Page 24 of The Blind Hordesman

One nods his head.

“What? I’m his private property?”

Affirmative grunting.

I roll my eyes. “I’m tired, and I wanna go to bed.”

The hound walks outside and his big ass swaggers toward the tents. When I don’t follow, he throws his head back and gives me his best annoyed-hound look. “Is this thing guiding me to the Hordesman’s tent?”

A male hands me a plate of cookies and milk.

“Wonderful. Thank you so very much.” I stomp outside, where night covers the ranch. Pausing, I look up. No stars. Dark clouds gather over the horizon. The first drops of rain hit my face, and I know I have only a few minutes before it pours. With the snow still covering the ground, the camp will turn into a muddy mess. Maybe the Hordesman will pack up and leave. He’s probably just hanging out for the Collectors. When they arrive and take me, he’ll move on. It’s for the best. It really is. I can take care of the Collectors like Grandma took care of that one Alpha who came here looking to breed me. We buried him behind the house.

A drone zips above me. I blink. King Father has many drones, but I’ve never seen them fly so low. The hound snaps up his hackles, and his upper lip lifts. He turns up his nose, and, eyes on the drone, he watches it hover near the barn, slowly approaching the roof. The light on it flicks briefly, and I know the drone scanned inside the barn. It moves on.

A whistle comes from around the house.

With his snout, Ayo nudges my leg, then rounds me and heads back inside. I think he wants me to follow him. Rain falls fast. Another drone zips by.

Another whistle sounds.

And in the distance, I see the third drone approaching. This one is larger, difficult to see in the night unless one knows what one is looking for. There’s a tiny flickering light as the drone scans the grounds and comes to hover above the camp. Rain pours over my face, and I wipe it with a hand, then watch.

The drone starts descending into the camp. I frown.

Again, I hear a whistle, and Seer steps out from behind the house. He stands a few feet away from the barn, head down, not even looking above. He starts spinning his axes and crouches, then moves crouched like that with his head tilted. He looks primitive, as if he was born for another time when cavemen roamed the earth. He flings the ax. It flies behind him and hits the surveillance drone above the roof. The drone falls, bounces off the roof, and drops to the ground. The light’s still on, so the drone isn’t dead, only incapacitated, judging by the dent in the back where smoke rises.

Seer spins the second ax.

I’m searching the sky for the second surveillance drone when I catch sight of the bigger drone inside the camp. It moves slowly, some sort of pipes extended from it. I have a feeling those are lasers. I don’t think that’s a surveillance drone. I have a bad feeling about this. I wipe my face. Drenched from the rain, I want to move back into the house, but I can’t, because the way the Warlord Alpha moves fascinates me. I’ve never seen anything like it. He practically crab-walks, ax spinning, and sometimes he touches the ground with his hand as if feeling for things that aren’t there. He’s…he’s prowling toward the drone, slowly, meticulously.

An explosion rocks the ground.

I cover my head.

Ayo pounces and lands on top of me.

His massive body presses my lungs against the ground, and I can’t breathe. I try lifting, but the harder I push against him, the more aggravated the hound becomes. He snarls at me, snaps his teeth. Under him, I lift onto my elbows and stare at the muddy ground. Breathing heavily, I peek out from under the hound and look for Seer.

I see nobody.

But I hear the drone when it starts firing.

Lasers burn through the tents, setting them on fire.

Another explosion, and another.

My ears ring.

I watch the big drone spinning, laser fire cutting everything and everyone in its path. Tents collapse, and I catch sight of Seer. Sturdy green armor erected, he’s marching toward the drone that’s cutting laser burns over his body. Seer roars, crouches, and leaps into the air, lands atop the drone, and takes the thing down. He stomps over it, crushing it with his boots until the drone flickers off.

Silence.

I push at Ayo, but he won’t budge. “It’s over,” I say.

Then my house explodes.

I scream as the hound lets out a bloodcurdling cry. Fire rages from the house. I feel the heat on my feet that are sticking out from under the animal. I try looking to my left, but can’t move. The hound’s weight presses my chest and my face into the mud. I’m gonna suffocate. I try lifting up on my elbows, but can’t. Ayo’s like deadweight on me. I hope he’s not dead. I hope everyone survived. Why would Father do this? He knows we’re still here. The drones told him we’re still here, so why would he blow up the house where my sisters slept. Why?

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