Chapter 50
Havali
“Take the second tunnel coming up on the left.”
Without question, Havali obeyed the High Imperium’s robotic voice in his ear.
The maintenance tunnels were dark and echoing, there was no chance of being quiet, but he didn’t particularly care. None of them were worried that Scarlet would be killed.
There was only one reason to take a human female, and they needed her alive for that.
The very idea of it was sickening. Havali changed his mind about ripping out their throat with his fangs. They did not deserve to have him drink their blood.
He would rip them out with his claws instead, and let their blood waste on the floor, pooling at his pretty female’s feet. An offering of apology for failing her. He didn’t know if his human mate would understand the gesture, but he would make it anyway.
Havali wasn’t alone, he was just leading the pack that was cutting their way through the underground maintenance tunnels that traversed all around under the district.
They were only supposed to be accessible by specialized mechanics and engineers, and those in the Coalition compound district were more protected than most.
However, the vir were a determined, technologically adept species. Breaking into infrequently traveled maintenance tunnels must have been easy for them.
The suits they wore to take Scarlet were graded for deep space. Meaning no air could get in or out of them. A stealthy technique to prevent leaving any scent markers behind.
But it only worked if the suits were thoroughly cleaned after they were put on and sealed. Without that, scent markers were left on the suits themselves. Markers that could be detected by any species with a highly attuned olfactory sense.
Like the ratchi.
Danya had not been careful. And knowing it was her explained the strangely shaped beings that Scarlet had tried to describe before.
It was just a person with wings that were distorting a normal body shape under a tight suit.
And if there were two of them, that left only two suspects for the second party.
And only one suspect for the person responsible.
Tsok’s people had scented Scarlet’s blood and, calling on Haviss’ people to help, had tracked the tiny droplets through the open plains to a maintenance tunnel entrance. A place that did not have cameras but did have security sensors.
Sensors easily and readily accessible by the High Imperium.
On the ride to the closest entrance to Scarlet’s location, Havali had done research into Superior Crav’Ral’Tivor. He had been keeping secrets from the Coalition.
In the last three generations, there had been a notable and highly detrimental drop in female birth rates among the vir.
The first culprit, the dreaded womb rot, had been quickly eliminated as a cause.
The disease or condition affected females more than males, but it only affected them in utero – during development.
It had led to a high rate of miscarriage of female embryos, with the few females that were born having difficulty reproducing themselves later.
Which meant, after three generations, there was now a severe gap in gender populations.
Superior Crav had taken a female from a family that seemed to have no issues breeding but had failed to have any younglings from her. So, he had done what was now considered taboo nearly to the point of illegality – he had taken a second female. Only for her to also fail to produce younglings.
And now, in his greed and desperation for a youngling, he had set his eyes on a species that seemed to have no troubles breeding. He had no way of knowing if Scarlet would be as compatible with him as the other females had been with the domini, but there was no harm in trying.
Except that the entire Coalition had just come together to vote to protect human females from this very thing.
There was a law, waiting only on his signature now, that would make committing this very act a crime of the highest order.
And Scarlet was a citizen of Turv, making her domini in all but blood. And the crime for doing this to a domini was the same as any other species. Havali, as her mate-in-intention, and Atem, as her brother-by-law, would face no punishment for destroying him.
Nor would Tuvo or Fellaseen or the six males Haviss and Tsok had sent along with them to help block the tunnels in case anyone tried to escape.
When they arrived at the tunnel entrance, the High Imperium informed them, through the tiny combots placed in their ears, that he had ordered and successfully completed a takeover of the vir compound and that neither Crav nor his mates were inside.
But the sensors showed four lifeforms in one of the storage rooms in a distant maintenance tunnel. A place that they probably thought was well beyond any possible search boundaries.
Unaware of just how well guarded the Coalition district was. Unaware of just how far and fast the Coalition would move to secure these females.
Completely unaware that death was rushing towards them.