Page 10 of Venomous Heart
The thought sent a riot of sensations all through her body and she inched her head closer without really meaning to.
A movement to her left made her want to turn her head, but she couldn’t. She was trapped in that gaze, in those powerful arms that made her feel things she never had before.
As light footsteps could be heard behind them, Arlen inclined his head, then his eyes slid to the far side of the room. All hunger was wiped clean from his features to be replaced by a look of utter shock. Ava turned, squirming in the Eok’s hold, then saw what had caused this sudden change in his demeanor.
Uril stood there, out in the open, a look of stricken awe on his small, round face.
“I asked you to stay hidden,” Ava told Uril. The boy glanced at her, then went back to staring at the Eok, his features slack and his eyes filled with an almost religious awe.
She knew what was going on behind those golden eyes. Uril was a twelve-year-old boy too weak to go outside to play ball with the others, who spent all his time reading about the greatest warriors in the Ring, alone in a windowless room. He was always blabbering to her how strong, how fast, how dangerous they were.
Of course he couldn’t have resisted the chance to see an Eok warrior in the flesh. And now, he was about to have his small, courageous heart crushed into dust when he realized what his hero saw when he looked at him.
But right now, Uril’s feelings were the least of her problems. Because she’d had a very good reason to keep Uril away from the Eoks for as long as possible.
Unfortunately, what was done was done. There was no hiding the boy now. Still, she could shield him from the heartbreak of having one of his fabled heroes look down on him like he was the result of some sick experiment.
Ava pushed against Arlen’s hold but he didn’t loosen it. Fear twisted in knots in her belly as the Eok kept staring at Uril, shock giving way to something else on his face. Something she didn’t like at all. Something close to disgust.
I have to get Uril out of here.
“Take your hands off me.” Ava pushed with both hands flat against Arlen’s chest.
At her words, Arlen snapped his head back to her. He seemed to only now realize she was still there, in his arms like some damsel in distress. The Eok grabbed her by the shoulders and straightened her up, then withdrew his hands once she was safely standing in front of him. He took a long step back, putting a good two feet between their bodies.
Ava’s cheeks still burned, but now it was anger that made her temper flare. Because she knew that look. That look had defined her entire life.
He’s disgusted by us.
“This is Uril.”
She put herself between the boy and Arlen, spreading her elbows out slightly, placing both hands on her hips. Not that she could pose any physical challenge to the Eok, but she wouldn’t make it easy for him if he decided to take things to a physical level.
Arlen’s eyes went from the boy to her, then back to the boy. His features had regained their former icy calm and he held himself straight as he studied the boy’s features. Uril stayed mercifully silent as the Eok looked him over.
“How many other hybrids are there?” Arlen’s tone was as merciless as any she’d ever heard as he asked the question.
Ava flinched. She’d known what would happen when the Eoks found Uril, but somehow, she had imagined Arlen wouldn’t react this way. It seemed like she had been wrong about him.
He wasn’t honorable, he was a self-righteous bastard.
“Uril, go back to your room.” Ava spoke softly, glancing back at the boy. Uril suddenly looked like he wanted to melt into a puddle on the floor under the Eok’s stare. “I’ll come fetch you later.”
Uril nodded, then bit his trembling lips, passing by Arlen with his head held high and his back straight, but his golden eyes filling with water. As soon as he was through the doors, he ran.
Anger coiled inside Ava like the eye of a tornado, spinning and growing until it became a scalding fury. She watched until Uril disappeared around the corner then turned on the Eok, her protective rage unleashed.
“How dare you?” She spat out the words, stepping into the Eok’s space, ready to pummel him down. It didn’t matter that he could break her in half with his bare hands. She was past being afraid. She was blind with hurt and anger. “He’s twelve years old, and he was looking at you like you were some kind of savior!”
Arlen looked down at her, his face closed off, his full lips in a straight, unmoving line. “It seems Trade Minister Knut created more illegal hybrids than I was informed about. I will need a list of all of them.”
This made Ava lose the last shred of control she had over her temper, and she shoved him. Arlen staggered back, but it was clear that it was more in shock than because of her strength.
“Bastard!” Her voice sounded like a string pulled taut, and she heard the tremors just under the surface. Years of scorn and open hostility had piled up, coming to a boiling peak at Arlen’s words. “Is that what we are to you? Hybrids, not people?Abominations?”
Ava moved closer, her temper uncontrollable. It hurt in an almost physical way, what Arlen had said to Uril, and she wasn’t going to back down now. Not now, not ever. She was done with playing nice.
“Will you stick us behind bars like animals? Well, I’d like to see you try!”
