Page 31 of The Blind Hordesman

“Securing you. Can’t have you walking into town with bare skin.”

“I didn’t realize I was going.”

I grab her hands, squeeze. “You must watch. It’s how challenges are done.”

“Maybe that works on Regha, but this isn’t Regha.”

“It should be.”

“Seer, you’re wounded.”

“You worried about me?” I peck the place on the helmet wherever her nose is.

The four males with me gather around us. “We have company,” one says.

“Yeah, I know. I’m ignoring them.” What the fuck? Of course I know. I dislike when people think I can’t “see.” I’ve painted my surroundings ten times over. I got this shit, and questioning me on my disability really makes me murderous. The wind carries a scent. I know this scent. He smells like me, walks like me, looks like me. “Brother?”

“Seer.”

Dreikx’s parting words rush back.You left me no choice,he’d said, then, I presume, left to find my brother, the Collector Alpha, to come for my Omega. My brother is terribly dedicated to his job. He’s collected whole cities of Omegas and travels with hundreds of them, moving from place to place the way the imposter does so nobody knows where the Collectors are anymore. He fears the imposter will try to hurt the Omegas, and so he guards them. Quite viciously. “What are you doing here?” I ask as if I don’t know.

“Collecting.”

“Over my dead body.”

“Don’t be dramatic.”

“I’m in the middle of a mission, Arkin. Fuck off and come back later.”

“Negative.”

I snarl.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” he says.

I smile. It’s like having a conversation with myself. “The hard way.”

Two explosions sound. I open my mouth to pop the pressure in my ears.

“Report,” I say to one of my males. I haven’t walked into town yet! “What’s going on?”

“Telean pods moved in.”

“Is Dreikx here?” I ask.

“Yes,” my brother answers. “Incoming,” he shouts and rushes past me. I leap onto my Omega and find my brother beat me to it and has thrown himself over her already. I grab his shoulders and push him off. Four males surround us, their robes fluttering on the wind and touching my face. Collectors. Laser fire sears their armor. I smell it. The enemy is targeting my Omega. Motherfuckers. I get up, break the Collectors’ four-male formation, bend at the knee, and throw an ax. It hits the drone, and I hear it splash in the mud. I run for the ax, get it, then stomp out the working drone.

At my back, the Warlords steady their breathing pattern, preparing for battle. I can’t take my Omega into battle. I can’t leave her out here alone either. She’s been quiet, observing, maybe even plotting an escape. I don’t know, but I do know my brother will guard her with his life. Trouble is, he’s gonna guard her with his life even from me.

“Charge,” I shout and run over the river, the field, and into the town, where smoke and dust rise, where Swarm grunts and their blood spills as Telean pods zip overhead. Since there’s no challenge, I’ll have to kill them all. She can confirm the pack later.

* * *

Kiki

While Seer argued with the Collector who must be his twin, I adjusted the helmet so that I could see through what I presume is the mouthpiece. Seer’s brother straps me onto a hound and mounts it behind me. He clicks his tongue several times, and the hound takes off and away from the town.

“Hey!” I say. “Where are you going?”

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