Erin was yelling again, but her cries were becoming fainter and fainter. The male wastaking her away, farther away.
“Vrax!”
The male was off her in a second, but a moment later, despite her struggles, he had her cradled against his chest. Crystal struck out her bound hands and connected with his jaw. She hissed, her fingers throbbing with hot pain at the contact.
The male simply ground his teeth, as if her attempted punch was nothing more than a flick, and started running in the direction that Erin had gone.
“Female, cease!” he growled, gripping her tighter when she tried to squirm from his hold. “Vrax.”
He pulled up short, his gaze intent on something in the darkness, focused on something. It was enough to make her still for a brief moment, wondering what he saw,whohe saw.
In the next moment, he changed directions completely, going the opposite way from where the captor had taken Erin.
“No!” Crystal protested. “I need to find her!”
The male didn’t listen. As if she weighed nothing more than air, he sprinted away, deeper into the darkness of the forest.
“No!”
“I am not your enemy, female,” the male said, voice hushed, jaw clenched. “I am the opposite. I will protect you with my life.”
She sucked in a breath because she heard the absolute truth in those words. The heat of his body, his masculine, warm scent was just beginning to register. Ever since he’d entered the clearing where they were being held, ever since she’d first locked eyes with him…she’d tried to ignore the knowing panic in her gut. The growing and dreaded realization.
Because he wasfamiliarto her. And she was scared what that meant.
“Vaxa’an sent me to find you. To find you both and return you to the Golden City,” he murmured. She’d stopped struggling in his arms and he kept her tucked so firmly that her body barely jolted with every sprinting step he took. He didn’t even sound winded.
“How can I trust you?” she asked. “I don’t even know you. I’ve never seen you before in my life.”
“But you know me, female. Inside. You know I speak the truth. You know who I am.”
She ignored his not too subtle implication. “We need to find, Erin. If you truly have come to save us, then we cannot go back without her. That male…”
She feared what he would do if he was alone with Erin. She saw the way he looked at her.
“He will keep her safe from them. For now,” the male said, those his tone sounded tense. “We need to find shelter until morning.”
She didn’t want to trust him. She didn’t want to be near him, not right then. But Crystal had no choice. She had to rely on him, she had to trust that he would find Erin and bring them both back to safety.
The voices were falling further and further behind them. Despite his bulk, the Luxirian male was strangely quiet, as if he’d practiced all his life how to make the least amount of noise possible.
“Who else is following us?” she asked, looking over her shoulder, past his own into the blackness behind him. How could heseeanything? The Luxirians must have great night vision, she decided.
“They are called theMevirax,” was all he said in reply.
“Are they dangerous?”
“Tev.”
A part of her was glad he didn’t lie to her. An honest male. How refreshing, she thought with a bitter twist of her lips.
She waited until they were even further away from them until she said, “Put me down. I can run on my own.”
“You will slow us down,” he said and she tried not to let that sting. This male didn’t beat around the bush. “I have better senses than most. It is easier this way. I want to tend to your injury as quickly as possible.”
Injury.
Right.
