Page 38 of Hooded

“Because I want to come with you, and your mate is the first male, the first warrior, I know can escape from the Tormeleks’ clutches. I can’t do this anymore,” Narlix rushes out.

I don’t know whether to believe her or not, but it’s not for me to decide. I need Klynn. We have to make a plan.

“I don’t know…” I shake my head, looking down to get a grip on myself. “It sounds dangerous.”

“Speak with the Gryn. Tell him about the nebula,” Narlix says, poking at her vid screen. “I need to return you to your cell before Lord Halfen starts asking questions.” She holds out her hand and helps me up. “In the meantime, avoid anything you’regiven to eat which has a blue tinge to it. It won’t help your delicate stomach at this stage.”

“I thought you said you didn’t know much about my species?” I stare at her.

“I don’t, but…well”—her hand flutters over her midriff—“I know about mine.”

“You?”

Narlix nods. “Not the best idea I’ve ever had, but my species are rare, and when we meet another…” I swear the big beak blushes. “We have little option but to mate.”

She ushers me out of the door.

“You need to mate more with the Gryn,” she says loudly. “He needs to prove he can put young in your belly within the next nova-week, or you will be separated.”

I feel my knees dip even though I know she’s not telling the truth.

The guard pushes away from where he’s been leaning against the wall.

“The Gryn and the female do nothing but mate,” he huffs. “If he hasn’t filled her belly, I will.”

The nausea I thought I’d conquered rises up within me again.

“I’m pretty certain if Lord Halfen wanted a Tormelek hybrid, he’d do the deed himself.” Narlix sneers. “And probably cut off your cock for even thinking about taking what belongs to him.”

The guard squirms uncomfortably before he grabs my upper arm with such force I cry out.

“Doesn’t stop me from managing her if she resists,” he retorts.

“No, the Gryn will do that for him,” Narlix says evenly.

The Tormelek bully lets me go. For all their bluster, they are genuinely scared of Klynn, and I can only hazard a guess it’s because they’ve seen him fight, because it’s not for any other reason he’s given them from our cell.

“In the next few hours,” Narlix calls out as I’m led away, albeit more gently this time. “That’s all the time you have.”

FERN

The cell is in darkness when I’m returned, barely pushed inside before the forcefield is reactivated. As my eyes adjust, I see a dark stain on the floor which looks suspiciously like blood, along with a metallic tang in the air.

“Klynn?” I say hesitantly into the blackness.

“Don’t come any closer,” he growls back after a long beat.

“If you’re hurt, you know you can’t stop me.” I take a step towards his voice.

“I mean it,” he snarls. “Not this time. I don’t…want you to see me like this.”

“If you’re injured…”

“I am not injured.”

“Then I’m not staying away from you.” I step farther into the inky rear of the cell, even as Klynn snarls.

My eyes finally adjust enough so the dim light which filters from above means I can see a shadow of my fallen warrior. One wing is skewed off to the side, slumped against the wall which I know is the coldest in the cell itself. His front is covered in a dark substance.

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