Page 23 of Serpents of the Night

“Yeah, I’ve noticed that you have plenty of glowing weeds down there,” Vi agreed as she reclined back in her chair. “And a huge pile of cushions to rest your ass on, which is always a plus. But that doesn’t amount to a hill of beans compared to any other bullshit that you are likely getting hit with. Is the queen giving you trouble?”

“It is about as enjoyable as you would expect. Royal mealtimes together in the early morning hours before the Seshanamitesh began to settle to sleep away the hottest part of the day. And of course, the queen is thrilled to have me for her son’s mate—as thrilled as if he brought home the plague or some other deadly disease,” she added, meeting Kehtal’s gaze as her mate shook his head mirthfully as he reached down to pluck Hashal off her lap. His wing caressed her lovingly for a moment before he straightened with their nestling and left the room with him to give her some privacy. Lori lowered her voice, not wanting to worry her mate even more than she already had. “Between us, I also think every female within her court would happily see me dead, or at least gone from the Aglatha if not from Seshana altogether.”

Vi snorted. “Making friends already I see.” She sighed heavily and met her gaze soberly through the link. “Just don’t get yourself killed. I won’t forgive me if you leave me alone on this damn planet.”

“What are things not working out as you hoped with Ehsash?” Lori teased.

“Yeah, right. I’m thinking that male is a hopeless case,” Vi huffed in reply. “Maybe I need to look at other prospects. But quit trying to change the subject.” She wagged a finger. “It’s you that we need to be worried about. I’m sorry, Lori, but judging by that bitch, her royalness that was too good to mingle with all of us commoners of the colony, you are liable to get squashed like a bug by one of those females down there. You don’t even have the basic combat training many of us undesirables stationed here have. You are a freaking beautician-masseuse from the pleasure arts strata for fuck’s sake.”

A look of regret came over her friend’s face as Lori bristled. “Ah shit, I’m sorry. I’m always putting my foot in it. I didn’t mean to downplay your contributions to Raza colony. I only mean that you are... delicate, you know? Even I would have a hard time holding my own against one of the Seshanamitesh so of course I’m going to worry like crazy when you are down there with a whole bunch of them who probably want to murder you.”

Lori breathed deeply and nodded. She knew how Vi was. She didn’t mean to be hurtful. Her friend was as blunt as ever and was worried. She cared about her.

“It’s ok, Vi. I know what you mean,” she admitted. “And you’re right. I have my mates but if it comes right down to it, I lack the skills to protect myself.”

Vi’s lips pressed together worriedly. “You are smart though, Lori. I may worry a lot about you being down there so far from the colony, but I also know that are not helpless. Hell, you’ve gone through more shit on this planet than most of us—granted most of it was from our own people. But I know that you have the ability to survive anything that you come against, so don’t let my thoughtless words get you down. Just keep an eye on them and don’t let them get you into a corner.”

“I won’t.”

“Good. Now tell me about the crazy shit you’ve seen down there because I know that it must be code nine down there,” her friend chuckled.

Lori’s lips quirked as she leaned forward. “Well, first of all, you have to see what passes for a popular pet down here.”

As expected, Vi’s eyes lit up with interest. “A pet. Do tell, you adorable ogress.”

Chapter 19

Slengral’s eyes narrowed suspiciously as he watched the activity below him. Small clusters of females occasionally flew by, and among them more than one royal guard whom he knew was keeping watch on him, but it was the random males that drew his attention. Although three day-cycles had passed since he had been made aware of Vekatha’s efforts to trap him, he had not relaxed his vigil over his nest. Nor had the other males.

Three endless day-cycles in which his presence was expected every evening at his mother’s side, and he was forced to subject his mate and family to the tedious court affairs dealing with the matriarchs without support, aside from the elderly Shaleia who remained steadfast at their side. Not to mention the obvious displays of interest from the unmated hopefuls splashing their pheromones all over the place just in case they were fortunate enough to draw a recognizable response from him. It was only made worse by knowing that his mother could put an end to it whenever she desired after the first failed evening without repercussion from the matriarchs, and yet still she allowed it.

His jaw clenched in irritation, an irrational anger filling his gut, making him want to swoop down on those flying unsuspectingly below him and vent his frustration. The feeling of being suffocated was getting worse and still Vekatha was nowhere to be found. He suspected that she was intentionally drawing it out with continuous delays. It was the one way that she was certain to torment him—trapping him with the shinara.

“Have there been any other signs of disturbance from Vekatha?” he rumbled to the male stationed at his side.

Daskh fanned his wings as his gaze trailed over the buildings. “No. Nothing. I had no difficulty intercepting many of those who ventured close to our nest, but it turned up nothing aside from the fact that some males fly a little recklessly too close to the nesting zones. They are lucky a less tolerant male has not shredded them for it yet.” He expelled a sharp breath from between his teeth. “I do not understand what she is waiting for,” he grumbled. “You would think after her first failed attempt that she would have other plans in mind.”

Slengral quietly grunted in response. “She knows that it will not work. Vekatha is many things, but she is not stupid. She has likely heard of the numerous failed attempts of the females at court and by now realizes that any such efforts to delegitimize my mating will be wasted. She is playing a game with us—trying to manipulate me into action. It is just to keep us all on edge while revealing nothing of her activities or her true intentions.”

Daskh cast him a wary glance. “That is what worries me. It did seem as if she were trying to intentionally provoke us previously. Even if she thought that the pheromone trap would perhaps work, would she not have come herself to implement it so that she could enjoy the results? Instead, she kept herself hidden. Why? And the male, Mareesh, was a little too forthcoming about his orders. The only thing that seemed to truly catch him off guard was the fact that I seized the pheromone-soaked evidence. It was as if he had not expected that reaction.”

A hiss of disgust escaped from between Slengral’s clenched teeth. “She expected us to hunt for her now that we have the advantage of numbers. But why would she want to lure us from the nest? She made no observable move against us when we attended the Daliska Market. If she simply wished to cause some mischief for us where the shinara could witness it, she missed her opportunity.”

“And you have not allowed Lori out from the nest since, outside of attending the banquets at the queen matriarch’s demand,” Daskh pointed out drily. His gavo flicked unhappily. “Whatever her reasoning, we cannot keep Lori under guard within the nest forever. It is cruel and our female is becoming increasingly more restless.”

Slengral did not wish to agree with his nest brother, but the male had a point. As much as his instincts screamed for him to keep their mate hidden within their nest, he knew that Lori chafed against the restriction just as much as she had within his nest in the upper caverns. He should be giving her the opening to learn about the shinara so that she understood more of it. And yet...

“I feel watched,” he confided in a low voice. “And not just by my mother’s guards but by something that poses a danger to us. It is sizing us up and deciding the best way to tear the meat from our bones.”

Daskh’s frown deepened, his gavo rising warily. “Do you believe it is Vekatha seeking to harm us then? If so, why not attack when we were in the market?”

That was the question. There were no further traps to be found, nor had anyone attacked them directly when they had the chance to do so. So why did he feel so uneasy when he should be simply brushing Vekatha’s antics off as being no more important than that of a spoiled nestling? Even in the market he had felt eyes following them, but he had tried to brush it off, rationalizing that the entire shinara would be watching them when humans like Lori were unheard of in the depths of the Aglatha. But it did not fit when he knew of Vekatha or her previous behavior.

“Vekatha is cunning, but she is an opportunist,” he replied at last. “She will strike when her quarry is vulnerable rather than be one to organize a complicated hunt. Her attempt to flush us out into a trap via the male Mareesh is typical of what could be expected, but anything that requires more patience and strategizing does not fit.”

Daskh rumbled in agreement, but the sound was a distracted one as his gaze fixed on a point in the near distance. Slengral followed the line of the male’s gaze and grimaced when he saw a pair of broad wings break from the flying formation of the guard patrolling the shinara. It appeared that they were about to have company. He rolled back on the coils of his tail, his gavo rising in warning so that the bioluminescence of their gavos shimmered along the outer rocks, framing their nest in wildly flickering colors in silent warning to the guard to slow their approach.

To his relief, the female veered in a wide circle as she neared, rapidly reducing her speed as she slowly drew up to the mouth of his cavern. Daskh slid back deeper within it, his gavo twitching and rattling as he hissed unhappily despite Slengral’s large body crowding close against his to completely block off all access to their nest and their mate. Even though he easily recognized the female as she neared, the instinctive response roared through him as his eyes followed the guard’s approach, her wings beating wildly as she drew up to the entrance before Jathella landed with a broad snap of her large blue wings. Her amber eyes pinned him gravely for a moment before dropping her head in a respectful dip.

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