Page 59 of Venomous Lust
A black void opened between Hazel’s ribs at the thought of losing Khal, an endless pit made of all that her life had been before, all her life would be without him. She simply couldn’t lose him.
Recklessness had destroyed her life. Now, recklessness was going to save it.
Khal was still snarling, the sound feral and terrible as the Ilarian guards closed on him. All eyes were on the Eok, the most formidable warrior around, the biggest threat.
No one paid attention to Hazel. She had a second, maybe less, to make her move.
Her elbow connected with the Ilarian guard’s stomach with the strength of her despair. The soft tissue gave way as the Ilarian guard bent forward, his breath coming out in a tiny, choked-up puff. She lost no time. Her hand closed around his ionic gun and she pulled. The weapon came loose in her hands, but the fingers around her arm didn’t let go.
She twisted in the guard’s hold, pressing the barrel right against his ribs.
Then her fingers found the trigger and she pulled. The power of the ionic detonation sent her to the ground, her teeth snapping together hard. Pain shot through her mouth as the coppery taste of blood spread over her tongue.
The Ilarian guard stared at her, his eyes full of shock as he looked back down at his chest, where a gaping wound oozed blood freely, staining the pristine white uniform. Then the guard dropped and strong, big arms wrapped around Hazel’s entire body, wrenching the ionic gun from her hand. Khal’s smell—male, incredibly good—filled her nostrils and she buried her face in his shoulder.
Then all hell broke loose.
Orders rang out above her head, mingling with horrific, pain-filled screams and the iodine stench of more ionic detonations. Something hot seared the side of her leg, and something else just above her ear, but she didn’t care. All she cared about were those strong muscles, that beating heart that could ward off the world’s evil, make everything worth it. Make life worth living.
She was aware that Khal was running, his strong legs taking them far, far away. Further away from the voices, further away from the ionic detonations… until there was no more. No more ionic detonations, no more voices, only Khal and silence.
The silence of death, and a stench to match.
Hazel finally opened her eyes as Khal stopped running, then immediately wished she hadn’t. They were back in the forest.
And then she knew they had all found a fate worse than death.
Chapter 19
Hazel
Time felt suspended in an anxious wait as Khal and Hazel turned around. They were standing on an outcrop of large, flat rocks covering a good two dozen square feet, like an island in the endless sea of green. No matter where she looked, Hazel couldn’t see an exit.
“We’ll never get out of here.” Her voice sounded weak and reedy in the still air, the breeze not reaching this deep in the forest.
Khal didn’t answer her, his gaze widening with alarm as he looked at her. “You’ve been hit.”
Hazel frowned, then looked down at herself as a searing pain spread through her thigh, as well as above her ear. Her hand went to her head and she hissed in pain as she touched raw, bloody flesh. She watched as Khal bent to take a closer look at her thigh, a deep frown of concern on his face.
“It’s nothing,” she protested, but her heart was already beating crazily, fear coursing through her at the speed of her blood loss. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It does.” Khal’s voice was full of dread as he turned to cast a wide glance around. “I don’t know much about the Medina Forest, but if what I suspect is true, then your injuries are bad news. Very bad news.”
“Just tell me.”
Khal seemed to hesitate, but only for a second. “We’re on Muhar, home of the Muharee people. Not much is known of them or their customs, except that they worship the Medina,” Khal began as his talons extended and he carefully sliced the top of her pants to reveal the three-inch wide, gaping wound in her left thigh. “The Medina is their sacred forest, their Goddess. It’s a predator, too, but I don’t think it can see us.”
“It attacked us only after I touched that trunk.”
They locked gazes for a long time, their unsaid words weighing heavy above their heads.
“It hunts by sound and smell.” Khal nodded. “It makes sense. The faster we ran, the better it knew our position, the more aggressive it was.”
“We need to mask our scent and get out of here without making a noise.”
Khal looked at her for a long time, then at her wound, then again at the one on her head. He shook his head, his blue gaze searching, frustrated.
“You’re bleeding. It will smell you for sure.”
