Chapter 86
Eighty-Six
Drozel
My leg was between Omden's. Lessa's arm was pinned between us, and her chest was pressed against my back. I had my tail around her, and my partner's head was tucked under mine. Everything about this was completely comfortable, yet something was pulling me from sleep.
It was quiet and far away, but the sound of a scream jerked my eyes wide open - yet my body remained locked in place. Had that been a nightmare? Was the river flooding? I hadn't seen storms on the horizon, but I also hadn't really been looking.
Then it came again, and longer this time.
Fear. Pain. Rage. They were all in that sound, and I knew it far too well.
I jerked upright, and I wasn't the only one moving.
Lessa flinched back, extracting her body from the tangle of ours.
Omden flipped onto his back, looking at the window as if it could explain things.
"Something's wrong," Lessa said.
"Already figured that out," Omden assured her. "Lessa, go wake Meri. Droz - "
"Weapons," I said. "Do you think it's the river?"
"I'm going to go listen," he decided, rolling out of bed and heading for the door.
I went for clothes, pulling out both mine and his. But Lessa? She wasn't moving. Instead, she'd curled up, huddling closer to herself.
"Less," I said, "I need you to wake Meri."
She shook her head. "That sounds like Moles."
Fuck! Throwing our weapons belts on the bed at Lessa's feet, I crossed the hall and headed down. At Meri's room, I didn't bother knocking. I stepped in quietly, not sure if she was a light sleeper, then headed for her bed.
"Meri?" I whispered.
She sucked in a breath and turned her head to face me. "I'm awake."
"I need you to take care of Lessa," I said, making the decision on the spot just as another scream could be heard. This time, it was from a woman. "Something's wrong, Omden and I are going to check it out, but Lessa's panicking." I reached over for Meri's arm. "She thinks it's Moles."
And the girl sat up. "What do I do?"
"Wake Sylis," I told her. "Lessa's in my room. Get her out and make her think. Once she's doing, she won't be paralyzed."
"And if it is the Moles?" she asked. "If they come here?"
I caught her chin, lifting her face so her eyes met mine in the darkness. "Then you do not let them take the ones we love, okay, Sparrow?"
"I'm not a fighter," she whimpered.
"I don't care, and neither will they. Hide. Run. Pick your poison, Meri, but you're the one who needs to keep her head on straight. Keep them safe. And when we know it's safe, I'll come take you to the hospital, okay?"
"I will," she said, slinging off her blankets.
Surprisingly, the girl left the room ahead of me, not waiting to get dressed before heading to Sylis's room. Then again, those two had become friends lately - or something close to it. I wasn't quite sure, but they giggled now. Often while looking at me.
I headed back to my room, needing to make sure Lessa was okay. When I walked in, she flinched, but she was already separating out things, getting it all ready for us to put on.
"Meri's in charge," I told her as I reached for my pants. "Sylis is going to be a problem, but you know where the guns are, right?"
She pointed up at the roof of my closet.
I nodded. "Meri knows how to use them. If he has to die, then fine, but do not let him get taken or hurt either of you. Sting him if you have to, Lessa."
"Okay," she breathed just as Omden rushed back in.
"I heard gunshots," he said as he reached for his clothes. "Screams are coming from over by the library."
"What?!" I snapped. "How'd they get that far?"
"It's almost four in the morning," Omden snarled. "Not sunset, Droz. It's their time. Dark, when everyone's asleep. They're probably halfway across town by now."
"Fuck!" I growled, realizing this was bad.
And we hurried. Lessa found her clothes and slapped them on.
We equipped every weapon within reach, and yet it felt like it took far too long.
The screams were still faint, although it sounded like they were getting closer - but that may have been my own paranoia.
Our house was on the west side, far enough north we should be safe, but what if we weren't?
We headed into the hall to find Meri there and dressed. Sylis had his door open, pulling on a shirt, but he was just inside it. The sound of us made him poke his head out.
"What do you need me to do?" he asked.
It was Omden who answered. "It's your friends."
"Moles?" Meri asked.
"Yeah," I breathed. "He heard gunshots."
Sylis simply stepped closer, still shoving his shirt into his pants. "What do you need me to do?"
"Protect them," I said, pointing at Meri then Lessa.
Sylis nodded once. "I will. Can I have a weapon? A knife even?"
"Fuck," I grumbled, turning around and deciding I had no reason not to trust this man. I would not let Lessa lose anyone else. I was not going to see her destroyed like that again, and if Sylis actually proved himself?
"Don't wear black!" I yelled back at him even as I opened the closet, shifted the panel in the ceiling, then stepped on the lower shelf so I could poke my head up there.
That made it easy to see the safe. I quickly selected the numbers - Omden's birthday - and yanked at the latch.
The heavy door swung free, revealing a stack of emergency money and three of their guns we used for training.
I took one, slinging the strap over my shoulder, then removed the casings for the bullets from the other two.
After securing the safe again, I headed back, thrusting the gun and bullets at Sylis. "If you turn on them, Sylis, I will sting you with only enough venom to make you scream. Then I'll do it again and again until you peel your own flesh off. Am I clear?"
The man smirked at me instead of trembling. "Yes, Drozel. It's a man's duty to protect." I got the strangest feeling he wasn't talking about his duty.
"You're giving him a gun?" Omden asked.
"Yep," I said. "I have a house full of former Moles. For all I know, one of us could be the threat. Lessa?"
"I'm okay," she assured me. "We're going to stay inside and wait for you to tell us it's okay."
"And I'll be back," I promised her. "I. Will. Be. Back."
She grabbed me, pressing her mouth to mine. I took it, kissing her as hard as I could, knowing it was what she needed. I needed it too, if I was honest, but when she let go of me, Meri took her hand and guided Lessa against her side.
Sylis murmured. "So what do I get if I don't turn on my friends?"
"That's up to Omden," I said, turning for the door.
But Omden paused before Sylis, making me wait for him. "Please?" he begged softly.
"I'm not going to lose this, Om," Sylis told him. "Not my friends, not the freedom, and certainly not the chance. I won't kill Tobias, though."
"Damn, you had to be a good man," Omden grumbled - and then kissed him.
He didn't ask. He also didn't hesitate. My partner simply cupped the side of Sylis's face and kissed that man the way I bet he'd never expected to be kissed.
Omden pressed in close, chest to chest, and Sylis melted against him.
Their mouths moved until Sylis's lips parted, and then Omden took the chance to explore.
Hard, fast, and a little wild, they kissed like it might be their only time, and I felt things.
Pride came first. Omden wasn't the most sexual man, but this?
It was far from sexual. It was all emotion, boiling to the surface.
I felt fear too, wondering what these seconds would cost us.
Then there was something else. Something I didn't have a word for.
Because in all the time we'd been together, I'd never seen this man kiss anyone else.
I knew he had, but not in front of me. That he'd done it so easily made the smallest insecurity scream in the back of my mind.
It also smothered it at the same time, making me realize just how much Omden loved me. How much he trusted me.
How comfortable we'd finally become in the midst of all of this.
And then he pushed Sylis back, breaking their kiss. "Save my family, Sylis, and you could be a part of it."
Omden spun, marching out of the house like that was some dramatic exit - and forcing me to keep up. I did, glancing back to see Meri grinning like she wanted to congratulate her friend, but Lessa's death grip on her hand proved it was not the time.
"So," I said the moment we were outside, "that happened."
"Yep," Omden said, pointing toward City Hall, which meant we had to go south to get there. "Everyone will try to take cover at City Hall."
We headed that way at a jog. "We need the militia, Om."
"They'll find us," he assured me. "We need to protect people first and then - "
We passed the house across from ours and light flared. I stopped hard, leaning one way and then the other to see between a few buildings. That was fire! Small still, but definitely a fire, and it looked close to City Hall!
"Something's burning!" I hissed just as more gunshots rang out.
Moles were over there. Here. Far too close to the center of town to make sense.
I didn't know what was going on, but nothing about this attack was right.
It was early in the morning, still dark out here.
They'd made it too far into town and were all over areas they normally were never able to reach.
But worse, if they were close enough to City Hall to set something on fire?
We needed to turn everyone away. This had to be a trap. Some new way those fuckers were hunting? I didn't know, but could imagine a million reasons they were doing this, and we'd slept through them sneaking in!
So I took off, trying to get there before people could get killed. Omden was right behind me like always. This man was my shadow. He shared my mind half the time, and I knew I was going to need him at my back tonight.
Ducking between houses, we reached the next roadway just as the city bells finally began to toll, but it was already too late. People had already poured into the streets. Men in black clothing were swarming them, grabbing far too many - and moving south and east, not north!
"Run!" I yelled at a woman as I charged the man chasing after her. "Head to the school. North! Take as many as you can."
She did, and the Mole slowed to raise his gun, but a pair of arrows slammed into him, one after the other.
Just to make sure he was dead, I stung the fucker, then moved to the next.
Omden kept them from getting close to me.
When I made a gap, he moved to my side, and we kept going, following the path of destruction and the bright golden glow of fire.
Yes, City Hall was burning. Just a corner of it so far, but the flames were spreading much too fast. And yet, the light made it easy to see the chaos around us.
People ran. Moles shot. Bodies laid where they'd fallen, and drag marks proved more had already been taken. Omden and I screamed at those we could see, telling them to go to the school for shelter, to watch out, and most of all, to warn the others.
And the whole time, I attacked any Mole I could see, alternating between my bow and my krael. I dropped another man and looked up to see a flood of people herding children straight up the main road. They were actually going north!
Then Omden screamed, "Stop or die!" The words were in English.
My head whipped around, I saw where he was looking, then turned the same way. There, a young man held a woman with a blade to her throat, clearly struggling to take her somewhere.
But she was flapping her hand low, down by her side. "Go!" she hissed.
And in the shadows, I saw a child. Hopefully, the Mole hadn't. No, he was focused on Omden, who had his bow pulled and was ready to loose.
"Let her go," I warned in English, moving to assist. "That man can shoot well enough to kill you and not her."
"You can't speak!" the Mole hissed. "You can't!"
"Oh, but I can," I said around a smile. "And Omden's going to shoot you in the foot."
But in Vestrian, my partner said, "We need information."
"Then don't kill him," I replied in the same language. "Just get this woman free so she can help that kid!" And to her I added, "Get them away from City Hall. Go to the school, it's safer!"
Right before Omden could release his arrow, the Mole shoved the woman forward and spun, trying to run the other way.
We chased. The woman stumbled to the ground, then flattened herself when she saw us coming.
We jumped, sailing over her, but it was Omden who caught the Mole and slung him into the side of a house.
"Hands off the gun!" he demanded, poking his stinger under the kid's jaw.
I moved in to take the weapon. "How did you get into town?"
The Mole's head was whipping between us. "Let me go!"
Omden pressed his stinger hard enough to poke the young man's skin. "Have you seen what venom does?"
I heard the sound of fluid splattering on the ground. The scent of urine came a moment later, but Omden didn't flinch away from the kid pissing himself. If anything, he leaned in a little more, and a cruel smile took over his face.
"Talk!" I demanded. "Where did you come from?"
"We went around the line," the boy said. "We had to march into the day and we started while the sun was still blinding, but we did it. We got here."
"How!" I roared.
He thrust his hand back in the direction he'd been running. "The path. The one in the rocks and hills. It comes straight here, and that side isn't guarded!"
"Well, fuck," I said one more time tonight, aware I'd just sent that woman and kid the wrong way. "Om, they used the hunting trails through the mountains - and I'm pretty sure everyone in town is currently running right toward their main force."
"Then we need to move," Omden said, shoving the tip of his tail up, deep into the boy's throat.
The Mole was dead before he hit the ground.