The brown one is terrified now. This wasn't what he signed up for. His scales have gone pale, fear response. He backs toward the entrance, tail between his legs. His hands are up, placating.
Vek's voice cracks like a whip. “Where are you going?”
The brown one keeps backing away, shaking his head. “This is wrong.” His voice is high, panicked. “She's fighting.” He gestures wildly at the blue-green still struggling to move. “Females aren't supposed to fight like this.”
“Get back here!” Vek lunges toward him, but the brown one is already running. Gone. Can't blame him. Smart choice, actually.
Now it's just Vek and the partially blinded yellow one. Better odds, but Vek is desperate. Desperate makes him dangerous.
I back against the wall, hand going to my waist. “Just you and me now.” The obsidian blade's handle is warm from my body heat. “Still want to try?”
He charges.
No finesse, just rage and weight. He hits me hard enough to drive the air from my lungs, slams me into the wall. The impact makes my vision spark. His hands pin my wrists, claws digging in enough to draw blood. I feel the warm trickle down my arms.
His face is inches from mine. “Should have taken bond from Khor when you had chance.” His breath is hot, sour with the scent of rotted fruit. Saliva drips from his exposed teeth. “Now you'll take mine.”
I try to pull away but he presses closer, his weight crushing. “Bond requires consent.”
His grip tightens, and I feel bones grind. “Body gives consent.” He inhales deeply at my neck. “Can smell how ready you are.” His breeding cock presses against my stomach through my torn clothes. “Tonic makes you need breeding.” His hips push forward. “Any male's breeding.”
He's not wrong. Even now, terrified and furious, my body responds to his proximity. The tonic doesn't care about mypreferences. It just recognizes compatible male and floods me with need. My body trembles, and I hate that he can feel it.
But need isn't consent. And I still have weapons.
The obsidian blade is at my waist. I can't reach it with my hands pinned, but I don't need to. I bring my knee up hard between his legs. Even alien anatomy has sensitive spots.
He doubles over, gasping. His grip loosens, hands going to cup himself. A keening sound escapes his throat. I grab the obsidian, slash across his chest. Not deep enough to kill, but enough to make him stagger back. The blade parts scales like they're paper.
Green blood wells from the cut. He stares at it, one hand pressed to the wound, blood seeping between his fingers. His expression shifts from rage to disbelief. “You cut me.” His voice is small, confused. “You actually cut me.”
I hold the blade steady despite my shaking hands. “I'll do worse if you don't leave.”
The yellow one has recovered enough to see, tears streaming from burned eyes. He looks at Vek's blood, at the blue-green still paralyzed against the wall, at me holding a blade that gleams like frozen night. His hands are still pressed to his face, but I can see him calculating through the pain.
He takes a step back. “This isn't worth it.” His voice is rough from screaming. “She's insane.”
Vek presses harder against his wound, blood flowing faster. “She's one female!” The words come out wet, pained. “We can still...”
I pull out the secretion vial. Hold it where they can see it. The crystal catches the light, throwing rainbow patterns on the walls.
Both their faces change. They know what this is. What it does. The yellow one's pupils dilate just from seeing it.
Vek's hand drops from his chest, blood forgotten. “You wouldn't.” His voice has gone high, afraid. “That's worth more than...”
I uncap the vial. The scent hits immediately, musky and wrong. Both males' pupils dilate slightly just from proximity. Their breathing changes, becomes faster. I tilt the vial slightly, threatening.
The yellow one is already backing away, hands out in surrender. “I'm leaving.” He stumbles toward the entrance, bouncing off walls. “This is madness.”
But Vek doesn't move. Won't give up. Can't. He's invested too much in this plan. His whole body is tense, ready to lunge.
“You won't throw it.” He takes a step closer despite the blood running down his chest. “You're bluffing.”
The blue-green is trying to crawl toward the entrance, paralyzed side dragging. He's almost at the opening when Vek moves toward me again, desperate and reckless. His claws are fully extended, scales flushed dark with rage and arousal.
I throw the vial.
Not at Vek directly. At the space between him and the blue-green. The crystal shatters against the stone floor, exploding in a cloud of glittering dust that engulfs them both. The sound is sharp, final.
