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I had more than one reason to kill each and every one of these bastards. The first was revenge for what they’d done to me and Pip. But even more importantly, they were a danger to my Sam, and her people.Ourpeople, now.
I’d also grown to care about the group, especially the human named Terrance. He’d offered to teach me many of the skills missing from my repertoire. I’d gone hunting with him and Curtis several times since killing our first centicreep together. They were good fighters…for humans.
There was also Mina, Lok’n’s offspring. Mixed human and Xarc’n, her horns were just little nubs on her temples. She’d grabbed my finger the other day and I’d felt a stab of longing I’d never known before. No wonder Lok’n would do anything to keep these people safe. Mina was his future, and she needed these humans. With how everyone acted around her, you’d think she had them all under her spell.
I briefly considered ordering Pip to shoot at the retreating humans, or landing in front of them and dealing with them one by one, a much more enjoyable revenge. But there were only five of them here, and I knew there must be more. I wanted to get them all in one go, so I decided to follow them.
It wasn’t until they started vanishing that I realized they had a shuttle at their disposal and had stepped into its cloaking radius. How many did they have? I’d overheard the humans at camp speaking about the subject, and they’d been sure that they had none left.
“Are you able to track that shuttle?” I asked Pip.
“They have disconnected it from the system, but if I can get it to reply to me, that will share its location.”
Sure enough, Pip started to move, and I could only assume he was following the invisible craft. Unlike my previous shuttle, this one was still visible on the network. If the humans knew I was following them, they gave no outward sign. We ended up at one of my old bases. The nomads were using it as their hideout for now. They rarely stayed in one place long, which explained the human’s name for them.
“That’s my fault, sorry,” Pip said. “They wanted to know where you’d been staying, so I sacrificed one of the bases. But they didn’t stay here long, before. They left after they looted it.”
I knew this area well and would have the upper hand. I landed nearby and approached by foot, armed to fight an army.
As I got closer, I realized I’d overestimated what I needed. There were only two more inside their hideout. They must have suffered immense losses. I didn’t see the female who had betrayed me, but I did recognize the male who had kissed her to taunt me.
I decided it wouldn’t be honorable to sneak up on them, so I gave them ample warning, walking up to the building with my weapons drawn and loudly flinging the door open.
It wasn’t even a fight. I took out the first three before the rest could even reach for their weapons. My eyes were on the leader,though—or, at least, he’d been the leader when I had seen them last. I saw the recognition in his eyes.
Good. He should know who killed him, and why. This was for me and Pip, this was for Terrance, and this was for everyone they’d ever hurt.
Sam had been right when she said that anyone not actively working with us was just as bad as the scourge themselves. They hindered our fight against the scourge when they could be helping us.
One of the humans tried to run around me to escape out the door, but I flung my axe in his direction. He made it to the door all right, but in two pieces. There were only three left now: two I didn’t recognize and the leader.
The unfamiliar pair charged me simultaneously, with blades in their hands. It was clear that they had not trained with these and were simply slashing and hacking haphazardously. I easily evaded all their strikes, and soon, it was only the leader and me. I had forgotten his name, but that wasn’t important. It would be forgotten from the world soon. No one would miss him. And the universe would be a much better place.
“I can’t believe you’re still alive,” he sneered, much too confident, considering he was trapped in here with me.
He had a crazed look in his eyes that told me he wasn’t fully present mentally. He held an explosive device in his hand. I’d seen those in action before. Did he plan on throwing it at me? This place was small, and he’d be injured himself, possibly fatally so.
“How about you let me go, and I’ll tell you where Britt is?”
Did this male honestly think I still cared about her? She was a shadow compared to Sam’s light. Just the thought of touching her again made me sick. I’d rather clean scourge guts.
“I am not here to bargain.”
He scowled. “She’s dead anyway,” he spat. “But even if she were alive, she wouldn’t sleep with you to save her life.”
We both moved at the same time. I lunged for him as he hurled the explosive.
The next few seconds were loud and hot, and searingly painful. It felt as if the Earth’s crust had cracked open, spewing molten lava, which consumed me.
I squeezed my eyes shut to prevent my eyeballs from frying. Those were notoriously difficult to grow back.
I crawled toward the door as the inferno raged around me. All I had to do was get out the door. Pip couldn’t reach me in here, but if I could just get outside, he’d be able to get me home.
Home. To the love of my life. To the woman I craved.
I promised Sam I wouldn’t get hurt, and here I was burning to a crisp. I was shit at promises. She would be devastated if I didn’t return.
Krux! I was never going to see her face again. And I had just found her. It was too soon.
