Kira hoped it didn't come to that. The act of ending Elise might finish driving Kira over the abyss.
"I can't believe you brought this matter to my doorstep, knowing the lives I protect." Selene’s mouth was a thin slash, anger tightening her features.
"You say that like I had a choice in this. I followed her here, not the other way around."
"I noticed you also have your changeling close. You should be careful. Their kind is untrustworthy," Selene said.
"Then they'll fit right in with the rest of the universe," Kira retorted.
She wasn't going to entertain recriminations regarding Odin. Not again. They'd already had this fight, and Selene knew where Kira stood.
A faint screech interrupted them.
They fell silent, each straining their senses to pick up on the disturbance.
Kira didn't hear anything for a long moment. She plucked a tendril of thekithat coiled in her center, sending it out into the world. It went easily, no sign of the pain that felt like razor blades sawing at her insides.
It was a small victory, but recovery often was.
For several seconds, Kira caught nothing odd.
Gradually, the sound of many bodies moving in unison reached her. Worse, they were heading directly toward Kira and the woman.
Selene covered her nose with a grimace. "Tsavitee taint."
Kira cast her a sidelong look. When had Selene become so theatrical? Selene would know what she was picking up wasn't an actual scent, though it may have presented as a smell due to her brain's interpretation of what it felt.
Selene glared at Kira. "They followed you."
"We don't know that."
The woman sent her a look that said to get real.
Kira started to respond when she heard her name being called. She frowned. That had sounded a lot like Jin.
Branches rustled. Jin burst into view.
"Kira! We have a little bit of a situation!"
He beelined toward her, a swarm of shriekers erupting from the trees in his wake.
"You're right. They didn't follow you," Selene corrected.
The creatures were humanoid, loping across the ground on all fours, their backs abnormally hunched. Their heads were bald and their skin a mottled color that included violets, greens, and some hard to determine mix of colors that resembled the ponds and lakes Kira had traveled past on the way to the cafe.
The myriad of colors was a camouflage technique and varied for every swarm. They evolved based on their surroundings. Highly adaptive, shriekers bred extremely fast.
Kira hadn't seen any since the war. Typically, the Tsavitee sent them in advance of their first strike. Their purpose was to soften up the ground troops and make it easier for the main invading force. They tended to chew through civilian populations, ambushing from the shadows for weeks before anyone realized they were there.
"What did you do?" Kira shouted as Jin zoomed toward her.
"I don't know," Jin wailed. "I was exploring, and then I was being chased."
"You couldn't have lost them first? Why'd you have to bring them here?"
"Don't you think I tried?" Jin shouted plaintively. "They're exceedingly difficult to shake."
Selene leaned toward her as the shriekers pounded toward them. "Do you think they're here for you or me?"
