“No.” I whispered.
A vorpyr with lighter silver skin and shockingly red eyes wrenched the branch away from her and gripped her arm, pulling her forward.
“Search for any others.” the one holding me told one of the vorpyr. The male smacked his wings together and launched into the air.
Muscle rippled against my back as he shifted, bending down. “I will give you a few moments to say goodbye. Perhaps you will meet in the other realm. If that’s something you believe in,” he murmured. Then he pushed me forward. I stumbled, barely catching myself.
Jaron was released and pushed toward me, hard enough that he almost fell to his knees, but he was athletic and he caught himself.
Tatiana embraced me, tears rolling down her cheeks. I couldn’t admonish her for trying to help, but agony clutched at my heart knowing that she was in danger because of me. No, I couldn’t let defeatist thinking win yet. We were still breathing, we still had a chance. Clearly the male with the emerald eyes was in charge.
Stealing myself, I turned toward him.
Chapter 6
The little female stood in front of the other two, holding her arms out in front of them as though it would protect them. It was laughable, and I smirked. Still, it was brave. Braver than the other humans who had boarded the spaceship and left the planet without so much as an attempt to get all of their people safe. Vorpyr would never act in such a cowardly way.
“I’m sure we can work out an agreement.” Her voice was slightly breathless. She was still trying to get out of this. “We’re simple, uh,” she seemed to rack her brain for the word, her accent thick. “Scholars. We were here because we believed that we could study other civilizations and that this place was abandoned, that no one claimed ownership of the area.” She took a shaky breath, peering up at me. Not everyone could holdmy gaze. Perhaps she just didn’t know any better. She would soon enough.
I laughed harshly and noticed with satisfaction that she shivered at the sound. “Perhaps you’re not translating properly because you seem to keep missing the point. These shrines, this place…” I gestured wide to encompass the entire area, “is a place for my people to honor their loved ones after death. It's off limits to all those except vorpyr.”
Her face, though pale already, seemed to lighten further.
“We didn’t know.” she whispered. Her eyes were growing wild. The scent of her fear intensified. Good.
“Cease your lies, female. You will be punished in accordance with our laws for violating our sacred grounds.” I snarled, stepping forward. She straightened as I invaded her space but didn’t step back. Her head tilted so she could keep her gaze on my face. Her gaze cleared, the wild look fading.
“Killing a group of humans like this is a waste of life and politically unwise."
I raised a brow as a ripple traveled through my right wing. Leaning down so we were face to face, I smiled, showing her my fangs. Her lips parted and a tiny gasp escaped her.
“You are right, little female.” I tilted my head as I decided how to make use of them. “You will do the work to provide an honorable after-rest for the guardians of the shrine that you slaughtered, and you will come with us away from this place. And then,” I lowered my voice to a growl, “you will tell me what else your humans know, and you will tell me all about your military.”
Her breathing was ragged, as though she’d just expended great physical effort. Yes, she would be easy to break.
I nodded at the humans. “Bring them.”
When Zyvar reached for the mouthy female, I stopped him. I held her gaze. “I’ll deal with this one.” The pulse at herdelicate neck quickened. I smiled, keeping my fangs elongated, purposefully showing more than I had to.
We herded them forward, following Zyvar. The female said quick words to the other two in their language, and I prodded her ribs. She flinched. “I was just translating.”
“Be silent.”
Sorkyl rejoined us and we arrived at the pile of carcasses that had snarls of rage tearing from me and Pyravor at the sight of the massacre and desecration of the magnificent beings. The little female balked and made a sound in her throat, her hand going to her mouth when she saw them. Let others do her dirty work, did she? The male said something to her in their language.
“Get to work.” I pushed her forward, not hard enough to make her fall. The others followed.
She turned to me, her eyes glossy. “What do you want us to do?”
“Wash each one in the stream, wrap them in the cloths we give you, and lay them along the edge of the cliff side by side.” I had Sorkyl collect cloths that were blessed by my vorpyrren during the last vyquaand had been brought and stored here to clean the shrines when family came to honor their loved ones in the other realm.
The other female made small noises and tears traveled down her cheeks. Their species had tears as well. I idly wondered if they fell for the same reasons vorpyr tears fell. She jerked away from the carcasses and said something in her language.
Zyvar watched her, his red gaze flicking to mine before hardening back on her. Despite the rake that he’d been in our growing years—and still was—he was uncomfortable with upset females. He wouldn’t be if he hadn’t fled and made me deal with the females he’d rutted and then ignored when we were young.
I’d complained to my father about it once, when he’d taken me on a hunt. He’d had a hearty laugh and told me it was agood way to prepare me to deal with my vorpyrren during hard times when I became the Vorazyr.Now Zyvar was my second, my thalrikar, and he had to clean upmymesses, which was something I smugly reminded him of often. But right now, it bothered me. He should not have thoughts of sympathy for the humans when we would execute them soon enough after interrogation. I would discuss it with him later.
Several minutes passed as they transported nolykh to the stream. The female I stood over clenched her jaw as she washed the soft feathers free of blood and grime. Her breathing was shaky.
