The male’s eyes watched her like she was prey. Like thekekevireyes in the darkness, always tracking, always waiting. There was a small opening to the left of him, one that led out into the cave.
Erin didn’t think, she just acted. She tried to dart out, past him, before he could react. She needed to get to the hovercraft. She could pilot it if necessary.
But he caught her easily. Laughably easily. Fresh waves of pain went through her arm when he slammed her into the wall of the cave, her head cracking into it, making stars burst in her vision.
Then she was up and over his shoulder, even as she kicked and struggled, even though the pain from her shoulder made her want to vomit. She heard the unmistakable sound of a hovercraft. The male from above was coming towards them. So they could take her away.
That thought brought a fresh wave of panic and she fought harder, struggling against her captor.
Tears blurred in her vision, but even still, she saw the pulley. And she remembered. He wasn’t far away. He would hear her, wouldn’t he? He would come.
“Jaxor!” she screamed as loud as she could, her voice echoing against the crater walls. “Jax—”
Pain exploded at her temple. Everything went dark.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Her scream pierced through him like a blade.
Jaxor didn’t freeze with the deep, chilling fear that threatened to still his bones. Instead, he sprinted, still hearing the echo of her voice reverberate through the mountains of theKokillix. As if the mountains wanted him to hear.
He’d gone too far from base, but he sprinted as fast as his body would allow, his heartbeat drumming in his ears until it was the only thing he heard.
“Erin!” he bellowed when he saw the crater come into view. “Erin!”
He heard nothing, which made him curse. When he saw the pulley, he launched himself onto it and pulled himself up to the base, bloodying his hands on the chain with his frenzied pace.
“Erin!” he called out, his eyes scanning the place he’d called home for the past five rotations, seeing it with new eyes. It was no longer his sanctuary, but the place where he might have lost her forever.
There wasn’t akekevirin sight, which was what he’d originally feared, but when his eyes went to the cave, his heart froze as he saw the door torn off its hinges.
He sprinted there, launching himself up the steps, fearing what he might find. Profound relief and mind-numbing terror met him when he saw it was empty.
Jaxor cut a look back to the base. It was empty too. When he looked up at the sky, he saw it. The shield link in the northwest corner, the one over his crops, had failed.
“Vrax!” he roared, launching himself off the cave platform, quickening his pace towards the tunnel that led to the hovercraft.
Maybe she escaped. Maybe she was able to escape them.
Because he knew. Tavar had come, or he’d sent his warriors to search for him, to punish him. Only, they’d happened upon his base instead…and in the process, they’d happened uponher.
The gleam in Tavar’s eyes the night he’d met them by theLopitaxSea had been one of distrust. Jaxor had always known theMeviraxleader was intelligent, not easily fooled. When Jaxor betrayed him, when he hadn’t delivered on his promise though he knew how much Jaxor wanted his revenge—the only thing he’d ever wanted—it told him everything. Tavar would have questioned what changed. Had he guessed that he kept a human female for himself?
Pushing his body faster, Jaxor sprinted down the tunnel, but the hovercraft was still there. They hadn’t taken it, but it almost certainly meant Erin hadn’t escaped.
His anguished bellow made thekekevirscreech. They clamored down the tunnel, their claws scraping at the stone, their eyes flashing behind the gate.
Launching himself into the hovercraft, he powered the engine on and shot up through the entrance of the tunnel. It was a clear span, perhaps another reason why theMeviraxhad spotted his base.
“Erin!” he bellowed into the endless sky, wind rushing. He knew where theMeviraxbase was. But looking in that direction, he saw nothing. Not a glimmer of metal on the horizon. He’d strayed too far from base during his last patrol, had taken too long to return.
Jaxor couldn’t think. Rage and worry and dread filled him. He needed tothink.
His hand shook when he brought it up to his horns, when he clawed at the thick bone. Just that morning, he’d had her in his arms. Just that morning, she’d smiled and kissed him and looked at him like—
Vaxa’an.
His brother’s name cut through his jumbled thoughts and he latched onto it, desperately.
