Chapter 54 #2
The threat sent a chill up her spine. Just imagining what he meant. But, strangely, it was one of disgust, not fear. She wasn't afraid. Simply cautious as she put as much distance between them as possible while she waited.
He stalked her slowly. He wasn't excited by the hunt this time.
Only angry. The others finished their controlled fall into the valley.
Torvii looked annoyed. Not at her, but at the ratchi that had given her the chance to escape.
Quvi's upper lip curled like she smelled something disgusting.
The third male only appeared amused at her attempt.
All of them were closing in on her. She was completely cornered. The sand wall at her back was impossible to climb. She still pushed herself against it, near sitting into the sand as she stared up the ratchi.
She didn't hear Atem finally approach, but she couldn't miss his dark shadow fall from above. She didn't see exactly what happened when he landed on the ratchi, but she did hear the crunch and she saw his large body collapse, Atem standing atop him.
Her mate stood tall, the tip of his tail flicking with anger as he put his back to her. Putting himself between her and them.
A shiver of relief spread through her body as she sobbed once. She hadn't caught his scent yet, but the sight of his muscular back, golden now because of the surrounding sand, was enough to cut her anxiety neatly in half.
He offered her only a single look over his shoulder, his red eyes checking to make sure that she was okay. She smiled back at him. His expression softened subtly before hardening again as he faced forward, stepping off the corpse of the ratchi.
Torvii and Quvi had stilled at the sight of them. Both of them looked stunned. Confused. Peony could practically read the indecision of flight versus fight as they faced down the proven greatest warrior on all of Turv.
The third male, however, wasn't going to waste his opportunity. With a roar of victory, beaming his arrogance, he sprinted towards Atem.
Peony wasn't afraid.
Atem didn't even look at the male. He stepped to the side, slashing up his arm so fast that she didn't even see the motion. Blood erupted forth from the male's cut throat. His body collapsed to the sand and Atem continued past, his stride not even disrupted.
Quvi gave Torvii a look, but the First Scholar, eyes narrowed, only glared at Atem. His hatred wasn't hidden this time.
Peony still couldn't say she was afraid yet, but she couldn't help but remember that Torvii was one of the few that had drawn Atem's blood during his Hortii Kristivar.
Quvi finally seemed to make up her mind. She turned to run.
Once again, Atem moved so fast, Peony could only see the results of his action.
His arm struck out and Quvi let out a gargled, pained grunt as a blade sank between her shoulder blades. She stumbled forward, one hand reaching back reflexively, but unable to touch the knife. She staggered before falling face forward into the sand.
Still, Atem's stride was unbroken. His hand dropped back to his side as all three of his eyes remained solely focused on Torvii.
The First Scholar also made a decision. Unlike the cowardly retreat of Quvi, he instead raised his claws and faced his Dominani with a hard glare.
Atem finally came to a halt. He didn't raise his claws.
“There is no crowd to protect you here, Atem,” Torvii snarled. “I will cut you down where you stand and replace you with a dominani of my choosing. Just as I did with your father.”
Peony stilled, watching Atem carefully. However, he made no sign that he even heard Torvii. He remained as strong and unmoved as ever.
Torvii charged. Not with a roar, like the arrogant male that had fallen without any apparent effort on Atem's part. He moved silent, fast, coming in low.
A hint of nerves hit Peony's belly, wondering how this fight was going to go. Torvii was older, but he had drawn Atem's blood before.
But Atem simply stepped to the side, turning, keeping his eyes on Torvii. He still didn't even attempt to raise his claws as he allowed Torvii to chase after him, dodging each rapid strike from the other male so perfectly that it almost seemed like he was prescient.
The serious expression on his face now had been absent through the entirety of his Hortii Kristivar.
The day long parade of challengers that had sent him running and climbing through a 3D arena, drawing his blood, forcing him to change his fighting technique for each individual that, she imagined, had to be the greatest fighters on the planet, had been fun for him.
A game. He had been smiling and laughing through the entire ordeal.
He wasn't smiling now.
Torvii didn't have to hold back, but, she realized, neither did Atem.
And her mate, apparently, had been holding back a lot.
He didn't break a sweat. He didn't appear harried. Torvii was snarling, his wide swipes coming with the speed and power of a predatory cat.
But Atem was unconcerned. He could have ended it so quickly, she knew without watching him do it, but instead, he allowed Torvii to get more and more desperate. Slashing viciously at him without landing a single hit. All the while, Atem remained calm and collected.
And that was more insulting than if Atem had cut him down without a single glance as he had done to Quvi and the male whose name Peony still didn't know.
He was looking right at Torvii, easily keeping out of his grasp.
Torvii was such a non-threat to him that he wasn't even going to dignify him with a quick death.
Instead, he let him exhaust himself. Treating him with less seriousness than he gave Temnavi when they were training.
And seeing how little Atem cared, Torvii only became angrier. His movements more erratic, wild, so obvious that even Peony could keep up with them.
She had no idea how long Atem played with Torvii. The sight of her mate had calmed her enough that her heart could resume a normal rhythm in her chest. She was content to wait however long it would take for him to have his vengeance.
Torvii was panting, sweat trickling down his face, when Atem finally had enough.
But he didn't give Torvii the same quick death he had the others.
When one of Torvii's wild strikes went far, Atem finally closed the distance, slamming his fist up into Torvii's gut.
Deliberately not using his claws. Causing pain but not a mortal wound.
Torvii grunted then gasped. When he tried to right himself, Atem swept behind him and kicked in the back of his knees forcing him to the ground.
Then, he grabbed Torvii's hair and jerked his head back, forcing him to look at Peony.
Torvii struggled, desperately yelling, “Don't you want to know how your father-”
Atem ripped out his throat before he could say another word. Still forcing him to look at Peony. At the crime he had committed against Atem by taking her.
Atem held him until his blood stopped pumping. Until his limbs weakened and fell. Only when he was completely lax in Atem's grip did he release his hold, allowing his body to collapse.
He stepped on top of him, walking over his corpse.
Peony didn't hesitate. She rushed to close the distance, throwing herself into his arms. Burying her nose into his chest so she could take a deep breath of his scent.
Like a taut string snapping, all the anxiety and fear and discomfort in her heart broke and she near collapsed into his hold.
Atem's arms clutched her tight, his nose in her hair, taking his own breaths of her scent. As though he was just as affected by the separation anxiety.
“Tell me you're all right, vi Seerin,” he begged, voice rough. The first words he had spoken, and he directed them to her.
His enemies weren't worth the effort.
Peony squeezed herself against him, her own arms tightening so much they shook. He didn't seem to mind that she held him so hard. “I'm all right.”
“I'm so sorry, vi Peony. Forgive me for taking so long.”
She shook her head, leaning back just enough that she could look into his three, beautiful, glowing red eyes. “There's nothing to forgive. You came for me.”
“Of course, I did,” he breathed, pushing her hair from her face.
She choked back a soft sob, a smile pulling at her lips. “You believed me? About the desert?”
Atem gave her his own smile as he repeated, softer this time, “Naturally. My Seerin Siria is clever and strong. If she says that she has been taken into the desert, then I believe her. I will never give you cause to beg me to doubt for you ever again, vi adassi. Always, I will believe your words. Always, I will trust you. As I should have done.”
Peony nodded eagerly, even as she cried. Even as Atem closed the distance between them to place a sweet, deep kiss against her lips. Nothing sexual. Nothing overly passionate. A meeting of their bodies and a reminder to both of them that she was okay.
She pulled back first, running her fingers down his cheek. Soothed by his presence. She still wanted to return to their den, her nest, but being held by him, for now, was good enough that nothing else seemed to matter.
“Did they hurt you?” Atem asked before she had a chance to speak.
She hesitated before shaking her head. “Nothing bad. Probably a few bumps and bruises, but I feel all right.”
Atem's jaw tightened, not satisfied with that answer. “Come. Tuvo is nearby with my hover. We're going straight to Donivi so he can scan you.”
When he tried to pull away, however, Peony grabbed his arm, stopping him. Forcing him to turn back to face her curiously.
“Did you... talk to Donivi?” She asked hesitantly.
Atem's face softened immediately as he returned to her side, placing his hand lovingly over her belly, his thumb rubbing the skin just under her belly button.
“I did.”
He said nothing else, and Peony's nerves were near driving her mad. “And?” She prompted when he said nothing else.
Atem chuckled, leaning forward to kiss her forehead.
“I thought I already told you how eager I was for you to give me a pup, vi Seerin.
That doesn't change or grow just because I know that the pup is from my own loins. The only difference now is that I know to trust you, to never again refuse to believe my mate.”
Peony smacked his arm. “Atem! There's an impossible baby inside me right now! That's all you can say to me?”
“I'm trying to prove a point,” he chuckled, all the darkness of his earlier mood gone.
“Well, don't! Show me how happy you are!”
“Are you sure, vi Seerin? You wouldn't rather wait for a better... location?” He looked pointedly around at the blood-stained sand and dead bodies.
Peony opened her mouth, then hesitated, before nodding. “Yeah, okay. You're right.”
Atem pulled her back into his arms, holding her. “I am happy, vi Seerin. So happy. I love you so much and I still can't even really believe it. Not that I'm saying I don't believe it or trust you-”
Peony chuckled, cutting off his quickly rushed explanation. “No, I get it. I'm still having trouble wrapping my mind around it too.”
Atem relaxed, resting his head on hers. “It is impossible, vi Peony.
You have given me the impossible. Just when I thought you couldn't be more perfect, you accomplish something that the greatest minds in the universe would decry as fantasy. You give me a pup, vi Peony, and I could not be more proud or happy or honored. And I will show you all that the moment I am assured that you, that both of you, are safe and healthy.”
The emotion filled words reminded Peony that she hadn't eaten and drank anything all day – not since breakfast with Atem that felt like a hundred years ago now.
She had also been dragged around and fighting with a great deal of stress.
None of which was good for her baby. A miracle baby that she couldn't be sure was even stable in her womb.
She nodded quickly, her urge to return to her nest completely drowned by the need to be scanned, her phobia completely forgotten.
“Let's go,” she said, still clinging to him. “I want to see the baby again.”
Atem hummed in agreement as he pulled his combot from his pouch so he could summon Tuvo who, she knew, wouldn't be far away.