Chapter 8 #3
“Well, this is sure interesting, isn’t it, my mate?
” a new voice drawled. Reid twisted his head slowly toward this newcomer, as if he’d known all along they were there.
I nearly jumped out of my scales at the sound of Kusha’s voice.
She was beneath the trees, right at the spot where I’d first spotted Astrexa, so she’d come from the same direction.
Her mate, Khawla, was at her side, his big arms crossed over his chest and his head lowered, a frown marring his brow.
“It is,” he agreed with her. They looked united, but at the same time, I could see something in their relationship that I had never realized was off.
When Reid stood next to me, he couldn’t keep his hands to himself; even now, he stood close and held my hand.
Kusha and Khawla were next to each other but very much apart.
When the statuesque female moved closer to him, Khawla backed away, like he did not want to touch her.
“Step away, human male. This is Naga business and does not concern you,” Kusha said haughtily and she waved her hand at Reid.
Then her dark blue eyes settled on me. “Translate my words for your male, Sazzie. He must control himself and let us handle this like adults. You know this. Fight me, and I promise you I’ll make it quick.
One fight, and it will all be over.” Maybe she did not mean to sound so ominous, but it sounded like she intended to kill me, just like Astrexa held only murderous intent in her glare.
“My male understands just fine,” I told her.
“And I am not fighting anyone. I am leaving. Defeat her,” I said, pointing at Astrexa and noticing how that made the female freeze in surprise.
“Nobody else here will stand in your way.” I knew Kusha understood what I was saying; she was a clever, cunning female.
Where Astrexa was blunt and mean, this one always pulled strings with the bigger picture in mind.
Honestly, she was the perfect Queen, probably better for the Clan.
I had forgotten why Khawla and Kusha were a match; Kusha was just as much a stickler for the rules as her mate was.
She curled her lip in distaste, displaying her fangs to me.
She would have said something scathing and angry, something about how much of a disgrace I’d become.
I knew it, and I was almost relieved by the next interruption.
Bitter Storm warriors streamed out of the woods, and both Reid and Khawla spun to face them.
The Thunder Rock Scout, with his spear lowered and aimed at the nearest threat, Reid, with his knife out.
Everyone—including Astrexa—forgot about the throne, focusing only on this new danger.
There were six of them, all big and brawny, all male.
I saw no sign of their scrawny leader, Aser, but I was certain he was nearby, waiting on the sidelines like a true coward.
I hissed, my claws curling and my scales shivering.
Weren’t there twelve warriors? Where were the rest?
Nobody said anything. There was a pause before the fight, and then an explosion of motion.
Khawla and Reid burst forward at the same time, as if they had fought together before.
I did not know what to do; it wasn’t customary for a Naga female to fight alongside her male.
We only fought each other—not males, not enemies. We did not even hunt.
Reid was moving uncannily fast, slashing with his knife and disarming enemies with grace.
Khawla was also proving to be much more than a simple scout, wielding his spear with deadly precision.
But it was two against six, and then the other six showed up from the opposite direction.
They could not possibly win. I came to that conclusion at the same time Kusha did, I was certain.
The two of us shared a wide-eyed look and then both of us turned to attack.
Astrexa was slower on the uptake, but she was left little choice when one of the Bitter Storm males tried to manhandle her.
Flinging myself beneath the guard of the nearest warrior, I clawed deep furrows across his red-and-orange-freckled chest. My claws dug deep, pulling blood to the surface, and he screamed in rage.
I had to move fast to avoid a blow from his spear, nearly getting caught beneath the spear of another male.
I was out of my depth; I had never fought an armed opponent before, especially one with far superior training to mine.
The truth was, I had no training except what I’d learned fighting my sisters. All of it was instinct.
“Not her!” a male shouted. “We need her! Damn it!” Aser.
I locked eyes with him from beneath the raised arm of the warrior I’d clawed.
He snarled but changed tactics, turning his spear to strike me with the blunt shaft.
I blocked the first blow with my wrist but wasn’t fast enough to protect myself from the next one.
Reid was just suddenly there, his arm between the spear shaft and my head.
His skin gleamed impossibly silver and violet.
He’d left himself exposed to protect me, and a scream ripped from my throat when I saw another spear jab him in his side.
Red blood spurted, the scent of copper filling the air.
When the spear withdrew, his wound knitted itself back together before my eyes, leaving only a bloodstained gash in his shirt.
But it cost him. I knew what it did to him now, when he fought and healed this fast. How long before he collapsed?
Before he ran out of the fuel that powered his body and those weird nanobots beneath his skin?
I heard Khawla roar as Reid knocked out the male who had stabbed him with a rapid-fire blow to the throat.
My eyes shifted and caught sight of Kusha pinned beneath two big Bitter Storm warriors, her tail restrained by one of theirs.
She’d suffered a blow to the chest, and I did not think she was getting up again—maybe not ever.
After that, everything went too fast. I was still scrambling to get back upright and make sense of the battlefield when the tide turned.
More warriors streamed from the woods. This wasn’t six males or a dozen—there were at least another twenty males, and they piled onto an enraged Khawla before giving Reid the same treatment.
I no longer saw Astrexa anywhere, and then I had no more time to look, either.
All I could do was dodge hands and claw at exposed tails and arms. If they restrained me, it was all over.
I took a big, venom-filled bite out of one biceps, then managed to slap a male so hard across his head with my tail that he collapsed.
But then, a blow struck me against my temple, and darkness claimed me—a horrible, rapid descent into unconsciousness I could not stop.
My last thoughts were of Reid: did he make it?
Did he escape? Had they killed him or captured him?