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“Why?” I demand, needing to understand so I can better protect Talia.
“They only came now, after the other woman came through the wall, so what do they want? You? They would have come before now if they wanted another war with the monsters, and if they wanted us, they would have come days ago. So logically, they want the woman.” Aria’s eyes go to Samael. “The woman you took.”
“You took a woman?” I roar, red covering my vision. The idea of this…this bastard kidnapping an innocent human woman triggers my protective instincts to be more beast than man. I feel her hand, her soft little hand, at my back, anchoring me, and then her lips ghost over my skin there, back and forth, until I’m no longer debating ripping Samael’s head clean off.
If only Talia knew his reputation, what he is capable of, and what he is. She would be terrified even to be near him. He’s more monster than any of us and has proven it time and time again with his actions—actions that landed him in the Darkling territory all alone years ago before he started his own tribe of misfits.
In fact, I shuffle us farther back away from him, not trusting him or his erratic behaviour, not near my mate. I don’t want to start a war, but if he so much as looks at her again, he’s dead.
“She came into our territory through the wall. The laws are clear,” Samael snaps.
My fear for the innocent woman only ratchets higher. She has no idea what she walked into. She was probably running from the humans, and instead, she stumbled into something much worse.
My logical side rears its head then, because if she was running and willing to enter the forgotten city filled with us to get away from whomever was chasing her, then she must know something big, something we could use to protect our people and mates. Akuji must be thinking the exact same thing, because his words echo my thoughts.
“She must know something,” he murmurs. “We need to find out what.”
“She is our prisoner, so we will discover what she knows.” Samael smirks viciously.
Blood roars in my ears. I know he will torture her and do unspeakable things to her. Akuji wasn’t around when Samael went off the deep end, becoming nothing more than the monster even our people called him.
He was always different, and we all understood why, but he gave into that.
He became the darkling, a monster even our people fear, and now he has a human as a prisoner—one of the very creatures he hates most in the world.
“If you hurt one hair on her head, I will rip you to pieces,” Akuji warns, once again proving we are in sync.
“He won’t,” Aria says slowly, meeting Samael’s eyes. “Because if the humans want her and they find out he killed or hurt her, then they will come for him and his people. He would be responsible for starting a war again, and if I’m not wrong, breaking your laws. Isn’t that right?” She looks at her mate then, and I see the pride shining in his eyes. The fool. I shake my head, pulling Talia closer, glad she’s not painting herself with a target against that beast.
“That’s right, little human,” Akuji praises, and I look away, feeling like I’m interrupting something. The way they look at each other… I wish Talia looked at me like that, as if I hung the moon and stars for her, but that’s selfish, and I’m happy with where we are. She’s my mate, my love, even if she never wants to be. I will never push her or hurt her like everyone else has. I will simply be here to steady her and protect her from a cruel world that doesn’t see her greatness, her kindness, and her beauty.
Samael growls a warning, making me unleash my claws as Akuji steps in front of his mate. “Fine, she is your prisoner, but you will ask her, and you will not hurt or touch her in any way. If I find out you did, the tribes will come together and we will destroy you.”
It would take all of us. In the time that he has spent licking his wounds in his dark lands to the north, Samael has become stronger and more feral. He’s an opponent we don’t want to tangle with if we don’t have to, but I know, one day, we will, as he slowly sinks into madness.
Not today, though, not with Talia here. She could get hurt, and I would never forgive myself. With my mate’s safety in mind, I step in to diffuse the situation before it leads to bloodshed. “Enough. We cannot afford infighting if the humans are coming for us. We have to work together. While we are waiting to find out what the human knows, we must come up with a plan to deter and watch the humans at our borders.”
“What do you suggest?” Akuji questions, knowing when to listen to me, since I was the one who first helped split the lands and come up with the tribal territories as well as our safety protocols. Even so, his eyes flick to Samael in warning.
I need to keep his attention before he makes a move. I need him to understand, for them all to understand. My first instinct is to protect our people, but in this moment, I don’t really know how, and the uncertainty in my words reflects that. “Like I said, we work together. They haven’t attacked yet, which means they are either watching us or waiting for something. We must do the same—watch them and be prepared in case they attack again.”
“Cato is right. I say we work in teams to patrol our borders and post sentries on the wall to observe them. That way, we can be prepared if they attack. We should also set traps at every entry point, an early warning system,” Akuji responds, thinking through my logic and nodding.
“Logically, they would attack during the day,” Aria murmurs. “It’s when they would feel safest, in the brightness of daylight. You can’t watch them during the day, but I can.” She looks at Akuji, sure and strong. “Put me in the rotation.”
“Aria, are you sure? These are your people,” he questions.
“My people who are threatening to attack and kill innocents, monster or not, and threatening to start another war over their own secrets. They sent us in here knowing that. You are my people. Your people are the only ones who care about me and whom I care about. So yes, I might be human and they might be human, but don’t lump us together. I want to avoid a war as much as you, Akuji. Beyond that wall is the slums, where innocent, starving people are just trying to survive. They would be the first casualties, and I won’t let that happen.”
Samael’s eyebrow rises before he shutters his expression. Tilting up Aria’s chin, Akuji forces her to meet his eyes, and I look away once more. “You have a warrior’s heart, my little human, and I am honoured you chose me as your mate.”
Aria chuckles. “So you’ll let me do it?”
“I do not control you,” Akuji snaps. “I know you are capable, and I will watch from the darkness of the shelters nearby in case you need help.”
“Of course you will.” She laughs.
Feeling uncomfortable as they just lovingly stare at each other, I try to get us back on track and get Talia away from Samael as quickly as possible. “Samael, do you agree to these terms? Are you willing to post sentries on your wall and report if any attacks are imminent?”
