Page 31 of Venomous Heart
Arlen’s face shed all apprehension and his back straightened. When he finally turned to face the Mantrilla, he was the Commander, no trace of emotion or weakness visible on any of his features.
How Ava envied him. She knew she wore her terror on her face, in every rigid inch of her petrified body.
“Prime Councilor Aav.”
Prime Councilor Aav? What does she want with us?
The Mantrilla eyed him carefully as she walked straight up to Arlen, her attention on him without deviating. Arlen didn’t move, didn’t show any fear in the face of the monstrous creature even as Ava battled her impulse to run away screaming.
This is all sorts of wrong. Prime Councilor Aav shouldn’t be here. She never leaves her seat in the Ring’s headquarters.
Prime Councilor Aav stopped just in front of Ava and Arlen, her green body shimmering in the sunlight, devoid of any clothing. Up close, Ava could see that her skin was in fact a kind of armor made of countless scales of chitin, as brilliant as it was strong. It would take a direct hit with an ionic detonation to pierce that armor.
“Why are you defying my orders?”
The Mantrilla’s long face showed no emotion as she spoke, her mandibles clicking with every word over the metallic sound of her voice—or rather, the metallic sound the translator synthesized as a language. Ava could never understand the real thing. The real thing was a series of metal grinding and clicking sounds. The sounds of a mindless predator.
“Doctor Ava was simply seeing to a sick patient.” Arlen spoke calmly, nothing in his expression betraying his lie. “She is returning to the medical clinic right away.”
Her mandibles clicked with annoyance as Prime Councilor Aav came to stand just in front of them. Her sheer size and strength instilled a mindless kind of terror within Ava and if it hadn’t been for Arlen’s firm grip, she knew she would have run for cover like a scared rabbit.
And something told Ava that that would be exactly the wrong move.
“Put this specimen with the others.” Prime Councilor Aav didn’t even glance at Ava as she turned around to walk back toward the group of humans who still eyed her with terror. “She can see to the sick once I’m done with my inventory.”
Arlen’s mouth curved down and his pale blue eyes took on a darker shade, but he made no objection.
“Do as she says,” Arlen whispered low as he urged Ava on. “Don’t make her notice you.”
Followed by Arlen, Ava walked toward the group of women, her gaze down and her hair falling on either side of her face, hiding her pointed ears. Her heart hammered hard in her chest, painfully so.
Then she locked gazes with Christie. The young woman was pale, paler than she ever ought to be as she clutched her infant daughter against her chest. Christie’s mouth lifted in a weak smile as Ava approached but suddenly the girl faltered, her entire body moving back and forth like a weed in a strong breeze.
Only she was no weed, and the baby she carried was at great risk of falling.
Ava ran, rushing forward even as Arlen shouted her name. She reached Christie just in time. Her arms closed around the girl’s waist and she clutched the infant between them. The baby cried, unimpressed at being squeezed this way, but she was safe. Ava quickly retrieved the infant and handed her to the person at her side—a big blue giant who stared in shock as the tiny infant cried with outrage in his arms.
But Ava had no time to waste on Arlen’s sensitivity to being in charge of a bawling baby.
“Christie, talk to me.” Ava clasped her fingers around the woman’s throat, feeling for a pulse and finding it fast and erratic. “This weather is too hot for her. She needs to be brought inside immediately,” she added, helping Christie to the ground.
Arlen looked down at Ava, still cradling the bawling baby girl in his hands. He looked so lost, she would have found it funny if not for the monstrous creature standing just behind him, looking down at the distressed human with black eyes devoid of feeling.
“That specimen is weak. It is better that she and her offspring do not survive if the species is to remain strong.”
The statement was made in an emotionless voice that grated on Ava like teeth on her bones.
“How dare you?” Ava turned on the Mantrilla, forgetting everything that wasn’t Christie and her baby. “She just gave birth! She needs care, not a death sentence.”
Prime Councilor Aav’s mandibles clicked in a fast, furious rhythm, conveying an anger that those two black eyes couldn’t. Instant terror mixed with Ava’s outrage, but she didn’t back down.
“Humans need care after giving birth to a child. It is the same for every woman.”
“Then it is no wonder your species needs the help of others to survive.” There was disgust in Prime Councilor Aav’s voice, and it stirred Ava’s anger even more.
“Our species survived by caring for mothers after they gave birth. This one was doing great until you forced her outside into this heat with the newborn. This is not Christie being weak, this is you endangering her and the baby.”
She ignored Arlen’s shouting as she defied the Mantrilla, cradling Christie’s head in her lap. Mandibles clicked as Ava fought her instinct to cry and beg for mercy. Mercy was gone, and begging would only get her killed.
