Chapter 48 #2
For just a brief moment, he considered not answering. The only reason he did so was because he figured they wouldn’t be trying to talk to him if they didn’t have something to say.
“Small words,” he finally said, figuring that he didn’t need them to know exactly how much English and Portuguese he could speak. He didn’t know if he’d call himself fluent, but he did well enough to understand even if he didn’t know all the terms used.
“Good,” came the angry retort.
And there was Belmira again, snapping and snarling and fighting. Until, abruptly, she wasn’t, and Tuvo heard the metallic click of a gun. He didn’t need to see to know it was being pointed at her, demanding her silence and cooperation.
And his.
“You know what that is?” Came the harsh question. “You know gun?!”
“Yes,” he replied, giving no indication of his feelings in the matter.
“Alien fuck!” The male spat. “You know what you did? You know who you killed?!”
A lot of people. But he figured that wasn’t the answer this male was looking for. There was nothing he could say that would improve this situation, so he said nothing.
“My son! My boy! You know son?!”
Son… Ah, his pup. Tuvo hadn’t killed any younglings, so he imagined that this male was referring to an adult son.
Was he one of those that had attacked the village? Was he one of those that he had killed in the compound? Was he one of those he had killed today?
This male’s son, he clearly loved him a lot. Tuvo had no idea who he was.
Once again, he gave no answer. And that was enough.
“You fucking freak,” came the furious growl. Deep and angry. “I was just going to kill that girl. That little cunt. Make an example out of her. Don’t want your kind here. But then you killed my son! Now, they all die because of you!”
“Don’t listen to him, Tuvo!” Belmira shouted.
The crack of a slap made his fingers twitch with the urge to bury them in their bodies. But he kept still as the hallway went quiet again.
“I kill son,” Tuvo stated. Not a question. He accepted he must have done that. “Son earn death. Hurt my female.”
“She’s just some pussy! She’s nothing!”
“She is all things.”
“Pussy whipped mother fucker!”
Tuvo frowned, confused. He knew at least three of those words, but he had no idea what they were supposed to mean together. It sounded like nonsense. But he apparently wasn’t required to respond because the male continued regardless.
“Come out! Slowly! Hands up. Or this bitch dies!”
“Don’t do-umph!” Belmira’s angry demand was cut off again, though this time it sounded like someone had covered her mouth.
“Now!” The male snapped.
Slowly, calmly, Tuvo retracted his claws as he raised his hands and stepped into the hall.
Belmira was there, glaring at the male at her side, on her feet again but her hands held behind her by one male while another kept a hand on her arm and a gun at her belly.
The older male was rather nondescript. Much smaller than Tuvo, his head shaved bald except for his dark, bushy brows that were drawn in fury.
Looking at him, Tuvo felt not even a bit of recognition. The male’s son either looked nothing like him, or, more likely, Tuvo simply didn’t remember him well enough to compare and know who he was speaking about.
There was no guilt for that, however. If the male wanted to be remembered, he should have done something worth remembering.
“Good,” the father smiled, as though he had won something. “Now, you’re both coming with me. We’re going to make an example out of you.”
The shadows moved behind the group. They were all so focused on him, no one saw Atem grab the man at the back and rip out his throat as he dragged him away.
“Okay,” Tuvo said, playing along. “No hurt Belmira.”
The despicable male only laughed. Amused that Tuvo dared make demands. There was no doubt in his mind that the male would hurt Belmira anyway, no matter what he did.
Atem took down two at the same time. As their bodies clattered to the ground, the last two turned.
Tuvo and Atem leapt forward at the same time.
Atem ripped away the male holding Belmira.
Tuvo’s claws dug into the older male’s gun arm and ripped, severing the tendons.
The gun clattered uselessly to the ground as Tuvo used his claws in the meat of his arm to yank him away from her.
He slammed his back against the wall, pinning him there by the neck.
“Why?” He asked.
The male tried to punch him with his other hand. Tuvo barely felt the weak blows as they landed against his face, not even moving him. Weak little male.
“Why?” He demanded to know again, claws cutting into his neck.
The man grunted, now scratching at his hand, trying and failing to pull at his grip.
“Tell me,” Tuvo snarled. “Or die slowly.”
“Paid,” he grunted, still trying to kick him. His blows landed with all the strength of a pup before they came into their adult hormones. “Was paid!”
“Why?”
“Want you gone. All aliens gone,” he sputtered, only barely able to breathe around Tuvo’s choking grasp. “Was supposed to kill the girl. To scare you off by making you realize what would happen if you dared claim our women.”
“You punish them for us?” Tuvo snarled, furious. His grip tightened further, leaving no opportunity for the male to answer. “Disgusting.”
With a single, hard jerk, he snapped the male’s neck. His entire body crumbled into a heap on the ground. A quicker death than he deserved, but Tuvo kept his word.
He stepped back and looked at Belmira. She had a fierce expression on her face.
“This way,” she said, gesturing with her head. “The others are still in the cell.”
Still there because they were only intending to use Belmira to force his compliance. Because they would force their own females to suffer to prove their points.
He swallowed back his anger as he and Atem followed her back into the compound.