No response. He couldn’t get inside since his identity chip wasn’t keyed to her door, but he knew she would respond if she was there. Frustrated, S’samph rushed down the stairs and did a final sweep of the clinic before hurrying back outside. The main street was eerie in silent emptiness. No doubt an alarm had been raised, and everyone was either huddled in their homes or at the scene of the ravik incursion. Wherever she was, if she wasn’t inside someone’s home, Eleri was in danger. And if she was in danger, he was wasting time. The raviks’ arrival and Eleri’s disappearance were too coincidental. If they had her, he would raze their settlement to the ground. He would destroy every last klatch if that was what it required to get her back safely.
S’samph jumped back on his levibike and accelerated as fast as the irritable engine would allow. It wasn’t fast enough by any measure. By the time he reached the canal, several of the residents were already dispersing, weapons holstered. K’kaen waved him over with his blaster in the air. A move like that would have sent him to mandatory leave for at least a fivenight back on Latilla,but he was no longer in command of anything, and K’kaen was free to be a safety hazard on his own terms. Eleri was nowhere in sight, which could only mean one of two things. Either she was somewhere else in Laurus entirely, or she’d been taken or killed.
Still, S’samph hissed a reproach when he was within earshot. “You are going to kill someone waving your blaster around like that.”
K’kaen flicked his tail in dismissal but holstered the plasma blaster. “These things are totally nonlethal. You’re going to want to see this.” He led S’samph over to the far end of the bridge and down by the canal bank. Eleri’s sun hat lay sodden on the banks of the sluggish water. Ever since the fateful shopping trip to Indras, S’samph had never seen her outside without it. S’samph bent low to collect it from the shallows.
“Where is she?” He asked K’kaen in a low, dangerous rumble.
“One of the others said they saw the raviks carrying someone off.” K’kaen glanced skyward with his eyes flashing dangerously. “They said she was screaming until they hit her over the head.” His frill sagged flat against his spine. This is my fault. I should never have left her.”
“Who saw her?” S’samph glared over at the group dispersing in the distance. A few of the townspeople were still gathered, talking to Pyo. He didn’t wait for K’kaen’s answer, instead stalking over to intercept the group.
“Who saw Eleri?” He repeated his question without bothering to provide context.
“S’samph!” Pyo’s wingtips arched behind him as he registered the other male’s presence. “We were wondering where you were.”
“Who saw my mate get taken?” If he had to repeat the question again, he might lose the last vestiges of his civility. S’samph flexed his fingers, trying to avoid the rough scrape of his claws against his palms.
“I did.” Iulia turned toward him; her bulbous eyes were unblinking. “I was getting some water for my pichari,” she gestured toward the two small, silver-feathered creatures on the other side of the canal. “Eleri was crossing the bridge with her medkit when she was ambushed by a swarm of them.”
“And you didn’t help?”
Iulia puffed up to her full size. “Of course, I helped! I went straight to the village and called for assistance. I can’t fight off a swarm of raviks alone.”
S’samph cursed the bitter feeling seated deep at the junction of his spine where his torn frill sat. If he’d gotten here sooner. If he’d just gone to the clinic to see Eleri. If he’d mated her properly when she arrived inLaurus. None of this would have happened. She would be safe at his side. K’kaen might be her brother, but he was wrong to entrust her safety to anyone else. “She was gone by the time you returned?”
“By the time I got here, she was already gone,” K’kaen had come over to join the rest of the group and stood annoyingly close at S’samph’s elbow. S’samph let out a hiss of frustration.
“I don’t understand how this happened. What about the additional patrols?”
“I was called out to your plot of land.”
“There were no raviks anywhere near my territory.” S’samph snapped. “I would have handled them myself if there were.”
“Then who put out the call?” K’kaen’s tail thudded with irritation.
“I did,” Dynzol said, coming up alongside them. “Myla said one of the younger kyrot females had spotted some raviks in that area.”
“Why would there be kyrot anywhere near my territory? They never leave the residential neighborhood!” S’samph roared, losing the battle with his rising panic. “Uselessf’fret! Do you not realize what you have done?” He tore away from Dynzol and the others, unable to look at the other male without wanting to punch him. K’kaen followed him, tail thrashing with agitation.
“There were no raviks? I left her alone for nothing?”
S’samph’s frill raised higher than he thought possible. “There is no time to waste waiting around. We have to move now.”
“What are we going to do?” K’kaen asked.
S’samph’s frill flattened with annoyance at the obvious question. Surely, K’kaen knew what needed to be done. “Come back to my nest, and we will plan our invasion.”
“You want to invade the raviks’ settlement?” K’kaen’s frill lifted in alarm. “Are you out of your mind? You know as well as I do, Eleri’s as good as dead already if they have her. Unless they want her for a specific purpose.”
S’samph had already considered the possibility but banished the thought from his mind. Eleri didn’t have anything the raviks wanted. She carried nothing other than her medical kit around with her, and she wasn’t foolish enough not to relinquish it if her life was on the line. Perhaps someone in their encampment needed medical attention. Or perhaps this was meant as an act of war. It mattered little to him. The only thing he cared about was getting her back if there was any possibility she was still alive. He levelled K’kaen with his glare. “If you do not help me, I will go alone. She doesnot need another useless brother.”
“F’fret, S’samph. I don’t need to be convinced to join you, but I don’t want to give anyone false hope about what we might find there.”
“I will find whatever there is to find.” Seething, S’samph rushed toward his levibike. There were plans to be made. He would need weapons, true weapons, not the IA-issued toys. Luckily, his days as a soldier had left him with connections. He would contact some people he knew in Abwele and see what they could find for him. S’samph turned back toward K’kaen.
“Are you coming or not?”
