Page 17 of Dreikx

“That’s what they say? That I’m smarter than everyone else?” Nice. “It’s true.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yes.” It is a fact.

“I’m going to walk through this thing.” She points. “And if you don’t take it down, it will damage me.”

“You motherfucker.” Raven shouts from somewhere below. “If you hurt a hair on her head, I’ll kill you and every Telean on that ship.”

“You need those Teleans to deliver your gigantic baby.”

Tamey gasps. “Don’t offend his baby.”

“How is that offensive?” I shout, then snap my mouth shut and compose myself. When dealing with emotion-driven people such as the royal siblings, it is best to assume that Tamey would indeed walk through the dome and that Raven would do the same. The voltage, though not deadly, would incapacitate Raven and inflict permanent damage on Tamey since she doesn’t have armor. I’m left with only one insane and irrational choice. At great risk to my well-being and everything I’ve worked for over the years, namely the fact I’ve gone out of my way to keep my battle skills a secret, I order the barrier to fold.

Raven’s hand appears on the lawn. In one swift move, he swings his body over and stands on the cliff’s edge, the dome’s barrier disappearing before him. Raven is seven feet of pure muscle and hard armor, baring fangs that drip venom. He hits his chest. “Dreikx—”

Tamey squeals, runs, and jumps on him. Like an octopus, she wraps her extremities around him and he around her, and then the weeping starts. It’s not coming from him, because he’s staring right at me, so it must be Tamey.

“Oh dear Serpent,” she says, voice quivering, “look how big you are. Not a boy, but a male. The biggest one I’ve ever seen.” Her hands roam over his face, and Raven tears his eyes from me to look at his sister. A smile splits his face. He kisses her forehead and puts her down.

“You’re more beautiful than all the Serpent’s Omegas combined,” he says, swiping a claw over her shoulder. “And marked as if the Serpent himself painted over your body.”

Tamey tucks a hair behind her ear. “Thank you, Raven.” She grabs his hand and tugs. “Come in.” Though he gives me a murderous look, he lets himself be dragged inside the house. Apparently, even he forgets what he came here for with Tamey around. I stay outside, watching her from a distance. She doesn’t order the house to do anything. She brings Raven tea and breakfast and only then sits down. Her laughter makes me regret that I’ve offended her. Unknowingly so. I must explain myself better.

Later. Now, I must go to work.

Chapter 7

Dreikx

Sotay waits for me at the gate. He sits on the bench, head bowed, fingers working on the control, which is excellent since we need to develop a safe space jump for Seer’s army. I step away from the pod and look around the courtyard. It’s deserted, and I presume the Guardians have orders to guard it from outside the walls. This leaves them exposed, but they’re Alphas. Physical conflict, if any, would end in the enemy’s defeat. Though the fact the enemy is called “the Swarm” is not to be discounted. Bees are busy insects and sacrifice their lives for the hive. They’re also extremely productive and work as a team.

Hm. Without greeting Sotay, I sit on the bench, giving my intellect time to process this train of thought. Swarm. Bees. Productive. Sacrifice. The Swarm has proven ready to die for their cause, or, more accurately, for their king. They attack as one and fight as one. It’s not unlike the Regha Alphas, but it is different in the way that Alphas thrive on individual accomplishments and count the killed opponents, taking great pride in the numbers. They’re competitive and will attempt to outdo each other. Swarm males don’t seem to have the same motivation. Likely because they’ve no way of thinking for themselves. Which in itself is dangerous. The impostor king commands an army of sheep, and sheep don’t question the leader. They follow.

Sotay waves a hand before my face.

I dislike it when he does this.

“Good morning,” I greet him.

“You smell like pussy.” He makes kissing noises. “When we were kids and wanting to get into fights, all we had to do is take Tamey out for a stroll. Alphas would try to impress her, and boom, we beat them up.”

“We who?”

“Mostly Arkin.”

“No wonder he grew into a Collector. What have you accomplished so far?” I take my control out, swipe over the map to Regha, and open a new mapping system.

Sotay hands me his drawings. Again, he’s got no ruler, but he is precise, I’ll give him that. “We need a location,” I say.

“Canada?” he prompts and laughs because he knows that once this situation with the Swarm is settled, I’m leaving for Canada to live my happily ever after with Tamey. And kids. I’ll have those too. I wonder if the Regha genes will trip over the Telean ones. My genetic mapping shows many probabilities and predictions, but I can’t be sure until I hold my…

Sotay waves a hand in front of my face again.

“I hate when you do that.”

“Focus,” he says and laughs and laughs.

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