Despite my attempts to distract him, Hel Bhyr’s attention didn’t waver from his chosen prey. He grew more focused as if sensing our desperation to lead him off-track. ‘We asked the ones who took you.’
‘Them?’ Lumen tutted. ‘Not a reliable ally. They’re not much of anything now. I’m surprised you’d risk the Aztekan Registration status by consorting with them.’
He made a guttural noise. ‘You threaten us.’
‘I don’t warn my enemies, and to behave such a way in the home of my ally would be rude. Wouldn’t it, First?’
Hel Bhyr grew preternaturally still. ‘The L’Odo Chieftain is no more. Od is no more.’ His gaze intensified, turning from a hazy white glow to an icy white glare. ‘Does this bring you comfort?’
‘The destruction of Od came from Azteka.’ Beowyn’s mouth formed the words in a halting manner. ‘Why?’
‘We need not explain ourselves.’
I was so terrified by the utter lack of emotion in Hel Bhyr’s voice, I clenched my pelvic muscles to avoid an accident.
Éorik stiffened. ‘Near the whole of their species was slaughtered.’
‘They were a scourge.’
‘Females and younglings died.’
‘Such is the cost of angering us.’ Hel Bhyr never took his eyes from Lumen. His head tilted. ‘We believed Od’s destruction would please you.’
‘Death never pleases me, First.’ A tremor passed through Lumen’s frame. ‘If you attacked Od to gain my favour it was a mistake on your part.’
‘We wish to visit Earth. We will trade.’
Venomous’ forked tongue flickered. ‘We decline.’
‘What a generous offer.’ Lumen placed a hand on her mate’s tense shoulder. Her eyes remained on the First. ‘You have nothing we need. That may change in future.’
‘A formal peace treaty then.’
‘Thank you for honouring us. I must bring this back to the Rä Senate. They will vote on commencing negotiations with yourself.’
‘Negotiate with us now.’
‘I do not have the authority to do so. I must contact the Elders.’
Chalky nails drummed the black stone. Blue skin was shaded darker around rough knuckles. ‘Tell us, human, do you know of Horde scripture?’
Lumen’s expression grew taut.
‘This is why we disagree when you say humans are not worthy of interest. It is not our way to tolerate the sin of a female’s existence. We are given what we want, or we eliminate those who deny us. You know this. You know the result of our wrath, and still, you sit boldly in your perversion before the First. You speak before your male and meet our gaze as an equal. Your every word defies us. Your every breath insults us.’ His gaze switched to me. ‘You are not even the only human who does so.’
It took every scrap and shaving of pride and courage I possessed to remain seated under his frigid regard.
‘I’m aware of what you can do, and what you have done.’ Lumen's abhorrence for the Aztekan civilisation went soul deep, and her terror of them was even greater, but not a hint of disdain or fear coloured her lilting tone. Her chin lifted. ‘What bearing do your religious practices have on this political conversation?’
‘Who are you, female, to keep Horde from what it wants?’ Erd Oğan licked his chops. ‘Lie before us and spread. We have better uses for you.’
My mouth dropped open.
Muscles swelling, Venomous snarled.
‘Enough.’ Beowyn’s fist thumped the table. ‘Vayhalun is not Vøtkyr. Horde must respect and treat females as equals here. This is part of our accord.’
Drumming fingers stopped.
Lips parting to breathe an ethereal, wintry sigh, Hel Bhyr twisted his head to glare at Erd Oğan.
Shutting up, the male shrunk back, skin leached of colour.
‘You wish to keep us from Earth because you fear us.’ The First directed his attention to Lumen. ‘No matter what we offer negotiations will never cease. We see the lie within your truth.’
Fiercely straightened. ‘The Senate considers offers in good faith.’
‘Will they give us what we want?’ Hel Bhyr’s focus on Lumen was unwavering. ‘Will they give us Earth?’
‘They are unaware of its location.’ Her lashes lowered. ‘There are other things–.’
‘You told the Verak King where it lies. It is where he found his human Queen. Tell us what we want to know.’
‘That information strengthened an agreement between allies.’
‘We offered a peace treaty.’
‘She told you what’s required to make that offer a reality,’ I said.
Lumen sent me a grateful look. ‘We’ll revisit the issue after I’ve had time to contact–.’
‘You are resolved not to give us what we want.’
‘The procedure has been made clear.’ Éorik eyes darted from one to the other. ‘Our offer to host further talks after time to deliberate remains.’
Beowyn snapped a nod and gained his feet, pressing his fists to the table, a signal the meeting was over.
Hel Bhyr made a harsh, clicking sound low in his chest. ‘You seek time to hide her and her secrets.’
‘No one said that.’ Lumen angled her face away. ‘Let’s take a moontide to negotiate and–.’
Hel Bhyr stood and was there between heartbeats. Stone table upended, tossed aside, the parley descended into chaos.
Venomous erupted in a godly rage, scales flashing bright, a challenge tearing from his snarling maw.
The First touched him.
Phosphorous blue light ricocheted between them.
Convulsing, the warrior Rä arced, dark head flying back. Gold tinkled as blood seeped from his spiky ears.
Held aloft by the touch to his neck, his four arms snapped rigidly, face twisting into a rictus as a slight rasp squeezed from his chest. Thick veins bulged under his blanched flesh.
Cobra leapt at the Aztekan in an explosion of blurred motion, coiled to strike, hunting dagger lifting high–
Hel Bhyr backhanded him across the room.
Scales flashing into a silver mirror Fiercely hauled a screeching, thrashing Lumen behind him.
My blaster whined, cycling up as it kissed the cheek of Hel Bihter. He dug his fingers into Éorik’s throat. His other forearm corded with strain as he blocked the Commander’s raised knife, keeping the downswing from severing a head from its body. Arm flung wide to shield me, the edge of Beowyn’s sword notched the pulsing artery at the neck of Erd Oğan. Crescent blade held in a vice-like grip, the kneeling Aztekan’s blackened axe pressed my middle, a shove from cleaving me in two.
Horde and Paladin were moments from clashing when Beowyn barked, ‘Hold!’ with such force both sides checked their advance.
Hel Bhyr held his prize by the nape.
Pointed nails caressed, sending pulses of blue-tinged light blazing through taut sinew.
Ebon shields flickered then Venomous’ brille rolled back to reveal slitted pupils blown wide. They vibrated in a way so wrong it was sick. Red dripped from his nose and eyes and mouth. It stained his chest and ran from his claws in snaking tributaries.
Lumen shrieked. ‘Stop it.’
Fiercely jerked forward but at his mate’s ringing scream remembered the precious burden he guarded.
‘You kill him!’ Cobra jumped into a crouch from his sprawl. Lurid bruises darkened his rough-boned face from brow ridge to his clenched jaw.
Hel Bhyr’s whisper unspooled like poison silk.‘The next words that leave your mouth will be what we want, or he dies.’ He nudged a dimpled chin at Fiercely. ‘We will kill this one.’ His head bobbed towards Cobra. ‘That one. We will go to the nursery.’ Pearl eyes slithered, darkness crossing the iced tundra within their glowing void. ‘We will slit the throat of your son. We will take everything from you, break you, and we will leave you alive to feel it unless you give us what we want.’
Thorns scratching my middle bloomed in my throat.
Oh, God, this is my fa
ult.
I hadn’t been ready for her to go, so she had stayed away from the safety of Rök. They’d rescued us, helped us get back on our feet after the storms, done countless other things to help my family adjust and stay safe, and look at what we’d let happen to them.
Sinking as she clung to Fiercely’s waist, quaking, Lumen held the First’s stare. She averted her eyes. Her whole body folded until she trembled upon the stone tile, gripping their caulked edges.
Erd Oğan wheezed a chuckle.
Nostrils flaring, Beowyn’s lip curled.
My eyes skipped to Hel Bihter. My husbands had warned me not to trust him, but did I listen?
His attention hovered beyond the scene as if he could not be bothered to watch it unfold. He did not move to help us, not so much as a flicker of an eyelash, but I could sense his regret for bringing the nightmare to our door.
‘Yes.’ Lumen’s voice bled. Her forehead pressed the floor. ‘Yes, I will give you what you want. I will.’ Her voice cracked. ‘Please. Let him go.’
The First withdrew his touch.
Venomous One sank to the floor.
Juddering with her sobs, Lumen crawled into the crimson pool spreading across the tiles. She dragged Venomous’ head onto her lap and wept.
Fiercely was right there with her. He stood braced over them, snarling and spitting venom from dripping fangs.
Cobra did the same.
‘There.’ Hel Bhyr remained motionless while his Horde rollicked and jeered. ‘That was not so hard.’
Lumen glared from reddened eyes. ‘You think you’ve won something from me? You haven’t.’
Hot fury knotted my lungs. ‘Whatever woman you choose will know the black, rotting thing that is your heart, and she will hate you.’ I dragged in a shaky breath. I held it for a shorter time than my body needed. ‘No woman will go willingly.’
Hel Bhyr stirred. ‘You assume we care.’
‘Mankind will fight you. Make no mistake, they will fight.’
‘As if that matters.’
‘I can not do this.’ Lumen tucked her chin into her chest, eyes squeezed shut. ‘Please. Don’t ask.’
‘You did it before.’
‘To end a war before it began.’ My voice trembled. ‘She were no forced to betray her species.’
Éorik grated around the grip on his throat, ‘Gift. Honour. Alliance.’
‘You are no ally,’ I spat at the Horde.
Beowyn’s staying hand tapped my ribs. ‘Careful, my One.’ He balanced on the precipice of losing one beloved ally to another powerful one, tried to ensure we, and Vayhalun, didn’t fall with them.
‘They’re right.’ Lumen swallowed. ‘I did it to save thousands of lives. To–.’
‘Protect your males.’
She froze.
‘Do you think us witless?’ His hairless brow arched. ‘Now it stops us slaughtering all that is yours.’ He narrowed pitiless eyes. ‘Decide.’
Lumen’s white-rimmed gaze raked her surroundings.
Begging.
It landed on me.
Her gushing desperation threatened to drown me.
I stared into human eyes, and something inhuman looked back.
She, Lumen of the Stars teetered on the brink of destruction. I couldn’t blame her for wanting the fall.
Axe at my middle, death tickled my nape. The blaster in my hand shook. We were surrounded and unprepared and outmatched. I never should have given the demons a way in. Hel Bihter had taught me how to shoot, and as he did, he’d asked me questions. Of Earth. Of Lumen. Thinking he was a friend, I’d answered. My mind raced. If Lumen chose to protect billions on Earth, we died, right then. Us or them. I set my jaw. Would our deaths merely delay the inevitable? I held Lumen’s hectic gaze with my own. ‘The exact same thing,’
‘I would have done the exact same thing.’ She blinked. ‘R-Really? You don’t hate me?’ I shook my head. ‘You were in an impossible position. You did the best you could with what you had. You’ve protected Earth. I doubt I’d’ve been as far seeing.’
I saw so clearly my gut burned. I saw the mothers, wives, daughters and sisters. I saw their bodies violated, and their children taken from them. I saw their fathers, husbands, brothers and sons. I saw oceans of their blood, and their legacies razed. What I did was reprehensible. I did it anyway. I gave permission not mine to give. ‘Do it.’
She gasped hugely, eyes welled with so much relief and guilt, they reflected like glass.
I nodded, and she copied the movement, my face the focal point keeping her from tumbling into a screaming, shrieking madness.
Eyes watering, my vision blurred.
As if mocking the darkness threatening to swallow us whole, the rain eased to a drizzle, and the clouds parted. Warm, rosy light from the setting suns flooded the room.
Birds sang, the surf crashed against the shore.
Voice a broken whisper, Lumen told the First of Earth.
After
I woke and rubbed the crusted sleep from the corner of my eyes. A clawed hand kneaded my ass as a whiskered face nuzzled my breasts.
Dropping kisses left and right, I unentangled myself from the sprawl of strong arms and thick legs pinning me to the fluffy mattress. I stumbled free and puffed my cheeks, fanning my sweaty face. My husbands radiated heat during the night. I glanced behind then smiled.
Beowyn caught hold of Éorik and hauled him into his front. He swung a muscular leg over my One’s narrow hips and snuffled into his pillow.
I dug through the pile of clothing discarded the night before then slipped on a fur mantle with silk lining. The sleeves fell a foot over my hands and puddled around my painted toenails. It was gold, so of ThunderClaw then. House of SnowBlade used silver as its colour. The third Great House of Vayhalun, Grae, used forest green. I sighed. The robe of that colour was little more than rags, torn from my body in a fit of passion. I squinted. Both husbands had a hand in it as I recalled.
Beowyn had come home radiating helpless anger, bristling and snapping, a raw nerve exposed to air. Éorik had wrestled him to the floor and took him roughly as I rode his face. When he’d fallen asleep, I thought we’d been uncaring, but one he’d woken Beowyn assured me the loss of control was what he needed to regain control.
There were other times–painful times–when it wasn’t submission he craved but solace. It would be me who brought him to heel with tender words and softer touches. I’d lead him to bed and let him fuck into me with lazy plunges that wrung the grief from his soul so he could find peace in the oblivion of release.
When he rested, Éorik tended me.
Drugging me with kisses, he would praise me for giving our husband succour. He would make me writhe and moan until Beowyn woke and slaked his lust on us both.
I scrubbed my hands over my short curls and yawned.
Padding along the cold stone floor, I snagged my SonCom off the bedside table on my way to the ceiling to floor panes of glass leading onto the balcony.
Firing off a message to the kitchens, I then hit Lumen’s frequency. ‘Morning.’
Raven locks springing straight up, eyes heavy-lidded with sleep, she flapped a hand in a sad attempt at a wave. ‘How’s your House?’
I thought of my husbands snuggling in bed. My child slept peacefully in the room adjacent. My cousins spread out over the alien planet they now called home. ‘Good. Your lair?’
‘Better.’ She patted her mouth as her jaw cracked. ‘Venomous has stopped punching holes in things and Fiercely has stopped hissing. I was even able to coax Cobra from the nest with Brave. We went for a stroll.’
I winced. ‘That bad?’
‘I don’t blame them for closing ranks and getting frustrated with the closed-minded politics and prejudice towards offworlders. It’s a stressful time. They want me happy and safe. They also want Bravest to know they fought for his heritage and for what’s right.’
‘Whatever happens, you’re no alone.’
She managed a faint smile
.
‘Patrick thinks the Paladins will be ready within the moontide.’
She leant in. ‘So soon?’
‘The warriors admire him. They want to earn his respect.’ I gave a proud grin. ‘They’re excited to see the birth world of the braw human warrior.’
‘Venomous and Fiercely were impressed too. I don’t think Wyn could have picked a better Sentinel to replace the one lost during the storm.’
‘Aye.’ I took in her strained features, the lines around her mouth and eyes more pronounced. ‘If the Senate do no agree to help intervene, I’ll be in good hands regardless.’
‘We’re going with you.’
I bit my tongue then made a face. ‘If the Elders’ vote forbids Venomous to go, you’ll be outcast. You’ll lose your home, your adopted people.’
Not that she wouldn’t have a home with me and mine on Vayhalun, but that was unsaid and understood.
‘We’re prepared to take that risk. Deathly and her Rä’Vek are with us. So are all my mates’ parent clans, and many Rä who think perhaps their future mates are human. They want to help protect them by defending Earth. We met and agreed last night. No matter what the Senate decide, we’re coming with you and the Verak forces.’
I nodded in solidarity.
Had my husbands and I been in the same predicament, we would have chosen the same.
Lumen’s head turned. She blew a kiss off screen. ‘I have to go. Talk soon?’
‘Take care. Hug Brave for me. I’ll comm Fiercely at high heat.’ No doubt he needed a sympathetic ear to rant about his primary nest-mate.
She nodded and disconnected.
The glass behind me slid open, and Fergie scampered through. She dragged what seemed the entirety of her her bed linen in her wake. ‘Mammy! Hungry.’
‘Morning, wee bit. Well done for waiting until Mammy finished her call. Up you come.’ I settled her on my lap for a cuddle. ‘You sleep okay?’
She nodded against my chest, thumb popping between her lips. ‘Swimming and Da and Da, please?’
‘You’re going to have breakfast then lessons with the other boys and girls at school. We’ll swim with Da and Da after you get home, and I hear how you behaved like a good girl, aye?’