She watched as her mate stalked right up to him, refusing to give his opponent even the slightest chance to mend. His tall, muscular body seemed almost a part of the shadows, his vibrissae trailing and snapping behind as he lifted his hand and swiped his blade, cutting through the tissue of his neck to saw right through his spinal cord. With a wet pop, the head separated from the body and Veral spat on the corpse before turning and repeating the process on the other. His task done, he kicked the heads away.
“These are not worthy trophies,” he growled.
Without another word needing to be said, he turned and drew Terri into his arms. She leaned into him gratefully as his embrace tightened around her.
“Wow, that was something else.” Becky whistled. “I guess this is a bad time to tell you I’m on the verge of passing out.”
Terri immediately wiggled away, with only a marginal protest from her mate, and ran to the other woman’s side. “Shit! You should have said something if you felt so bad,” she chastised gently. Becky grinned up at her weakly.
“Like that was going to do me much good. Don’t worry about me. I’m too damn mean and stubborn to die.”
“You will not die, female,” Veral broke in harshly. He looked at the blaster and turned a small dial on it. “I am changing the setting to one that will be efficient for cauterizing your wound.” He hesitated and looked over at her. “It will hurt.”
“I can handle it,” she croaked.
“A lot,” he clarified, with a trace of what appeared to be compassion on his face.
“She gets it, Veral,” Terri hissed. “Don’t freak her out.”
He nodded his head quickly as he finished resetting the weapon. “Unwrap her leg, anastha.” Terri complied and he held it out in front of him. He glanced at Becky once more. “Brace yourself.”
Becky gripped the sides of the collector cart and gritted her teeth. The red ray of the blaster shot out, searing the end of the stump. A terrible smell of burning flesh filled the air. When Becky began to scream, Terri dove in to hold the woman in place until Veral finally turned off the beam. He frowned at his work.
“It is not surgically precise, but you will live without risk of infection.”
Copious tears streamed down Becky’s face, but she looked up at him with gratitude. “Thank you. Now—let’s get the fuck out of this awful place. I’ve had more than enough of this screwed up desert.”
“Man, that was crazy intense,” a boy’s voice said.
Terri turned her head in disbelief to see seven boys standing awkwardly off to the side. His eyes widened as he pointed to Veral.
“We’re with him.”
Turning to her mate, Terri lifted her eyebrows. “Youbrought those boys with you?’
His vibrissae snapped uncomfortably as his mandibles clicked. “They were being forcibly conscripted. I gave them the opportunity to escape, nothing more.”
Another boy stepped forward, twisting the hem of his shirt nervously. “We swear we won’t cause a problem…”
A loud shriek cut him off as a woman came barreling forward. “George Matthews! Is that you?”
“Oh, hi, Mom,” he said with a sheepish smile. “I know you said not to come looking for you if you went missing, but… well, here I am.”
The woman fell on her son, slapping the back of his head before grabbing him against her and holding him tight. “You foolish, crazy boy!”
Veral watched them with a peculiar look on his face—something like longing if Terri wasn’t mistaken. Gently, she nudged him.
“We’d better get going. I’m sure everyone would like to reunite with their loved ones.”
Nodding, he turned reluctantly, his grip not once breaking from Terri’s hand, and headed out into the city, the small band of women and children following after them. No one was more surprised than Terri when Christie limped toward them from wherever the Argurma had dropped her and followed sedately at a distance behind them. She still couldn’t believe the woman sold her up the river. She shot her a glare over her shoulder as she leaned into her mate.
23
Veral scowled at the young males as they lingered a short distance from the safety of his shelter. He did not trust them in his place of rest or being so close to Terri. At least not without what Terri called ground rules. He liked the term. They followed the rules, or he would personally flatten them into the ground. They were mature, no longer small offspring, and would be accountable for their actions.
He stalked around them and the youths shrank away, though they wore brave smiles of expectation. He narrowed his eyes at them, wondering how seriously they were taking him. “Make no mistake, you are here only at my indulgence. You will not threaten any females while in my territory. You will not touch the one called Terri on the threat of great pain and possible dismemberment of your favorite appendage. Indicate that you understand these instructions.”
All the males hastily jerked their heads in the affirmative, their eyes wide. Veral grunted approvingly.