Chapter 60
Alex flailed, her fingers scraping against the floor desperately as she tried to escape.
Her eyes squeezed shut, certain that the attack would come again.
The male froze, however, as a collision to the wall—a strike that somehow sounded more vicious than before— sent a loud reverberation through the nest.
Her heart leapt. That sound—it wasn’t him!
His gavo lifted as his head turned toward the sound.
It was a small distraction, but his weight lifted enough off her neck that she grappled his arm and rolled aggressively, breaking his grip on her.
His wings snapped open as she flopped and crawled forward, flattening just in time to avoid a vicious sideswipe of his tail breaking the air above her head.
A gasp stuttered from her, but she immediately rolled, forcing herself to keep moving though she wobbled with fear.
The room had fallen silent again and she wanted to weep with frustration.
Had they abandoned her?
Perhaps they were looking for another way in. Fuck, let them find another way in!
Tears ran down her cheeks she scrabbled to avoid him, throwing anything she could get her hands on at the male thrashing behind her.
She got her feet underneath her and propelled herself forward, her fingers skimming the floor as she shoved herself more fully onto her feet.
She stumbled forward as she haphazardly ran, her eyes falling on the blowgun sitting among the scrolls on the bookcase.
There! She raced toward it in a full-out sprint, her legs pumping in a clumsy rush as she shot across the floor.
She could barely catch her breath and instead labored to draw in ragged gasps of air as she attempted to evade her pursuer by laying out a winding path she had learned as a child to evade predators in the rural encampments far from the lavish cities of the citizens.
Fuck, she just hoped it worked as well as Seshanamitesh as it had on gators!
The way he crashed behind her, his body lashing in pursuit, was certainly reminiscent of it.
Or perhaps of the massive python that had been hunted down after it killed a four-year-old playing at the edge of the encampment.
It had thrashed and hissed threateningly, just like the alien pursuing her.
And just like the hunters who went after the massive python, she had one advantage working in her favor: her smaller frame made her nimble when it came to suddenly changing direction and moving around obstacles.
And of course, she was also creating even more obstacles by throwing furnishings directly into his path and toppling shelves behind her.
It barely slowed him down, but it made his pursuit louder and made him angrier by the moment as he thrashed in frustration.
Which seemed to be an unexpected bonus that the angrier he got, the clumsier and rasher he became.
Unfortunately, it didn’t necessarily make her safe either as she was still barely dodging the wicked blows from his tail that either landed with sharp cracks on the floor or shattered furnishings, sending splinters of wood flying.
Come on, come on, Alex chanted to herself inwardly. Almost there.
She flinched to the side as she caught a blur of lavender from her peripheral vision, ducking out of the way just in time to avoid the male’s tail as it shot forward bringing down a nearer shelf right in front of her, forcing her to skid on the ball of her feet as she was had no choice but to rapidly change direction.
She tripped and stumbled forward, nearly falling except for the one hand that grazed the floor to keep herself balanced as she unsteadily rushed forward once more.
She didn’t have the luxury of savoring the way he shrieked angrily, voicing his displeasure at this near miss.
Every bit of her focus was trained on keeping herself a step ahead of him.
Circling the dug-out dining pit, she shot back toward the shelf needed, a smile spreading across her face as she heard him crash into the table in his attempt to change course.
His outraged shriek deafened her. But it was closer, closer than she liked.
Damn! His collision with the table was obviously—and quite unfortunately—minimal.
She didn’t need to look back to know that.
In after-thought, she realized perhaps she should have, then she might have seen the broken segment from the table hurtling toward her.
The small stone slab hit her like a bag of bricks and sent her flying forward into the bookcase.
It broke beneath her, scattering scrolls everywhere.
Her chest heaved as she struggled to regain her breath as she slowly rolled, pushing the broken reeds off her as she turned to face the male looming menacingly over her.
A triumphant grin stretched menacingly across his face.
He was close enough that she suddenly became aware of the blood that drenched his claws, hands and forearms, and was splattered across his scales.
Her stomach twisted with the realization that he had already killed before.
She scooted away from him, her hands searching the wreckage around her for her blowgun.
She knocked the scrolls out of her way frantically.
It had to be here somewhere. It wouldn’t have rolled far.
She knocked aside another scroll and nearly stopped breathing when she heard the hollow clatter of her blowgun being lightly struck by it.
There!
“No one is going to save you, little human,” the male taunted as he slid closer.
“You’re right,” Alex whispered as she scrambled back further, her hand sliding across the stone and through the debris.
It was just there. She was so close! “But here’s the thing about that.
No one may be coming to save me—" her fingers crossed around her blowgun, and a feeling of relief swept through her, nearly making her heady as her fist tightened around it. She sneered at him as she quickly drew it to her side. She couldn’t use it properly, not with how close he was.
But she had an idea that could work. “But that also means that no one is going to stop me.”
His gavo rose slightly with confusion, but in the next moment his features twisted venomously as he leaned forward and lifted his hand above his head, his claws poised to descend and rip into her.
The stench of him wafted over her, and Alex held her breath as she pushed herself upward from the ground to meet him.
Without hesitation, she brought her blowgun around with all her strength.
It broke across his head, the reed snapping as it sent the needles scattering across the floor.
The blow sent him to the ground, but he wasn’t going to be down long.
Already he was writhing as he worked to push himself back up.
Her eyes following a pair of needles that had rolled a short distance away to her left, Alex pitched herself forward as the male dropped to the floor.
His body writhed as he worked to push himself back up, but she was already scooping up the needles as she rolled up onto the balls of her feet.
Pushing off as hard as she could, she spun and leaped for him, her body making contact with his chest, driving him back to the ground beneath her.
Dropping her full weight back down onto his chest, she straddled him as she shifted one of the needles to her opposite hand and lifted both long, thick needles high above her head.
His eyes blazed at her with hatred, but she didn’t have to look at them for long.
Without preamble, she swung the long pair of needles in her hands down, jabbing them deep into his eyes.
He squealed like a pig and thrashed, but she leaned forward, putting her weight behind them as she sank them deeper and deeper into his eye sockets until they broke through the bone of his skull.
Blood poured from the ruined mess, and his body gave one last violent spasm before it dropped to a prone state beneath her.
His tail twitched once... twice... and then he was gone.
Alex didn’t move for a long moment. She sat on the dead Seshanamitesh as the tension and adrenaline slowly drained from her, leaving her weakened with relief.
Head hanging, she focused on her breathing while trying to ignore the stench of blood soiling her flight suit and the cloth wound around her.
Tears pricked her eyes. She didn’t regret killing him to save her own life, but she had never killed another person before.
She had never expected to in her line of work.
She didn’t know how long she sat there, but the body was ice-cold by the time she slid off him and kicked his tail away and out of her path.
She numbly walked away from it, at a loss as to what to do.
She couldn’t exactly ride to the rescue.
Even if she could cross the broken tunnel between the upper and lower palaces, what could one human do?
Her heart clenched miserably, and she choked on her own tears as she stumbled out of the nest...
and straight into a very large and vaguely familiar dark green torso with bold, white striping.
“Ah, little human, it seems I did not get here quite fast enough,” the male sighed. “Vi is going to murder me.”
She blinked up at the male, her chin wobbling as she tried to contain a defeated sob. “Ehsash?”
The male grimly inclined his head, and just behind him she saw a gaunt male watching anxiously.
Ehsash glanced behind him before smiling wanly down at her.
“Luoa has been keeping an eye on the palace for me ever since we realized that you were hiding here.” He sobered.
“Vi sustained injuries during the crash that required my attention, but you appeared to be safe enough here with the male you mated caring for you. Or so we believed until Luoa came and found me. Thank Higthar that I was close by hunting.” He sighed, his eyes dropping to the dead Seshanamitesh.
He hummed in appreciation. “You certainly did a fine job. I am quite surprised. But...where is your male?”
“Up in the palace,” she whispered in a strangled voice. “Therxian... “
His gavo rose in surprise. “Therxian? The eldest offspring of the high queen. That Therxian?” She nodded and was startled by his soft laugh. “I did not realize it was him.” He hummed in amusement. “Both surviving sons of Zathexa mated to humans... the council is certainly going to love that.”
“They don’t know about me... that I’m human, that is,” she whispered. “He didn’t realize either until just now. They sent him down to kill me.”
“Then it is best if we remove you,” he replied. “I will take you to Vi. I think she will be happy to not be the only human in the Uralial village,” he added cheerfully as he bent and scooped her up.
The Uralialian village? They had been right. There was a settlement of Uralial near the elder palace. But she couldn’t go there, not without her mate!
“I don’t think so.” Alex pushed on his arms and scowled when he blinked down at her in surprise. “I’m not going anywhere without my mate. I have to rescue him. If you try to stop me, I will stab you too.”
Ehsash peered at her for a moment and then grinned, his eyes brightening with amusement.
“I did not realize that you were so fierce. I wouldn’t worry too much about Therxian.
He is bound to you, so they won’t get what they want from him easily.
That will buy him some time. And if he is anything like his brother, he will find his way to you. We just need to ensure your safety.”
“By going to the village,” she muttered.
“By going to the village,” Ehsash agreed, his smile broadening.
She fidgeted unhappily. “But if he escapes, what if he comes looking for me and can’t find me?”
“I will remain,” the thin Uralial whispered, drawing her attention back to him. His eyes drifted sadly over the nest. “I have never left. Not for long.” He refocused on her and lowered his head respectfully. “I will remain here and wait for the prince.”