His body shudders with what might be laughter or pain. “More than survived.” He coughs, blood speckling his lips, mixing with tears running from his eyes. “She destroyed us.” His hand twitches toward his ruined lower body. “Turned us into... animals.”
I look back at Mara, still pressed against the wall. “You were always animals.” My tail sweeps the ground, dismissive. “She just reminded you.”
I stand, look at my female. She hasn't moved, still holding the blade like she might need it. Dried blood under her fingernails. Bruises on her wrists from someone's grip. But intact. Unbroken.
I gesture toward the entrance where the blue-green lies. “The blue-green?”
She follows my gaze, then looks back at me. “Unconscious.” Her voice is flat, exhausted. “Might survive.” She rolls her shoulders, testing for damage. “Vek took the worst of it.”
I return to Vek. In ancient times, before the Consortium and their rules, we would leave him to die slowly. Let the desert take him piece by piece. But we're civilized now. We show mercy to the defeated.
I crouch beside him again, close enough that he can see me clearly. “You came for what was mine.”
His throat works, trying to swallow blood. “I know.” His voice is just breath shaped into words. Each one costs him. “Was stupid.” A pause while he gathers strength. “Young.” His eyes close, then open again with effort. “Desperate.”
My claws extend fully. “Yes.”
His eyes track the movement of my claws. “Will you...” He can't finish. Doesn't need to. His hand moves slightly, trying to expose his throat better.
I extend my claws. Quick strike across the throat, severing everything important. His eyes show relief before they empty.The suffering ends. His body relaxes for the first time since the frenzy hit.
Mara watches from her position against the wall. “Was that necessary?”
I stand, blood dripping from my claws. “Was mercy.” I wipe my claws clean on Vek's already ruined scales. “Could have let him rot for days.”
She finally lowers the blade, lets it rest against her thigh. “He would have taken me against my will.”
I move toward her slowly, watching for signs she's not ready for contact. “Yes.” I stop just out of her reach. “But he didn't.” My head tilts, studying her. “Because you're more predator than he expected.”
I drag Vek's body outside, then the blue-green who still breathes but won't wake for hours. The weight of them nothing to me, but I feel Mara watching every movement. If he survives, he'll spread the story. The human female who destroyed four hunters. Good. Let them know she's not easy prey.
When I return, she's standing. The blade drops from fingers that shake with delayed reaction. It clatters on the stone, the sound sharp in the sudden quiet.
She takes a step toward me, then stops. “I didn't know if you'd come back in time.”
I cross the distance between us in two strides. “I ran.” My hands hover near her shoulders, not touching yet. “Left immediately after delivery.” I scan her for injuries, cataloging each mark. “Knew they would move once I left.”
Her body sways toward mine, then away, like she can't decide what she needs. “They weren't subtle about it.”
I risk touching her arm, gentle. She doesn't pull away. “Young hunters never are.”
I'm close enough to touch her now but don't. Not yet. Need to be sure she's ready for contact after such violence. Her eyes are dilated, but I can't tell if it's adrenaline or arousal or shock.
She looks down at her hands, turns them over to examine the blood caked under her nails. “Show me.”
I don't understand at first. Then she starts walking, leading me through the den. “Show me what?”
She walks me through the fight. Points out the paralytic spine, still embedded in the floor where it fell from the blue-green's shoulder. Her foot nudges it. Shows me the sulfur crystal residue, yellow dust ground into the stone. Her fingers ghost over the pattern. The obsidian's bloody edge lies where she dropped it. And finally, the shattered remains of the secretion vial, crystal fragments catching light.
She crouches beside the shattered vial, careful not to touch the residue. “Wasted on them.”
I crouch beside her, tail curling around her ankle in support. “Not wasted.” My claw traces the impact pattern in the dust. “Used perfectly.” I look at her profile, see the exhaustion settling in. “Turned their strength against them.”
She turns to face me, still crouching. “I learned from watching you.” Her hand moves unconsciously to her throat, to the unmarked skin there. “How you think.” Her fingers trace where a bond bite would go. “How you plan.”
I catch her hand, still it against her throat. “You learned to be yourself.” My thumb traces her pulse, rapid and strong. “I just gave you permission.”
Something breaks in her expression. The control she's been holding since the attack. She crashes into me, hands gripping my scales hard enough to hurt. Not embrace. Need. Desperate, violent need. Her body shakes against mine, adrenaline finally releasing.
