Page 59 of Orc's Claim
The warrior swallows. Hard.
Krike. I don’t know what he’s done, but I sense I’m going to have to kill him before this day ends.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
PALOMA
“Let go of her!” I shout at Owen as I grab his arm. I never shout at anyone, let alone a man in our colony. They hold too much power. I find other ways of fighting back, but today, there’s no time to be subtle or sneaky.
I can see the hatred on Owen’s face as he glares at Lily. At this point, I trust that orc with Lily more than Owen.
To my surprise, Owen releases Lily’s hair, and she runs to my other side as if I can protect her. I’m not sure how I’ll do that. Owen’s a big guy.
“Stay out of this, Paloma,” he warns. “Or I’ll tell your dad about youractivitieswith the orcs, after I tell Council how you plan to drag my good name through the mud.”
My stomach lurches. I won’t win in a game of he-said she-said in our male-ruled colony, but this is no longer about the orc who’s getting pummeled a hundred feet away from us.
“Screw you, Owen.”
He steps forward with a fist this time. I grab my scissors and don’t hesitate to point them at him.
Fear fills his eyes. For once, he's taking me seriously.
Owen backs off. “Get the monster fucker packed up, bitch. I’m taking her back to the colony. She better be at the cart in three minutes or you’ll both pay.”
“Give her some space and she’ll be ready.” I’ll say anything to appease him so he gets off our backs.
I need to think. This entire situation is a mess and we don’t have time to protect everyone involved.
“Paloma! They’re going to kill Ryko! We have to do something!”
We. Yup, I dragged myself into this one.
“Okay,” I whisper. “We’ll head to the moxxels’ sector and open the tumek pen, shoo all the tumek into the market. They’ll run everywhere, cause a big commotion, and hopefully distract one or more of the vints, giving the orc the opening he needs.”
Lily’s face lights up. “That’s perfect!”
As we sneak away from our table, several people in the crowd gasp. I push up on my toes to see what’s going on.
Another orc has entered the fight. Massive with braided hair… My body stills when I recognize him. He’s the same orc who purchased boots from me several weeks back. Boots he didn’t need. He scared the hell out of me then, but nothing had happened. He’d slammed his knife down in front of me, a knife I gave to Lily because I didn’t want to have anything to remind me of him. I thought I was rid of him, until today when he returned to our sector and stared at me with a possessiveness that chilled me to my bones.
Lily’s fingers dig into my forearm, pulling me from my thoughts.
Within seconds, three of the four vints lie on the ground, eviscerated. That orc who terrifies me slams the fourth vint against a concrete wall.
“Lily, get in the cart now!” Owen yells.
“Go,” I urge, pushing her toward the cart. “The fight’s over. Your orc is fine.”
She climbs up onto a crate to gain one last look at him. I pull her off and shake her until she focuses on me. “Start worrying about yourself, or you’ll end up like Tamara. Worse, even. I can cover for you when Owen makes his accusations, but not if you make others suspicious. Everyone’s been too immersed in the fight to see you panicking over that orc. Let’s keep it that way. If you go over there and start fussing over him, or talk to him, others might question if you’re involved with him, or worse, assume you slept with him.”
‘I did,’ she mouths the words.
Her confession jars me. I resist the urge to cringe, as I don’t want to upset her, especially since she confided in me.
I tap beneath her chin until she lifts her head high. Lily is usually so happy and confident, but right now she’s torn between checking on the orc and following my advice.
“If your secret gets out,” I whisper, “you’re going to be in deep shit. Council’s not auctioning Tamara off to a guy. They’re giving her to…” I don’t even want to say it. “A house full of men.”
