Page 67 of Venomous Lust
Hazel sat up as the smell of food reached her nostrils and her stomach suddenly clenched in painful cramps. Khal brought it to her and she started eating. The food was delicious, a mixture of roasted vegetables she had no name for, but they were sweet and soft, crunchy and spicy. All textures and tastes were mixed on the plate as she tried each morsel with gusto. At first, it was only a few bites, but soon, she was shoveling food down her throat like she hadn’t eaten in days.
Because she hadn’t. Only when her stomach felt full and she leaned back on the mattress did she frown and look back at Khal.
“She was scared of you.” Hazel frowned at the now empty tunnel.
“Gerkin has been working for Knut for quite some time. I have no doubt that female had every reason to be afraid of me,” he answered her in a somber voice. “To the Muharee, Eoks are the enemy as much as Knut is.”
His words hit Hazel like a slap. “But we freed Yalko from Gerkin’s jail.” She shook her head. “He saw what Gerkin did to Celaith. He can’t just stay on the sidelines and watch.”
“The Muharee are an honorable people and when Knut came to their planet, they gave him sanctuary.” Khal spoke with an inner rage that surprised Hazel. “Knut repaid that kindness with nothing short of a genocide.”
Hazel’s heart filled with horror as she watched the rage filter through on Khal’s features.
“Gerkin was appointed to Garana three years ago, when my brother was tasked with being commander of the Eok forces on Earth.” Khal’s hands closed into fists, his knuckles blanching. “It was the same time that Knut came to Muhar.”
“He planned all this.” Hazel blinked until the shock passed. “Knut must have known he couldn’t buy Arlen’s loyalty, so he waited until someone new was sent to control Garana.”
Khal’s face was a landscape of rage and hatred, his Prussian blue eyes glittering and his jaw clenched. “Knut would have needed help from someone closer to the Frontier to subdue the native population of the planet he chose, at least until he had built his army. Even after that, he still needed a wartime commander. Ilarians will follow orders without question, but their lack of free will makes them poor leaders.”
Hazel and Khal fell silent. There were so many implications in this, in the depths with which Knut had planted his seeds of corruption all the way into the heart of the Eok nation, the most powerful warrior species in the Ring and beyond.
“Gerkin was Knut’s bloody arm. He and his warriors led the Ilarian army. They slaughtered the Muharee, entire villages full of people. Young and old, female and warrior, it didn’t matter,” Khal went on.
“Gerkin is a monster. Yalko won’t let him get away with this. He can fight Knut with us, together, we can complete your mission.”
Sadness and grief painted Khal’s face as he shook his head. “Yalko won’t help us. He lost too much, he’s scared of losing what he has left. He won’t send more of his people to their deaths for the sake of a Ring that wanted nothing more than to conquer them for hundreds of years.”
Hazel let the information sink in. The fog was gone from her brain and she sat up, alert. The weight of what they still had to do was crushing. “But what will we do? We need their help, we can’t fight ten thousand Ilarian and Gerkin’s troops all by ourselves. We stand no chance.”
“We do not.” Khal shook his head, grief and resolve mixing together on his face to chill Hazel’s heart as it beat in her chest. “But I can. I can get into Knut’s facility with the information Yalko provided me, and I can kill Knut. With him dead, the Ilarian are worthless. I will be able to destroy the bomb.”
“But you will never get out of there alive,” Hazel whispered as she understood. Now she understood Khal’s grief, that sad resolve in his eyes. “This is a suicide mission.”
“It is a sacrifice I am willing to make. For all the innocent people who would lose their lives. For my people and for yours. ” Khal nodded, his hand closing around her cheek, so hot and alive. “For you.”
“But what about Celaith and Zaxis?” Hazel tried to swallow, but her throat was suddenly closed. “There is no telling how long he will keep them here. If we wait too long, he will have sold Celaith, and Gods know what will happen to Zaxis if his father refuses to pay.”
Khal’s face lost the softness of moments before, shedding it like a skin. All that remained was the Eok Commander; cold and remote, efficient.
“Zaxis knew the risks when he agreed to this mission. The priority is to retrieve the bomb, not save our friends.” Khal shook his head, regret showing for only a few seconds. “He would do the same if it were me in his place.”
“No, he wouldn’t.” But even as she spoke, Hazel knew Khal was right. Zaxis would put the mission above all else, even above Khal.
Still, she couldn’t accept it.
“But what about Celaith?” she asked. Khal’s face shadowed with regret, but he didn’t answer. “What if it was me? Wouldn’t you do everything you could to save me?”
Savagery shone in Khal’s eyes, but only for a second.
“I would tear apart this entire planet to save you, but that would only mean I’m a fool.” Khal pursed his full lips and sadness filled his eyes. “I am sorry, Hazel. If there is any way I can save our friends as well, then I will do it, but the bomb matters more.”
He looked down at his hands and slowly, carefully, he relaxed them again. There was death in his gaze when he looked up at Hazel.
“I am the only hope we have left.”
Hazel listened to what Khal had to say with a dead heart. Her sister’s face hovered in her mind, then the faces of all the people on Aveyn—Eoks and humans alike. What Khal was talking about was nothing short of a suicide mission. A suicide mission to save trillions of lives.
Was Khal’s life worth so many? Was hers?
