"They're not all like that!" The words exploded out of me.
Who did these people think they were, telling me who I had a right to care for?
They hadn't been there in Scalvaris, hadn't seen the way the mated pairs worked together as equals. Hadn't watched Darrokar defer to Terra's judgment or seen Vyne's gentle devotion to Selene. They only knew Ignarath, and they'd condemned an entire species based on that limited experience.
They'd already decided. We were just going through the motions.
Runa sat back in her chair, her expression frustratingly neutral. "We need to discuss this. I'm sorry, Lexa, but I can't let you just wander around camp now that you've abused our hospitality." She looked beyond me to one of the guards. "Put her in a room under guard. And, for god's sakes, give the Drakarn some food and water; he looks like he's about to keel over. We do not need to torture them. We can be better than that."
The guard reached for my arm. His grip was firm but not brutal.
Nyx's reaction was immediate and violent.
He moved faster than I'd ever seen, his hand shooting out to grab the guard's wrist. His claws extended, punching through the fabric to skin beneath. The guard yelped, tried to jerk back, but Nyx's grip was iron.
A growl rumbled through his chest, deep and absolutely terrifying. His wings flared, filling the small space, blocking out everything except the threat to his mate. His lips pulled back from his fangs.
"Nyx, stop!" I grabbed his arm with both hands, trying to pull him back. "Let him go."
The other guards surged forward, weapons raised. Shouts filled the room, overlapping commands and threats.
Nyx didn't release the guard. His eyes were locked on the man's face, pupils dilated to thin slits. Every line of his body screamed violence.
"Touch her again, and I'll rip your throat out," Nyx snarled.
I was the only one who knew exactly what he was saying. The humans couldn't understand, but they didn't need to. The threat was clear.
"Nyx," I moved closer, pressing against his side. "You have to let him go. They'll kill you if you don't."
For a heartbeat, I thought he wouldn't listen. Thought the protective rage had taken him too far.
Then his eyes found mine. The feral intensity softened fractionally.
His claws retracted slowly. The guard stumbled back, clutching his bleeding wrist. The other guards closed in, forming a tighter circle around us.
The reverberating echo of a gong boomed through the room, cutting through the chaos like a blade. The sound made my ears ring.
It was followed quickly by shouts of warning from outside. Voices raised in alarm, feet pounding against packed earth.
"It's those fucking birds again," Houston cursed. He was already on his feet, moving toward the door.
The room erupted into motion. The guards who'd been focused on us turned toward the door. Runa barked orders, her voice cutting through the confusion.
"All guards to defensive positions! Karima, get to the shelters and make sure everyone's inside. Houston, coordinate the response teams."
From the easy flow of their movement, this wasn't the first attack, each person knowing their role and automatically assuming it.
Runa and the other Council members rushed toward the door, their focus entirely on the crisis outside. The guards followed, leaving just one behind to keep an eye on us.
The remaining guard looked torn, his attention split between us and the sounds of chaos filtering through the walls. Screams and weapon fire and the distinctive shriek of firebirds on the hunt.
"I'm barring this," Runa told me. She paused at the door, her hand already on the frame. For a moment, something that might have been regret flickered across her face. "We'll finish this later."
The door clanged shut, and I heard the bar sliding into place.
Locking us inside while the camp was under attack. While people died outside, while the settlement fought for survival, we were trapped in this metal box with no way to help and no way to escape.
"What's happening?" he asked.
