Page 35 of Orc's Forbidden Claim

Reaching the corner, I pause. Listening and trying to sense if it is waiting at the corner too or not. I can’t tell. All my attention is forward, then suddenly I’m aware of a presence at my back. My muscles jump as I spin to the new threat, raising the knife. I stop right as the blade finds Sek’su’s neck.

His swirling amber eyes meet mine without judgment or sound. We glare at one another and for a moment I consider finishing this. No matter my growing respect for him, he’s a lizard. All my life, all I’ve known is hate for him and his kind. They are thesource of our misery, and I have this one chance to balance the scales that little bit.

I pull the knife away from his neck, turning back to the real threat. I cannot continue letting the past shape my future. Saylor is proof of that. I had never entertained the idea of an alien mate, much less my dragoste being a Star person.

A howling screech splits the air, assaulting my ears before I finish turning. The darkness comes alive, forming into deadly tentacles coming in from all sides at once. I roar my response, a guttural, wordless battle cry as I do the only thing I can.

Dropping to the ground on my belly I roll to the far side of the tunnel. Unfortunately, for him, Sek’su does not react as quickly. His cry of pain fills the tunnel as one of the tentacles catches him. I don’t have time to assess the damage to him. The cudov is moving in for the kill but doesn’t seem to have noticed me yet.

I do a fast crawl on my belly towards it. I want to get as close as I can before it notices I’m here but, I don’t make it far.

Four of the creature’s tentacles strike at me. Cudov are deadly creatures in any circumstance, but not having a source of light is a huge advantage to them. And this is a big one.

Its shoulders would reach my waist. It has ten tentacles, meaning it’s older, also making it wiser. The tentacles flash through the air faster than I can follow with my eye. I move, rolling from one side to the next on instinct. Fortunately, instinct is with me, and I do not get hit.

I roll back until I am out of the immediate reach of its tentacles. Sek’su is pierced through his shoulder. He has one hand on the offending tentacle while waving the other to keep from being struck by other ones.

The cudov bares its teeth, flashing ivory white, and growls. It darts forward, intent on trying to subdue Sek’su with a bite. If it connects it will open his guts and that will be the end of him.

I move, rushing behind the creature and grabbing it’s long, flickering tail. The tail feels oily. I expected this. It’s part of the creatures’ natural defense. Their fur is very oily. We harvest the oil from cudovs and use it in various manufacturing. That defense though is very effective for the beast. My hands slip down its tail, unable to find purchase.

The end of its tail has bony spikes that let me get a grip. Its teeth snap shut. Hearing no accompanying cry from Sek’su, I must have stopped it short of hitting its mark.

Great for Sek’su. Not so much for me.

Six tentacles, each with a piercing barb, strike. I cannot hold this position, so I let go of the tail and stumble back out of the way. The tentacles strike all over where I was a moment before.

Sek’su roars. He jerks the tentacle free of his shoulder. Even in the dark, I see the blood spewing from his wound. He moves back, pulling his lochaber from his back.

Stupid weapons. You’d think they’d learn those are terrible in the confines of the mountain.

I raise my blade, using it to parry multiple strikes of tentacles. The cudov twists its body so that we’re both in its view, backing up against the wall of the tunnel. I jerk to my left then feint with the blade to the right.

Sek’su uses the distraction as I hoped he would, thrusting his ridiculously long weapon into the side of the cudov. It screeches in pain, head twisting and snapping at the offending source.

Sek’su jerks the blade back before it is caught in the creature’s teeth. This one is old enough to know when the prey is too hard. Young cudov don’t always know this and will often fight to the death.

The cudov slips along the wall. Even knowing right where it is, it’s hard to follow. The darkness seems to coalesce around it, shifting its actual position from where I see it. Another reason they are so deadly. One of the most highly evolved predators of the underground.

It reaches the corner and slips back, then out of sight. I ease my way ahead and around the corner. Vigilant for it to attack again. I go aways until I am sure it’s decided that retreat was the thing to do.

I return to Sek’su and find him sitting against the wall, bleeding profusely.

25

SAYLOR

Wren and I desperately cling to one another. The sounds coming down the tunnel are terrifying. I stopped her from going down the tunnel because if there is one thing I am sure of, no matter how much I want to know Khiara is okay, it’s that either of us getting close will make things worse.

The boys are both warriors. They are the most badass alpha males I’ve ever seen, and Wren and I both have seen plenty of them. Every other man I’ve known in my life pales in comparison to the pure machismo of Khiara. There is no comparison and it’s not something he does, it’s who he is.

The way he walks. The confidence with which he approaches the world around him. That air of absolute certainty that, no matter what happens, he will handle it. Since the ship crashed on Tajss I’ve seen grown men who tried to project that same air, break down, or run. Not that they were wrong when they did, most of the time. Humans are not built for the threats of Tajss.

Wren is shivering in my arms, and only when I recognize this, I realize I am too. The dark, terrible thoughts and images aredancing in my head, but I will not give them a voice. I know that if I do it will somehow make them more real. No, he is okay. I know he is okay. He has to be.

A horrifying screech that sounds like all the pain in the world has been compressed into a single instance comes down the tunnel. It bounces around us, engulfing us in its hurt. Tears are streaming but that doesn’t matter.

“Was that—” Wren begins but cuts herself off, choosing instead to somehow tighten her grip even further.

---