His nostrils flared and his slitted eyes narrowed even further.“I see my mercenary has been mating what belongs tome.I did not expect him to succumb to you, but it seems he is not above betrayal,that exiled filth,” he spat, his pupils flaring.
Sarkon.
Cara flinched and felt around the tree, never taking her eyes off of him.
“How did you find us?” she asked, her voice surprisingly steady even though her heart was trying to beat its way out of her chest.
“I sent out my scouts at the bazaar,” he said, tilting his head back to the two Azatians that accompanied him.“We have been searching for spans.One discovered you and alerted me.We followed you here,” Sarkon looked around, his distaste obvious.
“Devix isn’t far,” she told them when they started forward at Sarkon’s beckoning, trying to corral her like a wild animal.Her gaze darted from each one before settling on Sarkon.“He won’t let you take me.”
“We will be quick, my pet.He will not even realize you are gone.”
Run, run, run, her instinct screamed.That was what Devix had taught her.He’d told her there was no shame in running, if it kept her safe.Then her mind remembered…the hatch down to the safe room!It wasn’t far.If she outran them, she’d be able to reach it.She could lock it from the inside.
Sarkon lunged for her without warning, so similar to what Devix had done in the training room on the spaceship.And her body reacted, recognizing the maneuver and she managed to evade him.
It gave her just enough time.
As loud as she possibly could, she screamed, hoping that the sound would carry and echo through the trees towards Devix.
Sarkon bit out something in his language, an ugly word.
And then she ran.
Behind her, in the distance, she heard Devix’s roar.It filled the forest and a sharp prick of relief bit her heart.
* * *
Devix’s blood froze, his hand pausing on the lacings of his leg coverings, just about to follow his mate, despite her wishes.
The dull sound of her scream reached his ears and the purest sensation of fear and dread ate at the lining of his belly.
He roared, his body launching itself into action, hitting the end of the hallway so hard that a piece of the wall crumbled away.
He burst through the front door and the hinges tore off, but he didn’t care.His only thought was reaching his mate, keeping her safe from whatever or whoever was threatening her.
That was when he scented them.
Azatians.
Their metallic scent filled the air and he roared again, his Instinct pushing to the forefront of his mind, his senses sharpening.Then he scented Sarkon.He was there, somewhere.Hehadcome for her, had somehow tracked them all the way out here, despite his precautions.
Devix followed his employer’s familiar scent, tearing through the forest as he desperately tried to reach his female, pushing his body to its fullest capacity.
It seemed like an eternity and Devix was lost in the darkness of his rage and fear, which only made the distance seem longer.
But finally, he came upon two Azatians in a clearing where Cara’s scent was most concentrated.
“Where is she?” he growled, coming for them.
They didn’t answer, which he’d expected.Most Azatian scouts had their tongues removed from an early age, so as not to reveal their master’s secrets.Instead, they launched themselves at him, both at the same time, baring sharpened blades of Azatian steel.Devix had no weapon, but it didn’t matter.
He was a Luxirian warrior, whose fated mate was in danger.
The Azatians had no chance of survival.He dispatched of them without hesitation, his claws tearing through their armor with a ferocity that surprised even him.He squeezed their hearts in his fists and Sarkon’s scouts dropped, eyes widened in disbelief, dead before they hit the Rozian soil of his land.
It had taken him less than a moment to kill them and then he was moving again.Sarkon’s scent was ahead and that was when Devix realized Cara was heading towards the valley…towards the escape quarters he’d built.
