Page 80 of Hunted
Robin raised an eyebrow, sharp and skeptical, as her fingers flew.“Now’s not the time to be vague, snake.Clearly, I’ve failed to keep my people safe.Do speak up and save the day, alpha.”
I did my best not to react to the angry energy buzzing around her, to the way her stare and the flare of her aura challenged me.She was trying.But I knew every instinct inside her was screaming about how another strong alpha was threatening to take her place.This was the best she could do.From any outsider perspective, I was a threat to her dominance and her place as leader of this group.
It was just a wonder she hadn’t turned into a dragon and launched herself at me at this point, like any other alpha would in her situation.Showed how strong she really was, I supposed.
I took a deep breath and made myself look away from her, a quiet show of purposeful submission.I didn’t want to steal her damned court.I was pretty sure...well, never mind that now.She and I would sort things out between us at some point.But there were more important things to worry about at the moment.I was born and raised to be a good leader.And part of being a good leader included knowing how to pick your battles, when to speak up and when to hold your tongue and bide your time.
“The naga enclave,”I signed, nodding to Cicely as he made a little gesture near his temple that said he was translating for Ruya using his mind speak.“I think I can find them.The syndicate believes they are gone, dead or scattered.But my people are hidden.Protected.”
“It was part of the bargain with Acacia,” Josh added, his expression full of remembered hatred.“Sadavir traded himself for the Naga clan’s safety during the height of the syndicate’s genocide, but only with the understanding that they’d disappear for good.She made the emperor think she’d murdered the entire naga clan, so she could claim all the glory of the deed without having to do any of the work.”
I nodded and signed,“They won't welcome just anyone, after all they’ve been through, but they might take us in if their ex-prince requests asylum.”
A beat passed.Then Robin nodded, slowly.“You trust them?”
“I do,”I said without hesitation.“They’re family.We honor our bonds.”
Yukio made a face, and I thought he had snorted at me, judging by the way he moved.“You meanliteralfamily?”he signed.“As if that means anything.”
A part of me pitied him.He was so strong, an agile fighter with powerful mixed magic at his command.Undeniably beautiful, he was surrounded by his lovers and court members.And yet...this man’s blood had clearly betrayed him.It hurt me to realize how alone a person could be, even surrounded by people.
“Mother.Brother.Mentor,”I signed slowly.“Not just family by blood, but people who loved me.Who taught me magic and survival.”I shifted my weight.“They are not perfect.But they are mine.I am theirs.It will be safe.And...it's time.”
I always knew I’d go back to them, one day.I just never thought it would be so soon.I was a changed man.While I was sure they would help us, I wasn’t so sure they’d like who I’d become in my time away from home.
Robin looked wary but cautiously interested.I’d never seen a dragon clan before, but it was my understanding their sense of family was strong, like the naga.“It’s a lot to ask,”she signed as she spoke.“You think they’ll house a fugitive court?Feed us?Let us dig in while we are being hunted?”
“They will if I ask it,”I said solemnly.“Especially if we explain the stakes.The naga avoid politics where they can, but...they have suffered as much as anyone under the syndicate’s rule.”
“They could simply turn us over to the emperor to gain his favor,” the dragon alpha said, not bothering to sign this time, one hip cocked and her arms crossed as if she was at ease, when in reality, I knew she was poised to pounce at a moment’s notice.Meeting her gaze, I once again appreciated the strength in her.Regal beauty and slyness hiding a sharp pragmatism and fierce sense of alpha pride.And the fact that she was even entertaining this discussion...the trust she was placing in me, her rival....I pushed away the unwelcome feelings that swirled through me.Now wascertainlynot the time for such nonsense.
“They won’t betray us,”I said emphatically.“Our entire culture is one built on honor.And...”I arched a brow at her and spread my hands, voicing the last bit, “Where else will we go?”
Silence again.That golden gaze raked me from head to toe and back again, as if she was taking my measure, weighing every bit of who I was.She had already chosen to trust me with her omega mate.Now I was asking her to trust me with the safety of her entire court.
Then Dusek chimed in, his long fingers forming signs in a way that said he was impatient with the discussion.“We have no better option, Robin, and you know it.We can trust Sadavir—if he says his people will help us, then we have to try.Stop being so hardheaded.”
Robin’s aura flared—resistance and affront—but she finally let out a smoke-filled breath and nodded.“Fine.I will trust you with this, snake.”She raised one perfectly-arched brow as she signed to make sure I got the full weight of her message.“But if your people endanger mine, there will be swift,brutalconsequences.”
I bowed my head.“Understood.”
Now it was simply a matter of tapping into an ancient, primal magic I hadn’t used in years.The dragon wasn’t the only one who knew the fear of failure.I needed to see my true mate and my beta safe.If I couldn’t access the royal gift in my blood, they might pay for my failure with their lives when the witches caught up to us.
“Give me some time,”I signed reluctantly.“I need to shift into my other form to access the magic I need to find them.”I stood and turned to make my way out of the remains of the building to a small, weedy patch of grass that was the best natural place the current surroundings had to offer.
Josh stood as well, his hand darting out lightning fast to grab my arm before I could leave.“Wait!There’s one more thing.I can’t go with you.I need to leave.”
I turned to face him more fully, to see what madness had possessed him now.Maybe I had read his lips wrong from my previous angle.“What did you say?”
He released me, backing up a step and wrapping one arm around his middle for a second before he lifted it to sign.“Acacia.You can’t lead her right to the naga’s hiding place.You have to knock me out or something.Incapacitate me so I can’t follow you, and leave me—”
Stopped speaking suddenly, his hands going to his temples and blood dribbling from his nose as he went to his knees.
I rushed to him, Ruya only a step behind, both of us eager to assuage his pain.Even though I knew what his pain and the sudden darkening of his vampire aura meant.
When he lifted his head, a monster stared out of Josh’s soft hazel eyes.“No.”Acacia snarled.She spoke slowly just for my benefit, ensuring I could read every word on her stolen lips.“No running off without me.”She pushed Josh to his feet rolled his shoulders, then gave me an oily smile.“I’d love to know where my dear naga friends are holed up these days.”
I snarled.“Our bargain—” I bit out, but she held up a hand to halt my complaint, her control over Josh’s body causing a fresh dribble of blood to leak from his nose as he tried to resist her.The fact that she had managed to overcome the curse breaker’s amulet to speak through him meant she must be exerting massive amounts of magic and willpower to make her point.
