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VALKUS
Your death will be my pleasure, I think as I look down at Yiosha.
Althia is still clinging to me, and I inhale the scent of her deeply as I look up from Yiosha’s broken face, towards the windows that line the room.
It is dark outside, and I know that by now there must be a slight chill in the air. I glance over at one of the zagfers then, as a thousand thoughts spin through my mind.
This zagfer is young, and I have seen her around the house a lot.
“You!” I bark at her. Her face tightens with fear, and her posture straightens as she looks at me.
“Yes, Master,” she replies, bowing her head.
“What is your name?”
“Enilea, Master.” She answers so quietly that it is hard to hear her.
“Enilea, do you know Yiosha’s family?” I ask her. The question must seem a strange one because a collective murmur rises among the zagfers, and some of them look around at one another.
“Yes, Master,” Enilea replies. Her face softens slightly as she continues talking and her shoulders relax. “She lives close by to me, in the midlands. She has a mate and five children.”
I feel Althia stiffen in my arms, and I hear her swallow.
But I do not look at her yet.
“Okay, I want you to arrange for her mate to collect her body tomorrow. And explain to him exactly what she did wrong. Explain to him that she disgraced herself and her family. Make sure that he knows why she died.”
I don’t particularly care that my reasons for killing Yiosha are justified. But I’d like her mate to know what she did. I want him and his children to feel the shame that their mate and mother can no longer feel after her death.
Yiosha must have heard the conversation between me and Enilea because she starts groaning then.
Her groans become more and more high-pitched until she is letting out a keening scream that is so loud that Althia covers her ears.
“No!” I shout, my voice thunderous. “Be quiet!”
She quiets down slightly, though she doesn’t stop.
“My children,” she croaks.
Talking was a mistake, because the corner of her mouth, which was torn in the beating, splits open further.
Now, most of her jaw is visible, and everyone has a view of her broken teeth.
“My children,” she whispers.
I look at Althia then. Her face is white, and her mouth is set in a hard line.
“This is for the best,” I tell her, trying to make my voice as soothing as possible. “She’ll die, anyway. And they won’t be able to afford to take care of her.”
“I know,” Althia says woodenly.
I know that she feels conflicted. I know she might feel guilty. But I do not. All I am doing is what I am supposed to do as her mate. I am supposed to protect her.
I let go of her when I see Nexus sneak back into the room. He does not come to me but walks up to Althia and stands by her side.
He butts his head against her leg insistently, until she reaches down and strokes his head.
I hear her breathing steady, and when I hear her croon at Nexus, I know that she will be okay.
