Page 43 of Soliv Four
“Tomak, behind you.”
But as he turned his head, the male sank to his knees and fell over, bleeding onto the dirt. The other fell as well as Angie pulled out her knife.
Angie looked distressed as she wiped her bloody knife off on the shirt of the male she just helped kill.
“We had no choice, Angie. They chose to fight for you.” Tomak cleaned his knife as well and returned it to his sheath.
“Tomak, your arm is bleeding.”
He bent his arm and noted a small cut on his forearm. “I thought I felt the sting. That doesn’t look too bad.”
Angie was already moving to pick up his pack where he’d shrugged it off to fight. They both carried a tube, but she took it from his bag because it was quicker. She squeezed a thin line along his cut, and it spread itself to seal the skin.
Within a mini span, the tube was capped and stowed, then Angie helped him put the pack back on. “Now what?” she asked.
Tomak looked at the sky. The sun wasn’t overhead yet. “We have about four span’s left, and four adversaries left. We hunt. I doubt the others will be teaming up.”
One of the hunters was Austyn Frost, the leader of the biggest gang in that sector of the prison planet. That promotion was thanks to Tomak killing the previous leader. Tomak wouldn’t mind killing him, too. Frost frequently hovered when they were in the workout field, hoping to catch Angie on her own.
It didn’t surprise Tomak that Frost jumped at the chance to fight him for her. That Tomak had to defend his claim on his mate at all was an outrage. None of them could care for her as he did. They just wanted a cunt, and Angie was beautiful and sexy… But she was his Angie, and she was so much more than that. She had a beautiful soul, and she was his soul mate.
He would fight every one of them to keep her with him. McKaro would pay for this one way or another.
TWENTY-SIX
“We’ve got at least three spans until the end of this damned hunt,” said Tomak as they strolled down the main path of the maze. “I don’t want to expend a lot of energy hunting for the others.”
“So, we let them find us?” Angie questioned. “What if they all find us at once?”
“We run.” He grinned down at her. “We know this jungle better than they do.”
It was quiet in the maze save for the soft chirping of birds overhead. They were a mixture of tropical birds that originated from Earth stock. If not for the hunt, it was a lovely day to enjoy a walk through the tropical forest. The rain had upped the humidity before dawn, but the sun overhead had dried the packed earth paths that comprised the maze.
They walked a short time when they heard a runner pounding the path behind them, one of the humanoids. Tomak jerked his knife out of the sheath and turned to face his adversary. The male skidded to a halt, holding his hands in the air.
“No contest!” he declared, looking terrified. “I withdraw.”
Tomak nodded and sheathed his knife, stepping back and gestured to him to pass. The hybrid humanoid sprinted off.
“Um, I think maybe he found the bodies of the purple guys,” Angie said.
“I don’t think he has been here very long. That leaves three.”
He took her hand, and they started walking again, turning off on a trail that looped back around to the main course. They hadn’t gone very far when the reptilian jumped down from a branch above them and knocked Tomak to the ground, landing heavily on top of him.
Angie screamed as Tomak’s hand was ripped from hers. But she didn’t panic, pulling out her knife while the reptilian was reaching for his. Without hesitation, she drew back the knife and plunged it into the attacker's neck twice. Blood spurted from the second wound as the reptilian grabbed his neck and made gagging noises.
He jumped up, his knife in hand intending to retaliate. As he took a step forward, Tomak grabbed his tail. Blood continued to spurt from the neck wound even with his hand pressed against it. He tried to pull his tail from Tomak’s hold while his blood pumped out in a steady stream down the front of him.
The reptilian then turned to stab Tomak with his knife raised. Angie jumped in again, drove her blade into the attacker’s lower back between his rips and pelvis. Blood squirted from that wound as well, and the reptilian fell over and finished bleeding out into the dirt.
Tears ran down her face as she stood holding the knife still dripping with blood, and looked down at Tomak. “Are you all right?” Angie sniffed.
“Not quite. I think I cracked some ribs and hit my left shoulder pretty hard when he knocked me down,” Tomak gritted in pain. He used his hold on the reptilian’s tail and pulled himself up to a sitting position.
Angie quickly wiped off her knife and sheathed it, offering Tomak a hand up. He used her help to lever himself up on one knee, to a squat, and stood from there. He moved his injured left arm gingerly and grimaced.
Angie frowned at him worriedly. “We’ve still got two more guys after us. You’re really hurt.”
