Page 69 of Venomous Heart
“Even if I somehow save him and you all escape, it’ll only be a matter of time before Prime Councilor Aav finds you. What will you tell Derek when she comes for you then?”
Ava reached for the woman’s hand, and she didn’t shy away from her touch.
“I know you don’t want to betray him, but you will have to if you want to save your son,” Ava said, and the woman bent slightly forward, like Ava had hit her. It was a cruel thing to say, but it was the truth. “It’s that simple. You need to choose what matters most. Ben’s trust, or Derek’s life.”
Naomi sustained Ava’s gaze for a long time, her face showing a succession of feelings. First, she pursed her full lips in defiance, then her eyes filled with despair. In the end, despair gave way to something else. To the sadness that went along with the terrible choice of one who knew what betrayal would cost.
Finally, Naomi nodded. She had made her choice.
For a long time, the woman stared at her sleeping son, then she lifted her dark brown eyes to Ava, and there was a strength there that echoed Ava’s own. A strength and a deep pain, because she knew Ben would not forgive her.
“I will help you if you promise to save my son.”
Ava held the woman’s gaze as tears fell down her cheeks, unchecked. The choice was made, and now Naomi had to pay the price.
“Take me to the Eoks,” Ava said.
Naomi shook her head. “We don’t have time. I can smuggle you to the storage area where they keep the transport. You and Derek can be out of reach before Ben knows you’re gone.”
Ava locked gazes with Naomi as she understood what the woman was telling her. She could save Uril, could escape with the Exo-Heart, but she wasn’t going to save Arlen.
The choice was hers, just like the choice had been Naomi’s.
Shock and pain twisted inside Ava, coiling with panic as she understood she was trapped. One way or another, her heart was going to be ripped to pieces.
Arlen’s face, that hidden vulnerability in the way he kissed her, that honor that made him stand for those he loved against all odds came back to her.
Yes, she had a choice, just like Naomi. But she wasn’t giving up on Arlen.
“No. I’m not leaving without him. Take me to Arlen.”
* * *
Arlen
Arlen paced in the ten foot long cell, fury coursing through him. His mind was a thicket of rage, the anger of being separated from Ava muddying his thoughts, tinting his vision with bloodlust. He had nothing to unleash his rage upon, and as he took another sharp turn in the small cell, his eyes wandered across the storage room he was being held in. The rebels had an impressive stash of weapons, but the only one that truly mattered was the innocuous looking black cylinder he and Ava had found in the vault.
The negative particle bomb. A weapon with the potential to destroy several planets at once in a flash of pure destructive evil.
And for some reason, Knut wanted it enough to risk coming back to the one place in the Ring where Prime Councilor Aav was sure to be looking out for him.
Why does he want it back so badly? Why doesn’t he just run?
Knut was powerful enough and rich enough. He had the means to run from justice for the rest of his life, far beyond the Frontier, beyond the reach of the Ring. He could buy a planet—an entire string of them—and an army to defend them; live a long, pampered life like the parasite he was. But instead, Knut was wasting resources to retrieve the negative particle bomb from Aveyn, knowing full well that Prime Councilor Aav was there at the same time with a thousand Mantrilla soldiers at her disposal. Knowing full well she would trace the bomb back to him wherever he hid.
There was something he wasn’t seeing, something that he didn’t understand in Knut’s game. He only hoped he would figure it out fast enough.
The sound of footsteps made him turn to the right and a human male entered the room, an ionic gun in his hands, pointed directly at Arlen. He was young, more a juvenile than an adult male, with pale hair the color of straw and eyes a washed-out gray so full of terror, Arlen was surprised he wasn’t soiling himself.
Arlen’s eyes fixed on the young male and he hissed, exposing his fangs as his talons shot from his fingertips, his rage finally able to lock onto an enemy. An enemy who took a hasty step back, his eyes filled with terror and limbs shaking.
“If you don’t take me to my bloodmate right now, human,” Arlen ordered the young male who stood, transfixed, like prey before the final blow, his eyes glassy and his jugular pulsing visibly, “I will rip you limb from limb like an insect.”
The young man’s mouth trembled with terror, but still, he didn’t move. Rage invaded Arlen’s vision and he kicked at the metal bars of his cell, but to no avail. The Allurium alloy was the strongest in the Ring. Nothing, not even his Eok strength, could break it.
“Don’t be afraid, Alfie.” Another voice came from the hallway, familiar and which filled Arlen with a renewed rage. “He can’t break out of that cell.”
The young human named Alfie shot an uncertain glance to the side and another human male appeared. One who was infinitely more confident, and immensely more dangerous.
