Page 47 of Guardian's Destiny

Vraax rolled up his sleeves enough for Moddekdum to see.

"So you've fallen for her lies too?"

"Don't," Vraax cut him off with a swipe of his hand, "don't even try. We know everything. You, your mate, and Possedion will take us down to Darlam."

Moddekdum's face fell; it didn't even hold a modicum amount of the defiance I had seen in Possedion. "If you think so, you know nothing. And she is not mymate."

"Enough," I stopped the men. "Did you bring a healing wand by any chance? Paddekah got hurt during the fire and Moddekdum decided to leave her to burn to death." I glared accusingly at the Ohrur.

"She's just a female," Moddekdum stated coldly, reminding me again of Possedion's similar demeanor. The only reason I didn't lay into him.

"I did." Vraax pulled out a healing wand from his pocket and handed it to me.

I approached Paddekah with it, but she limped back a step. "Oh no, him first."

"He's not hurt," I stated, ignoring her pleas and forcing her to sit on a boulder that seemed wide enough. It actually looked likea bench, carved from rock. I knelt beside her and activated the healing wand before moving it over her ankle.

"If you think for a moment you will make it off Ohrur alive, you are gravely mistaken. They'll kill me first." Moddekdum complained to Vraax, ignoring his mate—I refused to call her nuvala—and me.

"Why would he just leave you behind to burn?" I asked Paddekah, baffled by what happened.

"I'm useless," she stated in a matter-of-fact way. "I'm only a female. And I'm not expecting at the moment."

Her words shook me. "Expecting, as in being pregnant?"

She nodded.

"Were you before? Paddekah, do you have children?" The thought bothered me. I wouldn't take a mother away from her kids. Even if it meant Vraax and I would have to kidnap someone else.

"That one?" Moddekdum spat. "I haven't even honored her yet."

My mind worked to decipher his words. I was sure he meant he hadn't had sex with her yet when he saidhonored her. Those words alone were enough to raise my hackles and made me want to beat the little shit to the ground.

"We've only been mated for a rotation yet," Paddekah offered as an explanation.

"As nice as this is, I'm really not interested in your mating habits. Let's go." Vraax ordered.

I wasn't about to contradict him in front of the others. We needed to show a united front, but I was interested in the Ohrur mating habits and why they seemed to loathe females. Finding out might play in our favor.

"Go where?" Moddekdum spat.

"None of your business," Vraax pulled him forward. "You're my hostage, remember that."

I would have liked an answer to that question, too, but again, I wasn't about to show any kind of strife between him and me in front of the Ohrurs.

"Are you okay?" I asked Paddekah, who sent a tentative smile at me before she nodded.

"I can walk." She assured me.

Vraax consulted his comm, causing Moddekdum to laugh at him sharply.

"You won't find any map for this. You might as well take us back up."

Vraax ignored him, and I walked over to him.

"What's the plan?" I asked quietly, pulling him to the side.

"We can't go back up there," he pointed at the tunnel we had climbed down. "I don't think our heat signatures filter all the way through the layers of rock and dirt, but they'll pick it up as soon as we're above ground again."

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