Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
~ Galen ~
Ikeep my gaze focused on my treasure as the unsuspecting nemins surround our mate, and I’m surprised at how much restraint I need to stop myself from sending my shadows to her aide. The pests circle her, taking turns tasting our mate with their disgusting little violating tongues.
“Think we overdid it?” Thane asks, no doubt referring to how we let our poor mate think we’d left her. I feel horrible about it now, but I tell myself we’ll make it up to her later.
“No,” Knox replies coldly.
We’re no longer using our shadow power to mask Shade’s voice, but we’re still keeping our own conversation private, and ensuring that we and our bonded animali, are cloaked from the creatures of the wild forest around us.
My shadows carry the large cage that’s resting close by, and Raith is a few paces from me.
Thane and Knox are across the clearing, hidden in the trees, the four of us creating a box surrounding our mate.
Kazer prowls behind Raith, his paws silent as he pads over the ground, pacing back and forth, but Arizak remains completely still, his attention solely fixed on Shade.
“Can we save her now?” Raith’s agitated voice sounds in my ears, echoing my own thoughts.
“Not yet,” Knox replies. “We need to wait for the leader of the hollowing. They won’t try to actually eat her until he arrives.”
“I’ll cut out their tongues after this,” Raith snarls, rubbing his thumb over the hilt of his sword. “Then I’ll feed them back to the nemins seein’ as they’re so fuckin’ hungry.”
“We need the nemins for the games,” Thane growls back, though he sounds just as pissed off as the rest of us.
“Perhaps, we could simply take out the biter nemin,” I suggest. “The hollowing will still be able to hunt without him as long as we have the leader.”
“Sounds pretty damn good to me,” Raith says.
No one else replies for a long moment as the others consider my proposal, and Shade’s laughter sounds across the clearing.
Eventually, Thane replies, “Agreed.”
A small thread of satisfaction goes through me, but it does nothing to ease the irritation as I watch my mate at the mercy of the nemins.
Other times when we’ve done this in the past, it has always been a grim affair, usually one that left our bait dead, but tonight I struggle to watch the creatures fuss over their prey.
With every fibre of my being, I want to enter that clearing and tear the little creatures apart for even daring to touch my mate.
This was a fucking terrible idea. We probably should have used one of the more troublesome students we’ve been keeping an eye on.
Shade’s laughter gets louder, and I sense as more creatures stir in the forest, awakened by the sound. They’re all curious, but they don’t show themselves. No, they wait, watching to see what will happen.
“I can’t take this much longer,” Raith says, squeezing the pommel of his sword tightly.
Around Shade, the nemins speak in their musical language, making a string of whistling and tinkling noises.
“We need to act soon,” I agree, and it’s not a suggestion. We’ve waited long enough as we’ve watched the creatures tormenting our mate.
“The leader still hasn’t shown himself,” Thane reminds us, but frankly, I don’t give a bloody damn. We’ll just have to come back another night with fresh bait and try this again.
I’m about to move from the trees and carve through the nemins with my power, when the creatures all become completely still. They stare at Shade in surprise as she…communicates with them, their musical language flowing easily from her perfect lips.
I wonder if I’m imagining it, but Raith is the first to comment. “Did she just fuckin’ speak to the little buggers?”
We all stare in silence as our mate converses with the nemins as if it’s completely natural.
“That she did,” Knox finally replies, his voice clipped.
None of us move as we observe the situation.
No humans or shadow warriors alike, can speak to the nemins.
At least, not like this. The little beasts are some of the oldest creatures in the shadow realm, and they’re classified as zenali creatures.
They’re highly intelligent beings able to understand our language.
But while they can understand us, and they can choose to speak our language if they wish, they aren’t doing that now.
No, Shade is speaking as if she’s one of them. Which is…curious.
We all know there are secrets when it comes to our mate’s past. She has explained all she knows about her origin, and her desire to one day regain her forgotten memories.
From what she has told us, I had assumed that somehow during her time in the human realm, she must have had an accident that resulted in her losing her memories, but this…
the ability to speak to a zenali in their language? Now this complicates things.
Their conversation continues, and the leader of the hollowing finally makes his appearance.
Whatever they’re talking about, one of the nemins seems unhappy, and when the little bastard grabs hold of our mate’s foot and clamps his teeth into her flesh, when her scream cuts through the forest, all hell breaks loose.
Power explodes into the clearing, the forest turning black as my friends and I flood the area with our shadows.
The nemins shriek, chattering in their musical language as they try to scatter.
Their fear is thick in the air, but there’s no escaping us.
My shadows wrap around the closest nemin, talons of power piercing his skin as I grab hold and fight against the urge to tear him apart.
He screeches, letting out a high-pitched whistling sound as he fights against me, but the grip I have on him is unshakeable.
I easily grab another nemin with my shadows, confiscating his dart gun in the process, and Thane and the others have already captured the rest.
Our creatures watch, clawing at the ground in agitation, and under strict instructions not to engage. The nemins may be small, but they’re not to be underestimated. And while our animali would likely prevail, there is some risk involved with letting them get too close to the ancient creatures.
I should be pulling the cage into the clearing and shoving my captured nemins inside.
We all should. But I struggle to control my anger as the nemins in my hold shriek and claw at my power.
I want to make them suffer first. What had we agreed?
To take out the bitey one? It hardly seems sufficient now.
Perhaps, if we take him out and the rest of them all lose an eye as well it would be more fitting.
The creatures fall silent like they know there’s no point struggling any longer. It’s not surprising considering they’ve likely recognized us, and would be well aware of our reputations in the shadow realm.
One of the nemins I’m holding is the one who bit our mate, and more of my shadows curl around him, squeezing. I’m ready to gut the little worm when Shade’s plea sounds across the clearing.
“Don’t,” she rasps.
I halt, though I’m finding it hard to process what she’s said. I’m convinced I must have heard her incorrectly.
“Let them live,” Shade says, and I’m thoroughly bewildered now. “They were only following their instincts, and wasn’t this the plan?”
I take a few deep breaths. Logically, I know she’s right, but obviously none of us realized how much this would bother us.
Fighting against my anger, I drag the cage into the clearing, swinging the door wide and shoving my nemins inside. Thane, Raith, and Knox do the same, though their nemins are quieter, and I suspect have been roughly handled.
“Aw you sure? How ’bout just bitey?” Raith pleads, struggling with the concept of leaving the offending nemin in one piece.
Shade gives him a look, and Raith pouts, reluctantly turning away from the biter nemin who’s watching us with wide eyes from inside the cage.
Satisfied the nemins are all secure, Shade smiles. She’s still paralyzed and remains in her position against the boulder. Walking over, I gently lift her into my arms.
“I thought you guys weren’t coming back for a minute there,” she jokes, but her smile is strained.
“I would do anything for you, treasure,” I tell her, tucking her tighter against me.