The male began to grunt, his thighs quivering, and Veral’s muscles coiled, his vibrissae sliding through the air as they vibrated. The mate at least had the opportunity to enjoy one last pleasure, though Veral saw more than he ever wanted to of a Blaithari’s genitals.
Dropping down to the pirate’s side, Veral landed in a crouch and slammed back the thick horn jutting out from just above his elbow into his target’s neck. Thick streams of ejaculation splattered on the twitching thighs just barely within Veral’s line of vision. Though the sounds of the nearby nocturnal creatures went silent, the wet, gurgling sound that followed was quiet as the pirate choked on his own blood as he exsanguinated.
Veral yanked his arm forward as he stood, the slurp of the flesh detaching from the horn preceding the soft thump of the body as it fell to the ground. Turning, he glanced at it dispassionately before propping one foot on the side of the corpse and kicking it into the dark, wet soil. He lingered at the edge of the treacherous earth only long enough to watch as the remains slowly sank. Only when it was completely obscured from sight did he turn away to begin his trek back to camp.
“Five down,”he growled to Kaylar.
“Be certain to practice some restraint and not kill them all before I arrive,”his cousin said.
With a snort, Veral rinsed the blood from his body in a pool of water, his internal scans searching for any sign of approaching lifeforms. That accomplished, he turned away and left the pipe and cloth abandoned at the base of the tree among the splatters of blood.
The evidence remaining would be enough to convince Egbor that the male had been killed by something in the forest while he was attempting to enjoy what he had pilfered from the captain’s cabin.
It did not take him long to return to camp. Though the guards had shifted positions to spread out further, eyes fixed on darkness of the surrounding forest, no one had noticed his absence nor marked his return.
Veral slipped easily back into the tree, resuming his place over where Terri slept. As he crouched once more upon the limb, he saw Azan’s eyes open as she met his gaze. She gave nothing away of her thoughts, nor did she make any attempt to alert anyone. She inclined her head to him before rolling on her side and dismissing him.
He frowned at her back until his attention was pulled once more to his mate. Terri’s face was relaxed in slumber, so he was startled when her eyes opened. Relief spread across her face. She must have noted his absence and had been worrying while he was away. Although her human vision was terrible, he had no doubt that she was able to pinpoint his presence by the glow of his eyes.
Not wishing his mate to feel further distress, Veral crooned softly down at her as he stretched out on his belly on the branch to lie over her.
“Anastha, sleep,” he whispered. “I am here.”
“Veral,” she sighed, her eyes drifting shut once more as she curled against the youngling burrowed between her and Azan.
Lifting his head, his eyes narrowed on an animal slinking through the branches, enormous wings angled at its side. It must have flown into the tree while he was away. Its head dropped down, wings unfurling as it prepared to fall upon the females, likely targeting the youngling between them.
Hissing, Veral snapped to his feet and yanked it from the branch. It snarled, twisting in his arms and attempting to dig its claws into the tough material of his armor. Veral gripped the underside of the creature’s jaw and snapped it viciously. When the animal dropped to hang limply in his grasp, he threw it a short distance from the tree, where it would doubtlessly be discovered. He stared down at its corpse, his mandibles clicking as he wrestled his aggression back under control before returning to his place on the branch.
Dropping once more above his mate, he lay there, watching over her, until sleep claimed him. They would both need their rest.
12
The missing male from the upper crew was on everyone’s lips as they cast cautious glances around them. Even Egbor seemed to be more on edge, though he had publicly denounced the male as a traitorous creature who deserved to be eaten.
That was the official consensus after the team returned with the damning evidence of all that remained of the Blaithari. It had been little more than a scrap of fabric that reeked like the stuff that the captain enjoyed smoking and another long smoking tube. At the sight of them, the captain had flushed red and spat upon the ground with a string of curses. As far as he was concerned, it was clear that the male had stolen from him, and had snuck off to enjoy it when he was eaten for his trouble.
That was the accepted version of events, and it wasn’t far from the truth—though Terri knew the true creature that killed him, and it was nothing that came from the forest. She had been afraid when Veral disappeared, worried that something terrible would happen to him. When he returned, she had been too relieved to care where he had been.
All that mattered was that he made it back safe.
She understood now exactly where he had been. He had stalked the male and killed him. Terri had no tears to shed over the pirate, but worry plagued her ever since the call of alarm had gone up that someone would suspect him.
To her surprise, no one voiced outright suspicion against Veral, though the pirates seemed to give him a wider berth. It hadn’t escaped their attention that the male who had angered the Argurma was the one among their company who had ended up dead, even if his reason for leaving the safety of their numbers had been unrelated. The males whispered among themselves about the Argurma, spinning together what they knew of the species with wild speculations. Among the more farfetched of them was that Veral had the ability to enrage wild animals and summon them into attacking by the use of some implant or another.
No one, however, pinned it directly on him.
As far as anyone had seen, the Argurma never moved from his tree, not even when search parties scattered over the surrounding area. He watched everything from the branch where he reclined, unconcerned. In fact, a large predator with pale marbled skin and long leathery wings that lay dead nearby reinforced the perception that he worked hard to keep the crew safe—and in turn keeping his mate safe in the process. Therefore, by their reasoning, ill fortune would only fall upon any who directly offended the male.
Terri had no doubt that he heard everything because every now and then his lips curved in a slight show of humor. The expression was so small that she might have missed it if she weren’t looking directly at him. If any of the pirates had happened to glance at him, they would have been greeted with the sight of a male disdainfully ignoring them, his eyes for no one but his mate.
As flattering as that was—and it warmed her heart to know that she was the most important thing on that planet to him—she wasn’t stupid. His gaze tracked her, but she had no doubt that he was listening to the pirates and monitoring everything they did from his position. As of yet, no one had seemed inclined to leave the tight cluster of trees, and Egbor’s attention was directed toward rallying the crew. A number of males were shouting to return to the ship and leave the cursed world and the tomb of the Evandra behind.
“That male is an idiot,” Azan muttered from where she leaned against a nearby tree, her attention focused on the captain as he waved his blaster around. “They know he will not fire just yet. Unfortunately, he will kill someone as an example soon if they push him hard enough, despite the fact that he cannot afford to just throw away the males who do all of his dirty work for him. Not that he isn’t working hard to get us all killed anyway, ever since he took the Argurma hostage. This venture is the errand of a fool,” she muttered as she shoved away from the tree to join Terri by her side.
Terri’s lips thinned as Egbor drew near his limit and fired into the air. The crew, who had been shouting over each other, fell into silence as the captain sneered. Though his other five hands were currently free of weapons, they hung tense at his sides in a show of aggression and dominance.
“Silence, all of you! I will hear no more superstitious blathering. Do I need to remind you of how much fortune awaits us once we find theEvandra? The entire crew will be wealthy beyond anything you could dream. Focus on that alone. It is worth every risk. We will drink, and feast and fuck! We will have every pleasure laid before us!”