Page 43 of Venomous Heart
“You should tell that to the asteroid belt of Vulnerys.” Kamal grinned with mockery, turning to face him without flinching. Arlen wasn’t surprised. Even when he was a rising star in the Eok armies, Kamal defied authority as easily as he breathed. How could he expect Kamal to show deference to him, no matter his title?
“The humans on Aveyn need a way to feed themselves.” Arlen heard the resentment in his voice but he went on. Kamal could withstand his jolts of temper more than anyone else. “Did you find the seeds and seedlings Khal ordered as well?”
“I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t.” Kamal crossed his arms across his chest and kept his gaze steadily on Arlen. “But I’m not interested in talking agriculture with you. Khal sent me a message.”
“Khal should have learned to mind his own business by now.”
“And he did. By caring for his pigheaded older brother.” Kamal raised a brow when Arlen growled with humor. “You have a bloodmate, brother. This is something I understand well.”
Arlen stared at his brother, then his anger subsided. Kamal meant well, as did Khal. They simply didn’t understand.
“I know you think we don’t understand.” Another voice came from behind him and Arlen turned to see Khal walking toward him, a stubborn expression on his face. Arlen groaned, knowing full well neither of them were going to give up now.
“What is this? Some kind of intervention?”
“Yes, it is.” Kamal came to stand just in front of Arlen, his navy, almost black eyes fixed on him with purpose. No, with anger. “What you did matters. Ava is your bloodmate, does she even know?”
“Know that her life is now linked to mine in a way neither of us predicted or even wanted?”
“Is that what you told that poor human female?” Kamal shook his head, his expression one of pity. “That you didn’t want to take her, but had no choice? I can picture how well that went down.”
Arlen glared at his brother, who glared back at him. There was no intimidating Kamal, he knew. There was no getting away from the conversation, either.
“She’s being so difficult. She’s unreasonable.” Arlen shook his head as Kamal chuckled dryly. “She talks about freedom and choice like she has one. She’s weak and alone, how can’t she see that? My protection is going to keep her safe and fed for the rest of her life.”
“Imagine how well this conversation would have gone with Mother if Father had said that to her.” Khal laughed openly. “I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere in the compound of the house to witness that!”
Arlen stared at Khal for a long time, then at Kamal. That was a stupid thing to say. Their mother was a Relany female—she was tall and strong, had the means to protect herself. Or did she? Enlon always treated her as such, but now that Arlen thought about it, Relany or not, her strength was comparable to Ava’s in the face of an Eok. Yet, Enlon never spoke to her like she was helpless.
“Mother and Father live on Eokim.” Arlen shook his head. “There is no danger there.”
Kamal inhaled deeply, then placed a hand on his shoulder. “My bloodmate is the same as yours. These human females, they don’t care how weak they are, or how grave the danger. They are brash and insolent, but there is honor in their bravery, too.”
Arlen stared at Kamal, understanding instinctively that he was right. Kamal’s own mating with Aliena had transformed him from a pirate, a smuggler living a life on the edge of the Ring’s civilization, back into the captain of an entire fleet of ships providing food and essential supplies to colonies protected by Eoks all throughout the Ring. It was nothing short of a miracle.
But it was a miracle that could not happen to Arlen.
“Did you tell her about Maral?” Kamal spoke in a low voice, and Arlen shot him an angry warning glare. “She deserves to know.”
Arlen shook his head, emotions he had kept tightly buried resurfacing mercilessly. “And what would I tell her?” He chuckled without mirth, then had to swallow hard through a closed throat. “That I lied when I told her Eoks mate for life? That I wasn’t able to protect my mate, and that she died because of it? Or should I just tell her that I was too blind to see that my mate of ten years had plotted the assassination of my entire family just to elevate herself? What is it, brother, that you think I should tell her?”
This time, it was Khal who stepped forward. “You tell her everything.” He stared at Arlen with a frown. “You tell her about Maral, about her plot to kill Karian and Rose. You tell her you tried for ten years to make her happy but that she wouldn’t have any of it. You tell her you’ve been hiding at the Frontier for an entire year, fighting for your life every day. And you tell her you survived all of it.”
Arlen locked gazes with Khal. This was what the younger Eok saw in him. What he always saw. Khal had always seen the best in him. But he didn’t know, he couldn’t know what Maral’s treachery and ultimately her death had done to Arlen.
“I’m not the warrior I used to be.” Arlen spoke without restraint, the open wound between his ribs oozing and flowing for the first time since that fateful day when he’d thought he had been called by the Mating Venom. “Ava deserves a male who is whole. One who can give her a happy life. I’m not that male. I am broken.”
“You’re wrong. I know you.” The strength of Khal’s conviction surprised him. There was a knowing, older wisdom in his little brother’s eyes that made Arlen listen. “You haven’t changed. You’re still the warrior who kept searching for Kamal when all of us had stopped, even Mother and Father. You’re still the warrior who never gave up looking for Karian after the slavers captured him, even after ten years. You’re still the warrior who made sure I came back every time I messed up when I was in training. Maral’s death didn’t change that. She might have taken your hope away, but you’re still who you always were. You’re the warrior who never gives up on the ones you care about. And that is something Ava can count on.”
Arlen stared at his brothers, his family. Each of them had gone through things he didn’t even want to think about, yet they still believed in him.
And that made him think about Ava. Because what Khal said was true of him, but it was also true of her. She never gave up on those she loved, no matter how desperate the odds. And he would not give up on her, either.
Then his attention was diverted by the sound of screaming.
Arlen turned to see a group of three Mantrilla dragging a small, finely boned young male with pale green skin as a ten foot high creature followed them.
Then his eyes locked with Prime Councilor Aav’s and he knew he had made the biggest mistake of his life. She had found Uril.
