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Then he sees Gathred and stops short.
“No, this is not possible. You cannot… Brother?”
Gathred nods. “I think so. I have no memory. Only flashes.”
Then an older female orc steps out of a tent sort of hut, and blinks as she steps into the light of the fire. “What’s going on? Why is Tigor shouting for me?”
“Mother.” Gathred’s voice is a soft growl of recognition, and I feel tears sting my eyes as he draws a deep breath, then repeats, louder, “Mother.”
She squints, looking our way, then her hand goes to her mouth. “Gathred. My son.” She blinks and I think this might be the first time I’ve truly seen orcs in this way. Emotional. Capable of love and belonging. The way I was raised just didn’t credit them with those kind of human traits.
Gathred wraps his arm around me, then leads me forward, and all the laughter has died away completely. This isn’t the moment for it. Gathred’s mother, Gathra, comes forward too, and when they stand in front of each other, the firelight glinting in Gathred’s white eyes, it feels like everything in the world is right.
“Mother,” Gathred repeats. “We need your help.”
And Katya and I are both swept together as they embrace.
Chapter
Ten
Gathred
“She’s wonderful,” Gathra says as she watches Aleena chatting and laughing with Mol’s mate Raven. Katya is currently beating one of the Lakktra orcs at an orc game called Kett, which she insists is just like something called chess. “They both are. I’m happy you found someone to love.”
Mol meets my eyes. “Argoth lied to you all this time. Hzarka clan always were dickheads.”
“What is dickhead?” I ask. “A mating member?”
“Like a…” He searches for the word. “Skanak.”
Athaan snorts a laugh. “You learned this from Raven?”
He shakes his head. “Ivy.”
It’s my turn to laugh. “You know that means—”
“I know what it means,” Oran interrupts. “We all know.”
“Hzarka clan had no right to keep you from us,” Gathra says, ladling another huge portion of their stew into a bowl for me. “No right to keep you from your family.”
“This is what I need your help with,” I tell them all, sweeping my eyes around the group. “Aleena’s father was taken by the Hzarka. We need to rescue him.”
“Why did they take him?” Oran asks.
“He makes smikkaan and ivee. The best in the state, probably the country.”
He spits on the ground. “Then he deserves to die.”
I meet his eyes. The others are silent, but I know what they must be thinking. Oran is right, anyone who makes those things deserves what he gets.
But I shake my head. “He is Aleena and Katya’s father. He does what he thinks he has to, to protect them. This, I understand.”
Gathra puts her hand on my arm. “This we all understand. Right, Mol?”
Mol doesn’t answer at first. Then he nods. “This we all understand.”
“Where is he held?” Athaan licks her tusks. She has been sharpening a spear the whole time while we sat here. “How far?”
“Eighty miles. Along the old highway.”
“Eighty miles?” Mol looks at me with wide eyes. “His name is Erving Petrova.”
I nod. “You know him?”
“I threatened to kill him if he ever tried to sell that ivee to Lakktra again.”
“Will you help save him?” I glance around at all of them, needing all their commitment to this. “It will be a hard fight. Hzarka clan is big. I need your help and want your help, but you need to know that this is a risk.”
“I’m in,” Athaan says.
I meet her eyes. “Just like that?”
“Yes. He’s Aleena’s family. Aleena is my family now. I will fight.”
“We all will fight,” Mol says. “Athaan speaks the truth. Family comes first, this I believe.”
“It’s like our motto,” Athaan says with a grin.
I nod slowly. “Hzarka motto is Weakness is failure and failure is death.”
She snorts. “That is a fucking stupid motto. All are weak sometimes. Should all die?”
“According to them, yes.”
“You are with us now. No more failure is death. Failure is an opportunity to improve.”
Mol raises an eyebrow at her. “Raven?”
Athaan nods.
“I thought it sounded like one of hers.”
Chapter
Eleven
Aleena
The compound looms up as we step out of the treeline. The drive to get here was long on the old roads, and we camped in the woods, near the bunker where Gathred and I spent the night. That made me think of what we did that first time, and I dragged Gathred into the back of our truck to relive the moment.
Katya stayed behind with Raven, Emmie, Ivy, Gathra and a few orc guards. Gathred wanted to leave me behind as well, but I dug my heels in and one thing I’ve learned: orcs have a hard time saying no to their mate.
Besides, the way I explained it, he really had no choice.
I know this place like the back of my hand. I can provide crucial intel if this turns into a running battle. Also, this is my father we’re talking about. When he sees an orc clan, especially one he’s had a less than positive relationship with in the past, is demanding to take him with them, he might just decide that he’s better off with the Hzarka. Especially since they still need him alive, and the Lakktra don’t.
