Chapter 7 #2
“Nine of us are left. We lost several clanmates while we were imprisoned at the research base. Ravage died when our ship crashed. We lost Shatter to a venomous creature that lives in the water. I will teach you what they look like so you can avoid them.” Havoc sighed and went quiet for a long moment.
“I miss Rage the most. He was the eldest of us and the strongest. He would sneak out and steal whatever he could and then give it to those who needed it most. He never kept anything for himself. He was killed during an escape attempt. Bysshe told us about it. The verexi were so angry at him for telling us that they wiped his memory. Not long afterward, they ended the experiment and tried to get rid of us.”
Maddison’s brain clicked when he said the name Rage. Now she remembered. There’d been all sorts of buzz on the news feeds about an alien with that name, of an unknown species, who had escaped from a research facility and teamed up with the human pilot.
“Rage isn’t dead,” she blurted. It wasn’t the most tactful way to drop such heavy news, but she thought speed would count more than gentleness right now.
Havoc skidded to a stop. “Say that again.”
“Your brother. Rage. He’s not dead. He escaped on a delivery ship.”
He set her down and then spun her around to face him. His hands gripped her shoulders so tightly she felt the prick of his claws. “Explain.”
She smiled up at him, her hand lifting to rest on his cheek.
“Rage wasn’t killed trying to escape. He did it.
He got away. I don’t remember all the details, but it was on the news feeds.
He was there the day your ship crashed.” She frowned and then pointed skyward.
“I mean, he was here. In orbit. But things went wrong. The verexi closed the space around the planet.” The more she spoke, the more she remembered.
It still wasn’t enough, but it was more than he’d known a minute ago.
“He was here. Why didn’t he contact us?”
“I don’t think the verexi let him. This planet is inside their borders, and they had total control over what happened. Then, after the crash, they threw everyone out of their territory. They claimed you attacked the crew.”
He growled and flashed his fangs. “There was no crew. The ship was automated. We were never supposed to reach the surface alive. When you see the supplies they left for us, you’ll understand. Most of it was junk.”
She kept stroking his cheek, offering him what comfort she could. She knew he wasn’t angry. Not really. He was simply trying to come to terms with the truth bomb she’d just dropped on his head. “I believe you.”
He took a deep breath and then another. “Thank you.” He turned his head to kiss the palm of her hand.
“You’re welcome. I’m sorry I don’t have any more information. The last I heard, your brother was alive. But then the news cycle moved on to the next story. I don’t know where he is or what he’s doing.”
Havoc nuzzled her hand again, his lips brushing her skin. “I can guess. Rage would never give up. He’s out there somewhere, trying to find a way to free us.”
“If it helps, there’s an ongoing investigation into what the scrawnies did. There have been a few trials, too. The verexi broke some pretty important Gal-Leg laws. The other races aren’t happy about it.”
“Good. The Galactic Legion should be very unhappy. If we had been what the verexi wanted, the galaxy would be at war by now.” He raised his head and growled. “But they will still pay in blood for what they did to us. We will have our revenge.”
“That also explains why they are so desperate to kill you and your brothers. They want to hide the evidence. Especially since they never intended to let you live in peace.”
“That will not happen. Anyone who sets foot in our territory will die,” Havoc declared. Then he released her shoulder and lifted his hand to stroke her hair. “Unless they are from your ship.”
“I appreciate you making an exception.” She tried to smile, but the stark reality of their situation bore down on her.
The fa’rel were being hunted by an enemy with enough money to fund a thousand mercenaries.
Why is there so much violence in this galaxy?
All she’d wanted was to live a quiet life where she could do some good.
Now? People had died because of her, and Havoc had every intention of increasing the body count.
Not that she blamed him. The verexi had wanted warriors, and that’s what they’d created.
“We should go. The river isn’t much farther,” Havoc said.
She nodded and caught him by the shoulders, hopping into the air as he lifted her back into his arms. “How can you tell?” she asked once they were moving again.
“The ground is level and the trees are larger.” He pointed to one side of the path. “See?”
She realized that, yes, she could see. A quick glance above showed her the reason. Moonlight spilled through the gaps in the canopy. The massive trunk of a tree rose in the direction Havoc had indicated. It seemed more like a tower than a tree.
“That’s huge!”
“It is smaller than the ones near our home. Those are so large we built our homes in the branches.”
“You live in a tree house?” She’d assumed they lived in caves of some kind, which made her wince. Havoc might have looked like a dangerous beast, but he was so much more than his appearance suggested.
“We each have our own home, but yes. The trees have deep roots and are not affected by the floods that come with the rainy season.”
“That sounds sensible. I always wanted to have a treehouse growing up. My father would never allow it. He was always afraid I’d hurt myself.”
One day she’d get over the irony of her overprotective father being the one who arranged her marriage to Donny.
As always, he thought it was the best decision—one that ensured she wouldn’t need to take on the stress that came with running the family business.
She’d insisted she was ready, but he couldn’t see it.
To him, she was still his little girl. Instead of trusting her, he’d given both his business and his only child to someone else to protect before the cancer took him.
They didn’t speak again. Both of them needed time to think. Not that it was easy to keep her thoughts straight when he was so close. She wanted to kiss him again, but she resisted the urge and buried her face in the crook of his neck instead.
Cradled in his arms, with his soft fur against her face and his scent in her nose, she felt safe and comfortable in a way she’d never experienced before. Not even with Loris, whom she trusted with her life.
That’s when it hit her. She trusted Havoc, too. Completely. She didn’t expect their bond to last, but while it existed, she was safe.
Too bad it wouldn’t last. She could get used to this.