“How much distance?”I demanded, starting to back up.
“Six strides?”
“Too much, then.”I was confident we could win the battle, but armed with stunners, the sytos could do more damage than I liked to admit.
I squeezed Jessa’s hand and bent to loop one of Jiith’s arms over my shoulder, taking most of his weight as I moved us quickly toward camp.
“Sytos incoming,” I barked at the nearest turoch.“Sound the alarm.”
His eyes widened and he sprinted off, shouting a warning toward the turochs clustered at the fire as I dragged Jessa and Jiith toward the last place I’d seen Adak.The one-eyed male was talking to Dargo when we found him, and his head jerked up as more voices called out, spreading the word of the coming attack.
“Sytos?”he questioned, knowing the answer.
I nodded, dropping Jiith into a nearby chair as he groaned from too much movement.
“Less than thirty minutes out.More than I saw with the Kwin when we escaped.”
His jaw clenched.“Gather the humans,” he ordered Dargo.“Top of the building, like we planned.Have your mate gather all the guns she’s found and arm them.”
Dargo nodded sharply and strode off.Adak turned to me.
“The rest of us will fight from the ground.”
Jessa tensed at my side.“We’ll be separate?”
I looked down at her and cupped her face.“You’re no good in a fight.”I said honestly.“Taz has been practicing with human weapons, she says they have range and power that the humans can’t equal with an ax.It’s not the turoch way to war, but you can help from the safety of the roof.”
Her lips trembled.“I’ve never shot a gun,” she whispered.“I’ve never killed someone.”
My heart ached for her.Jessa was fierce when she needed to be, but she had a gentle spirit and I hated that we had no choice but to fight with the females so close.
“You will be safe,” I promised.“I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe.”
“What about you?”she asked, her face paling as the seriousness of the situation settled on her.
“I have my brothers fighting with me,” I said.“The sytos are dangerous, but they’re no match for us without their ships and their tech.”
She bit her lip and wrapped her fingers around my wrist, turning her face to press a kiss to my hand.Just hours ago, I’d been deep inside of her, rejoicing in our completed mating, dreaming of thousands more opportunities to glory in her soft body under mine.
There would be more of those nights, I swore it to the ancestors.We just had to handle the sytos and make our world that much safer for the future.
“I love you,” she whispered.
I bent down and pressed my forehead to hers, smiling at the truth I heard in those precious words.
“I love you.I will prove it by keeping you safe and taking you to bed tonight.Look forward to what I will do to your feet and don’t dwell on your worries, mate.”
She let out a tense laugh and shook her head.“I told you to stop with my feet.”
“Never,” I grinned.
Dargo reappeared, his arms filled with the strange wood and metal weapons his mate liked so much, Taz at his side carrying a large box filled with smaller containers.Kes carried Amy and his sons out of the building and the rest of the humans clustered behind them.Penny’s father and brother dragged a large cushion between them, I guessed for Amy to rest on.
I hated that she’d just given birth, her face still pale from exhaustion as she cradled her tiny babies in Kes’s arms.It was cruel indeed that a new mother had to fear battle so soon after bringing helpless children into the world, but I knew every turoch in camp would die before the sytos reached them.
Dargo led the humans around the back of the building, and I pulled the thin metal ladder down.It was too fragile to bear a turochs weight and Penny’s father and brother went up first.Kyle dragged the cushion up onto the roof and Penny’s father carefully took Amy from her mate’s arms and slowly carried her up the steps.
Kes stood below, his hands fisted, tail flicking furiously as he watched his mate and children disappear to the safety of the roof.
