Page 89 of King of Serpents

“Until my last breath,” he affirmed. “The queen’s nest is not yours to take. And neither am I.”

A cold laugh erupted from her. “That is where you are wrong. It was meant to be my throne all along. Your mother is the cause of all this pain. She betrayed her blood, her shinara, everything that we have believed for generations and that has kept it safe, and for what? For the love of a male. And even then, she could not let go of the throne and pass it along to one who would protect it. She chased away my mother, exiled her even though it meant her death for doing what was necessary and right for the Aglatha. Now I am taking it back the only way that makes sense. The sacrifices are inconsequential.”

“I doubt Gareiia’s mother feels that way,” Therxian challenged.

“Perhaps not,” Ferinia agreed. “She will grieve, but she has other daughters who will grow up in a society that understands their place. She knows why it had to be done. She even accepted her own punishment for not curtailing Gareiia’s rebellion when she saw evidence of it. But your loss, I think, will be the sharpest,” she leaned in close and whispered, her hand touching his belly.

A shiver of revulsion swept through him, and she laughed.

“What is it like to know that your mate is dying at this moment beneath Dehv’s claws?” she whispered in his ear. “Or that your mother will soon follow her into the Shangla’s garden. And that will only be the beginning of your pain as you endure night after night of forced extrusion to satisfy my need to breed. And I will fly you well, Therxian,” she hissed.

Hot, bitter fury rose up within his stomach, his heart aching with a pain that raked through it. He did not think. He just reacted. Drawing his tail up, he whipped it at her in a merciless slash with the gavo partially raised, cutting into her scales. Her shriek of pain was almost musical, but it was the spray of her blood against his scales as she recoiled that gave him the most satisfaction. She wound back on her tail, carrying herself swiftly across the room as she glared at him with pain and rage brightening her eyes. He stared back at her expressionlessly, challenging her to do her worst. Daring her to come close again.

“Even if you succeed in all of these things, I will never bond to you,” he promised with a menacing hiss. “I will spend every breath hating you, and I will do everything I can to bleed you any time you attempt to touch me and breed me. I will make you share my pain at every opportunity, and eventually... I will make certain to kill you.”

Her eyes widened fractionally as she stared at him, but then a cold mask descended over her features once more and she withdrew further toward the entryway, her blood leaving a wet trail.

“We will see,” she coldly replied. “It will be interesting to see how long you remain committed to your vengeance once the bond is broken and you are once again susceptible to my pheromones. I wonder how long it will take your will to fracture beneath instinct.”

“You might be surprised,” he returned.

Her mouth curved into a mocking smile. “Then we will begin. For tonight, languish as you remain chained in here and pray that your mate did not suffer much. May her released spirit keep you company.” Her smile dropped as she turned toward the entrance tunnel. “Do not feed him tonight,” she ordered in a raised voice to the guard he was certain was lurking at the other end. “Let the prince get his first taste of suffering.”

Alone again, he hung his head, his body slumping with the grief bearing down on him. What if Buosoa had indeed been too late? A quiet, mournful hum of keening rose within him as he grieved with the full weight of his hearts’ sorrow.

Chapter 60

Alex flailed, her fingers scraping against the floor desperately as she tried to escape. Her eyes squeezed shut, certain that the attack would come again. The male froze, however, as a collision to the wall—a strike that somehow sounded more vicious than before— sent a loud reverberation through the nest.

Her heart leapt. That sound—it wasn’t him!

His gavo lifted as his head turned toward the sound. It was a small distraction, but his weight lifted enough off her neck that she grappled his arm and rolled aggressively, breaking his grip on her. His wings snapped open as she flopped and crawled forward, flattening just in time to avoid a vicious sideswipe of his tail breaking the air above her head. A gasp stuttered from her, but she immediately rolled, forcing herself to keep moving though she wobbled with fear. The room had fallen silent again and she wanted to weep with frustration.

Had they abandoned her?

Perhaps they were looking for another way in. Fuck, let them find another way in!

Tears ran down her cheeks she scrabbled to avoid him, throwing anything she could get her hands on at the male thrashing behind her. She got her feet underneath her and propelled herself forward, her fingers skimming the floor as she shoved herself more fully onto her feet. She stumbled forward as she haphazardly ran, her eyes falling on the blowgun sitting among the scrolls on the bookcase.

There! She raced toward it in a full-out sprint, her legs pumping in a clumsy rush as she shot across the floor. She could barely catch her breath and instead labored to draw in ragged gasps of air as she attempted to evade her pursuer by laying out a winding path she had learned as a child to evade predators in the rural encampments far from the lavish cities of the citizens.

Fuck, she just hoped it worked as well as Seshanamitesh as it had on gators!

The way he crashed behind her, his body lashing in pursuit, was certainly reminiscent of it. Or perhaps of the massive python that had been hunted down after it killed a four-year-old playing at the edge of the encampment. It had thrashed and hissed threateningly, just like the alien pursuing her. And just like the hunters who went after the massive python, she had one advantage working in her favor: her smaller frame made her nimble when it came to suddenly changing direction and moving around obstacles. And of course, she was also creating even more obstacles by throwing furnishings directly into his path and toppling shelves behind her. It barely slowed him down, but it made his pursuit louder and made him angrier by the moment as he thrashed in frustration. Which seemed to be an unexpected bonus that the angrier he got, the clumsier and rasher he became.

Unfortunately, it didn’t necessarily make her safe either as she was still barely dodging the wicked blows from his tail that either landed with sharp cracks on the floor or shattered furnishings, sending splinters of wood flying.

Come on, come on, Alex chanted to herself inwardly. Almost there.

She flinched to the side as she caught a blur of lavender from her peripheral vision, ducking out of the way just in time to avoid the male’s tail as it shot forward bringing down a nearer shelf right in front of her, forcing her to skid on the ball of her feet as she was had no choice but to rapidly change direction. She tripped and stumbled forward, nearly falling except for the one hand that grazed the floor to keep herself balanced as she unsteadily rushed forward once more. She didn’t have the luxury of savoring the way he shrieked angrily, voicing his displeasure at this near miss. Every bit of her focus was trained on keeping herself a step ahead of him.

Circling the dug-out dining pit, she shot back toward the shelf needed, a smile spreading across her face as she heard him crash into the table in his attempt to change course. His outraged shriek deafened her. But it was closer, closer than she liked. Damn! His collision with the table was obviously—and quite unfortunately—minimal. She didn’t need to look back to know that. In after-thought, she realized perhaps she should have, then she might have seen the broken segment from the table hurtling toward her.

The small stone slab hit her like a bag of bricks and sent her flying forward into the bookcase. It broke beneath her, scattering scrolls everywhere. Her chest heaved as she struggled to regain her breath as she slowly rolled, pushing the broken reeds off her as she turned to face the male looming menacingly over her. A triumphant grin stretched menacingly across his face. He was close enough that she suddenly became aware of the blood that drenched his claws, hands and forearms, and was splattered across his scales. Her stomach twisted with the realization that he had already killed before.

She scooted away from him, her hands searching the wreckage around her for her blowgun. She knocked the scrolls out of her way frantically. It had to be here somewhere. It wouldn’t have rolled far. She knocked aside another scroll and nearly stopped breathing when she heard the hollow clatter of her blowgun being lightly struck by it.

There!