Page 56 of Rebirth

“Hello,” I say, remembering one of Soh’fee’s first lessons to me.

A low groan escapes him. Not fear, but darker want. He recognizes me as a threat to his purpose, an obstacle in his way. With a snarling hiss, he rushes at me.

His claws scrape against my armor and my ba’clan rear up. He is no match for me.

With a roar, I grasp him by the neck, lifting him from the ground. He still tries to get at me and, through the corner of my eye, I see Soh’fee.

I can sense the tension in the camp. Something is changing that I have not the resources to investigate. I only see the male named Nathan running away and the female he left behind standing there as if caught in a decision and she doesn’t know what to choose.

Palms fist at her side as she watches her mate run away, leaving her there defenseless.

Dishonorable male.

“I must kill this one,” I say, pulling my attention back to the infested male in my grip. That part of him that relates to me calls out, seeking survival.

But something greater calls me. And she is standing by my side.

“He must die,” I repeat. Maybe for those cells warring within me. Maybe so Soh’fee can understand I will slay one of her kind right before her eyes.

Soh’fee shakes her head even as she agrees with me. “I agree, but we shouldn’t. We need to test this…whatever it is.”

At the sound of her voice, the male’s gaze snaps to her. Both of his hands grip on to my arm, claws trying to dig deep to no avail as his legs flail. But even as my wrist tightens at his throat, cutting off his air supply, he does not pull his focus back to me.

And then. The unexpected.

They rip from his back. Veiny black tentacles that tear his garments apart as they shoot through the air and curve, heading straight for Soh’fee.

“What the—” Her weapon fires—a deafening sound that sends my ba’clan awry—and I feel the heat of the bullet as it skims past me, but I’m already moving.

Launching myself away from us, I slam the male into a nearby tree. His head lolls back for a moment before his consciousness returns and one of those veins shoots straight at my head. I grab it, claw sinking into its fleshy exterior as I snap it in two. Blood sprays all around us, the stench of it filling my nostrils.

But this isn’t like Soh’fee’s pure blood. This is different.

Wrong.

It sends my ba’clan into a frenzy and they fight to gather enough strength to form into blades so I can cut this abomination down.

They cannot.

And so I pull my fist back, prepared to pummel this male into nothingness when the deafening boom of Soh’fee’s weapon sounds again, this time, far too close.

Bert’s head blows up in an explosion of blood and matter.

I turn, Soh’fee’s wide eyes on the space where the male’s head once was, as I release the body and it falls to the ground.

A shudder goes through her and I move toward her, the urge to comfort her rising strongly within me, even as the sounds within the camp finally pierce my consciousness.

Groaning and echoes of pain.

Something makes us both pause.

Gazes locked, the unsaid passes between us.

This is just the start.

Turning together, Soh’fee takes a step back, shoulder brushing against my chest as we face the scene evolving before us.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

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