.
He stepped back, claws itching to fight.
The shuttle appeared and, immediately, they opened fire. The sharp cracks of their guns echoed impossibly loud through the trees. Silencing the local fauna. The screaming of weak males desperately trying to prove their superiority.
He ran and jumped.
It went almost exactly as it had before.
Except there were more of them, and it was light now, and they were ready.
All of them were focused on the shuttle, peppering it with bullets that did nothing but ping off the hard body.
They didn’t even see him take a running jump into the air.
He landed directly inside the tower this time, boots first onto the back of a male.
His chest collapsed under his weight as Tuvo struck out, cutting down the three remaining males before they even had time to turn.
It wasn’t a secret this time. Immediately, the entire compound began screeching. An alarm shattering the air with a warning that would mean nothing.
The shuttle had slowed down. It was flying over the walls now. Presenting itself as a target without even trying to get away. Giving Tuvo plenty of time to jump into the compound and run for the males at the door while they were distracted.
He cut them down without mercy. Atem had taken down the other tower within sight of this side of the wall, and Tuvo trusted him to take down the other two.
For now, he focused on the door in front of him.
Turning, putting his back to it, just as he had before, he put his foot flat against the face then kicked back, slamming it open. Even before it had bounced off the wall, he jumped out of the way.
Only one bullet from the barrage that suddenly burst through struck him. A streak of fire along his arm that only made him growl in eager anticipation.
The gunshots rang out for a short time before yelling inside made them cease. Tuvo knew better than to think that they had given up though. He stood there beside the open door, waiting. He just barely detected a frantic whispering down the echoing, concrete hall.
“You! Alien!” Came the heavily accented, English voice.
He didn’t respond. Just waited.
Ahead of him, the shuttle started lowering. Right on the road in front of the door. The moment it was visible, gunshots rang out again.
Tuvo grinned before turning and running from the entrance.
The other two watchtowers were empty. The torso of a male hung over the edge of one, his bright red, human blood dripping down from his dangling arm.
Atem was nowhere to be seen.
Tuvo found another entrance. He grinned at seeing the door hanging off a single hinge, the latch completely shattered. Proof his Dominani had been through here. He wasn’t surprised that he had already gained entrance.
He took off after him, running into the halls. There were only two bodies here. Meaning they were either unprepared for them to take a different entrance or everyone had been drawn to the door he had burst open as a distraction.
Having been through here twice already, he knew his way around. He went straight to the holding cell that Hattie and Belmira had been kept in.
He didn’t manage to get there, however. Right before the last turn, fervent whispering in Portuguese brought him up short.
Atem had not come this way, and judging by how many people he heard talking, there were at least three in the hallway. Probably more.
Panicked gunfire from elsewhere in the compound told Tuvo that Atem must be far from here. So, it was just him.
As he was trying to think of a plan, the unmistakable snarling of a female human caught his ear.
“Let go of me!”
Belmira!
He resisted the urge to growl as he heard her thrashing. Two different males barked orders at her, which only made her struggle harder. She was a fierce little fighter. Were she a domini female, he had no doubt that she would have slit all their throats by now.
But she was a fragile, soft human female and the males that held her had no honor.
Their voices were getting closer. They were coming this way!
Melting back into the shadows, Tuvo disappeared into the darkness of an open room.
His body blended into the pale gray stone with ease.
Not too soon as, the moment he became still, three males holding Belmira by her legs and both arms were walking around.
He didn’t need to speak Portuguese to know she was cursing colorfully as her body twisted in the air while she tried to resist their hold.
The sight made a deep, burning fury rise in his gut.
How could anyone treat someone so fragile like this? And for it to be their own females? Absolutely disgraceful.
Tuvo was a statue as they crossed in front of his door, completely unaware that he hid inside.
Three more males followed on their heels, each carrying a large gun.
The one in the rear was facing backwards, gun sweeping side to side as he kept watch for someone coming up behind. They weren’t completely foolish.
But still not skilled enough for him.
As the last male was crossing his doorway, he stabbed his hand forward, claws piercing through his throat from the side. His eyes widened in shocked horror as blood flecked his lips.
Curling his fingers into the meat of his throat, Tuvo yanked him into the room. Only a few drops of blood fell, but the clatter of his body put the other males on alert.
They called out in warning, their steps coming up short. They couldn’t miss that their rear male had gone missing.
“Alien,” came the harsh, human voice. Angry. “I know you’re there.”
Tuvo said nothing as he stood beside the open door, waiting for them to move. One way or the other, he would react as appropriate, but he had no doubts that their weapons were trained on the door. Waiting for even a part of his body to emerge.
“Can you understand me?” That same voice asked, deliberately speaking slowly and carefully. Not the way Keith used to do, as if he thought him stupid, but as though he understood Tuvo needed his speech to be precise.