Page 5 of Nazab

“This is just a delay tactic so you can avoid facing Rahab’s anger,” Deumos said. He was still pissed that his progeny manipulated his emotions to escape from him. She’d turned him and his colleagues against their human allies and it had resulted in a bloodbath. Too many of his squadmates had witnessed his humiliation.

“Like you delayed reporting in that your spawn escaped with Urzra?” Phul retorted.

“I went straight to our commander as soon as I reached land,” Deumos argued.

“Who cares?” Vetis asked with a scowl. “Nazab’s getting away with yet another cambion,” he pointed out. “We need to stop wasting time arguing about something so trivial.”

Things had to be dire if one of the craziest soldiers in their squad was being the voice of reason. Phul glared at Deumos, well aware his colleague had always thought he was above the rest of them. “Keep searching,” he ordered. “I’ll report to our commander in person.”

“Take your time!” Deumos called after him when he took off. “I’m sure Rahab won’t mind being kept in the dark!”

“You’ve got a dead wish,” Ipos said to his colleague almost admiringly.

“It’s death wish, not dead wish,” Lachial said with an eyeroll. He might be insane, but at least he wasn’t as stupid as Ipos. He whistled for his four guards as the other teams split up to search the area to the northwest of the Bronx.

Phul had only been running for a couple of minutes before his leader contacted him. “Report in, Phul,” Rahab ordered.

Halting, Phul cursed when one of his guards crashed into him. He shoved the soldier away and received a scowl in response, then took his walky-talky out of his pocket. “I was just on my way to see you, Lord,” Phul said.

“Don’t tell me yet another knight has escaped from us,” his commander said in a dark tone that hinted at retribution.

“Yes, Lord,” Phul admitted with a wince. “Unfortunately, Nazab found his cambion shortly after he landed. She gave him some kind of power boost and Nazab fled too quickly for us to follow him.” Silence came through the line. “Lord Rahab?” Phul asked as a bad feeling began to rise in his gut.

Again, no answer came.

“He’s gone,” one of the guards who watched over their boss said through the walky-talky. “He ordered us to stay behind.”

“Which direction did he head towards?” the second in command asked wearily. They all knew Rahab was about to go on yet another rampage.

“North,” the guard replied. “I have no idea where he’ll end up this time.”

Phul silently cursed himself for not reaching their leader quickly enough. He hadn’t even had a chance to try to calm Rahab down. Now he would have to scour Manhattan and the other boroughs for him. Phul would eventually find a trail of bodies to follow, or hear screams of horror and agony, just like all the other times Rahab lost control of his temper.

“We could ask the mercenaries to keep a lookout for piles of bodies to give us a clue where to look,” one of his guards suggested.

Phul glared at the soldiers when they snickered. “We all know the humans will turn on us if word gets out that Rahab’s been responsible for so many of their deaths,” he reminded them.

“Creel Lawson’s prepper goons are already looking for a reason to shoot us,” a soldier said with a sneer. “It’s only a matter of time before they try to wipe us all out.”

Phul didn’t dispute his claim, since they all knew he was right. “Follow me,” he ordered, then took off running again. They didn’t see any signs of their commander in the Bronx as they made their way southward.

Listening intently, the five aliens couldn’t hear screams anywhere in the area as they crossed the bridge to Manhattan. Phul knew their boss was too crafty to slaughter the inhabitants of the city, since they were now all their allies. Survivors were being rounded up in all of the boroughs, but it was taking time. Long Island still hadn’t been searched completely for humans and supplies. He took another bridge to the east this time and they entered Queens.

“It could take us hours to find Rahab,” a soldier muttered.

“Do you want to run into him when he’s in the middle of ripping people apart?” one of his colleagues asked.

“Hell, no,” the other male replied. “I’m just saying he could be anywhere.”

“So could the phantom who’s been murdering the militants,” another warrior reminded them. “Too many humans have been found shot to death with their own weapons by now. Xathan doesn’t believe they’re turning on each other. He thinks someone else is to blame.”

“Who?” Phul asked skeptically. “The same being who was tearing the mercs apart in Brooklyn?”

“Maybe,” the soldier said. “I guess we’ll find out for ourselves if we run into them.”

“Do you really think it could be Lachial’s spawn?” the fourth guard asked, peering around as Phul led the way past the deserted buildings. The shadow wielder could hide in the darkness. She could spy on them from a distance and they’d never know she was there.

“Jazmine would have to be a ghost to be able to slip in and out of her apartment without Lachial sensing her,” Phul said. “She’s always in her home when he checks up on her.”