Page 59 of Interlude

“As long as everyone else is safe. It’s likely to go up like an explosion if anything does catch on fire.”

He’s not wrong. There doesn’t seem to be any moisture in this forest at all, it’s a lightning strike away from a fire storm. Shit, lightning!

“Max, make sure your hits strike the reptiles and not the trees, otherwise we’re all going to burn,” I warn quietly, knowing his shifter ears will hear whatever I say.

He turns his head and gives me a quick nod of acknowledgement, and that’s when they strike, but we miscalculated. We were so worried about what was in front of us, none of us thought to look up. Something shoots out of the trees, and Xavier is encased in a sticky web-like net, pinning his hands to his sides, gluing his lips shut, and wrapping his body in a cocoon. He topples over, effectively removing him from the board.

“Xavier!” Lila screams as I look up to where the web came from, my heart sinking.

“Fuck, Nelecs.” Up in the tree above me is the ten-legged, two-headed, multi-eyed alien that is very similar to an earth spider crossed with a scorpion. Its barbed, serrated stinger sticks up high in the air, waiting to strike its netted prey to inject its venom. They aren’t particularly intelligent, but they take orders well.

I raise my gun and shoot the one that entrapped Xavier. The laser pierces its tough outer shell, and it falls to the ground, making a squelching sound as its insides splatter everywhere. As I look around and tune back into what’s going on around me, I realize it wasn’t the only one. Zeydan is down too. He’s struggling more than Xavier is, his form jerking as he tries to remove the sticky substance from his body, but it seems to make it worse.

Saxon aims and takes out another one as I hear shots behind us as well. Instead of joining in and firing into the top of the trees where the Nelecs are, I keep an eye on the bushes surrounding us. The Madovians are here, they just sent the Nelecs to be cannon fodder and to take out our strongest. It’s a smart battle strategy, but they don’t realize we’re all weapons in this fight.

Silac must sense them at the same time I spot the first one approaching us. He lunges forward, growing even bigger, latching his fangs into the reptilian creature. They are in their beast form, which is a cross between a snake and a water dragon. They have a long, undulating body with a hooded head, and small limbs and wings that help them climb surfaces they may not otherwise be able to. Their fangs drip with poison, and although Lila has healing powers in her Celestian form, it would be better for none of us to be bitten or spat on.

Silac yanks back, tearing out his victim’s throat and spits, blood from the Madovian he attacked flying from his mouth. She starts screaming in pain, his venom already killing her. I see one of them approach Lila, who is desperately trying to remove the web from Xavier. I can’t stand around and watch anymore, I need to join in. I fire my gun, and it rips the one behind Lila in half.

“Leave him. He will be okay. You need to fight back,” I shout at her before I turn, and my eyes widen at the sheer number coming toward us. Tirrian roars and races forward as Ghosie approaches me and Lila.

“Go, I’ve got this,” he shouts. “Lead them away, and I’ll make sure the warlock and god are safe.”

Lila and I exchange a glance, and we both get up and race into the fray. I fire my gun at anything that’s black and red and moves, taking out three more of our enemy.

“We need to move. We need to draw them away from Xavier and Zeydan so Ghosie can do his thing,” I shout to Saxon, who is covered in a thick black substance that I know is Madovian blood. His eyes glow with bloodlust as he gives me a nod and starts to run. Maxsim joins him. He’s limping slightly, and his mouth and chest are also covered in the thick black substance. I fire at the one that attacks him from the side that he missed in his impatience to keep up with Saxon. It goes down with a thud, and Maxsim jumps to the side. Tirrian puts another shot in that one just to make sure before he, too, follows behind them.

“Come on, Lila,” Tirrian growls. “We need to go.” He grabs her arm and tugs her away, urging her to follow the others.

“But we don’t know where we’re going. I can’t leave them,” she chokes out, stumbling, torn between staying and following the others.

“I know the way. Zeydan showed me in my mind. Now hurry,” he argues. There’s a piercing scream, and Lila watches with horror as a Madovian catches up to Maxsim, his limp slowing him down. He goes down in a tangled heap, the godawful screeching echoing through the forest.

“Max, no!” Lila’s form pulses, and I feel her berserker mode push its way forward, triggered by her injured mate. Her body changes, getting larger and broader, her spikes retract, and her color changes to red and green. She growls and starts racing toward the melee. My excitement spikes, and I let my own berserker out. There will be no more damage to any of us, Lila and I will make sure, but I hope they can pull us back after we take care of this mess.

Lila

Awave of pure fury batters at my body unlike anything I have ever felt before. I rush toward my cat and that bitch who better enjoy her last few breaths. A red haze washes over my sight, my emotions lock down, and the need to kill rides me hard. I feel my body change, but I don’t stop my forward movement. Nobody touches my mate and gets away with it, especially not a parasitic whore.

I race forward knowing I can’t fire my guns or use my thorns until Maxsim is clear, so I tackle the two beasts, joining the rolling ball of fury, then I grab Maxsim by the scruff and hurl him to the side where he lands on his feet, but he falls to the ground, one of his legs unable to hold him up. I curl my arm back and launch my fist into the Madovian’s mouth, and before she can react, I fire thorns from my palm. They fly out and rip her insides to shreds, killing her in an instant. She sags, and I quickly remove my hand from her mouth so she doesn’t drag me down with her.

I turn my attention to the next one, our attempts to lure them away from our injured and trapped working as Tirrian takes the lead, and we move farther into the forest. I have a brief moment of worry about the circle of protection staying with us, but Zeydan will be able to protect those we left behind. Hopefully Ghosie gets him out of those webs quickly, and he can rejoin the fight. My attention turns back to the fight in front of me, and out of the corner of my eye, I see that Brannock has turned berserker too. A smile crosses my lips, and I let myself fall into the slaughter. I kill over and over, ripping off limbs with my bare hands and filling their bodies full of thorns, smiling when they scream in agony as the poison eats away at their flesh like acid.

I feel another berserker at my back, and I take a moment to admire his form. He’s fast and decimates the Madovian forces. His muscles bulge and ripple, and the strength in his thighs is mesmerizing as he takes on each bitch and makes a mess of them. Between the two of us, we have led them far away from the others, leaving them behind to mop up any we left injured but still alive. A slice across my arm drags my attention from the gorgeous man beside me and back to my target. I lift a hand and fire more thorns. They rip through the Madovian’s body, shredding her like Brannock wants to shred the inner walls of my pussy.

There’s a somewhat detached thought in my mind that I hope they get Max to the ship to heal before I turn my attention back to the last few remaining Madovians. None of them are leaving this planet alive, but we could get a few answers out of them. I think about stopping, maybe saving one for questioning, but then I quickly throw that idea away. I like how it feels when I watch the life leave their eyes, and their cries and screams are music to my ears.

I watch as the one I’m approaching turns to flee, but I don’t let her get far, filling her retreating back with my thorns. I smile when the poison eats away at her flesh, melting it like she’s a candle. The tables have turned, and instead of trying to attack, they are fleeing like the ragged bitches they are. They should have known better than to run away from us. I look around, trying to find my next target, and feel sad when there is no one left but my fellow berserker. We’re both breathing heavily and are covered from head to toe in thick, black Madovian blood. My tongue flicks out, and I taste the blood smeared across my lips. It tastes like tar and ash, and I grimace.

My adrenaline is still pumping, and the urge to kill is riding me hard. A noise back the way we came has my ears perking up, and I turn my focus in that direction—something else to kill. I growl and head back the way we came, ready to continue our killing spree, but then I’m tackled.

“No, Lila. They are our family,” the other berserker shouts, and my attention turns to him. I punch him in the jaw and buck my body, trying to get him off me. How dare he stop me from going after my target?

I shove him off me, and he goes flying backward, his back smashing against one of the trees. I jump to my feet and continue back the way we came, but once again, I’m tackled to the ground and pinned.

“Lila, stop.” I shake my head and growl at the being stopping me from reaching my target. “If you want to kill, kill me. That’s if you think you can,” he taunts, jumping to his feet. I hurry after him, holding up my hands and readying my thorns, but before I can fire them, he takes off, triggering my instincts to chase. I follow him, pumping my arms and legs as fast as I can, the thrill of the chase rushing through my veins. I finally have a challenge, unlike those Madovians who we cut through like butter.

He ducks and weaves around the trees, always just out of reach. The air rushes past me, but I don’t feel any of the branches scrape my face as I fire a few half-hearted thorns from my hands. They don’t hit their target, running making it harder to aim. I’m not too worried, though, because I want this kill to be hands on. I want to see the life drain from his eyes as he takes his final breath.

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