“Shit! They still have the comm sphere!”
We can hear some movement - some desperate tapping of buttons, and all of a sudden, I feel the ball try to tug away from my arms.
I hold tighter.
The thing gets brighter and makes a whirring sound as it tries to escape my grip.
“Female, release the sphere, for the love of pippicakes!”
“No!” I yell back. “Tell me where Niska is!”
The ball jerks harder - so hard it makes me fall over, almost dragging me back to the temple with it.
“Polly!” Tessa gasps, taking hold of the ball now too.
I can hear the male who’s talking through the sphere growl at us. “Fuck! Why are you humans always so much fucking trouble?Just let go!”
“No!” both Tessa and I shout together.
Unfortunately, that seems to get the attention of our guards, and in no time we’re joined by two very concerned Trixikka.
“What are you doing, females?”
“They have the Goddess!”
“This-… you cannot touch the Goddess! Unhand that right now!”
I can feel strong hands on my arms, trying to pry us off of the sphere I’m keeping to my chest in a fierce bearhug. “It’s not a Goddess! He knows where my friend is!”
“Let go!”
“No!”
There is a struggle, and I can tell the Trixikka are trying to be as gentle as they can be with both me and Tessa, but ultimately, they are much, much stronger than the both of us put together. They pry us apart, hoisting both of us up with a strong arm around our middles, our legs dangling down like we’re misbehaving puppies or something.
“Release the Goddess,” the one who has me demands, shaking me a little as if that will do the trick. “I do not want to hurt you, but you must let go. If the High Spear hears of this, he will have my feathers.”
“I just want to talk to it a little longer, plea-oof!”
Suddenly, the guard careens sideways, taking me with him. He twists, taking the brunt of the unexpected fall. We tumble and end on our backs looking up at the bright, blue sky with its twin suns.
“If you do not release my mate immediately, you will die.”
The growled words meet my ears and a strange cocktail of warmth and dread seeps through all areas of my body.
I tilt my head up and see Aloryk holding a dagger to my guard’s throat.
Chapter 32 - Aloryk
I have spent days running, trudging, traipsing through the thickest of jungle. It had started to feel like it had been moons - like I would never reach my Polly.
But I did reach her this day. Truly, the agony of not knowing when I might see her again kept me moving through the forest day and night. I had no idea how far I was from Zarriko’s tribe.
But then I heard her. At first, I thought my mind had finally turned on me and was conjuring the sound to torment me. But no, it was her. And she sounded in distress.
And, when I happened upon the scene of another male holding my female, there was nothing but a dark rage inside me.
“If you do not release my mate immediately, you will die,” I tell the male once I have him on his back and a blade at his neck. He swallows and I feel the slight rise and fall of it beneath my dagger. I press harder.
