I’d almost forgotten about him, but I turned to face the fucker now. “Whatisyour problem?”
His red slash of a mouth curled in a sneer, and his straight dark brows dropped low over his eyes. “If you don’t know the answer to that, then you’re dumber than you look,Onyx.”
Hell no. “No dumber than a guy who makes assumptions about a person based on nothing more than their family name.”
“You don’t belong here, and if it wasn’t my oath-given duty to save you, the stain of your bloodline would have been wiped from this world tonight.”
I’d heard worse in my lifetime, but for some reason, his words stung. Like hell would I let him see it, though. “Oh, gee, well, fuck you very much.”
His chest vibrated in a warning growl that made my stomach contract with fear, but I stood my ground, chin up. “Back off, Silver.”
His eyes flared and he opened his mouth to speak, but the beast, Drayven, beat him to it.
“Enough. The night is young, and the forest is alive and hungry for blood, now that it’s had a taste.” He glanced at my head, to the wound I’d forgotten about. “I’ll take Onyx to the Academy. Jay and Brek will stay and help with cleanup and neutralization.”
“Good.” Silver boy raked me over derisively. “The sooner thisPetitioneis over, the sooner we can throw out the trash.”
“Who are you calling?—”
He walked away.
“Wanker!”
“She’s got that right,” one of the other beasts said. He was smaller than Drayven by about half a foot, his fur a silvery gray with darker patches streaking down his face and muzzle. Spiky spines ran down his back, and his tail was a thick, hairless appendage.
“Come,” Drayven said to me, his tone a soothing growl. “Climb up and hold on.”
His back was five feet off the ground. “I’m good. I can walk or run. Whatever.”
“Run?” Spiky beast chuckled.
“Yep. Running is my forte. How do you think I got away from the mud men?”
“Mudarks?” the other beast said. “They’re not very fast.” He was only a fraction smaller than Drayven, his body all sleek muscle and sinew, his fur a white gold that gleamed in the moonlight.
I was not going to allow him to belittle my escape. “Those mimics were fast, though.”
“Fine, I’ll give you that.”
“You were lucky,” Drayven said. “But I don’t rely on luck, and it’s not a request. Get on and ride me.”
Spiky beast’s snort sounded suspiciously like a laugh.
Drayven’s head whipped his way, lip curling back from his fangs in a warning snarl, and the other beast quickly dropped his head.
“Sorry,” he said sheepishly.
Drayven’s gaze slid my way, and I quickly tucked away my smile.
“Come on, Jay,” sleek boy said. “We’d better neutralize.”
“Thank Luna I drank a lot earlier,” Jay said.
They loped off toward silver-haired dude and the other sword-wielding Hunters, toward the mess of limbs, mud, and blood.
Drayven lowered himself, waiting for me to climb up. I did so with very little grace.
“Grab my fur and dig your thighs in to grip me,” he instructed.
