52. Kira

52

Kira

I'm still replaying Drasuk's ferocity through my mind as we gallop through the forest, making sure I periodically let go of a few strands of my hair. Not too many, or it might be suspicious. Just enough to make them think they are the ones hunting right now.

I had almost forgotten how satisfying it is to rely on another person. Hell, to rely on a whole group and play your role so they can play their own. He did most of the work back there, but we would have been dead without my cover fire.

If those were the easy kills, then I know for a fact that we won't have a chance of surviving the rest without the help of Ree and Thivoll.

It's like having my squad back.

That thought sends a pang of panic through me and I let a larger chunk of my hair go than planned in my moment of distraction. My heart is pounding as I push that thought to the back of my mind as violently as possible.

Fuck no. The loss of them broke me. How could I even be thinking about having another one? I can't take that sort of pain ever again.

Never.

A slow breath in as I cling to Drasuk leaves me the mental space to remind myself that this is a situation where we can't win alone. I've already tied myself to Drasuk, and let's face it, Ree has so much empathy and charisma you can't help but attach yourself to her within a few minutes in her presence.

It's too late. I can't avoid the hurt now. All I can do is fight until my last breath to protect them.

Every single hunter must fucking die.

I let out an oorah , then go back to my job of leaving a bubblegum hair scent trail.

***

I've been sitting here concerned we are being far too obvious. That they will realize it's a trap. Just to have them bumble in here in a long row like they own the place.

Thivoll wasn't kidding when he said draks just go straight into the fray. Of course, there are six of them, and two of us, so we look like easy prey.

I let out a snort. I probably only count as a fifth of a person to them, if I'm counted at all.

With a shake of my head, I get back into my role, let out a fake scream of terror, fling myself off Drasuk's back and run into the trees.

From the rumbles of laughter that are still coming closer, they didn't catch on to just how terrible my acting skills are, but from the very quiet snicker I hear above me, Ree sure did.

I flip her off, not even sure if she can see me, then scramble up the rock I chose as my initial perch.

Drasuk made me promise to not start shooting until after he accepted a formal challenge, which is fucking stupid, but I can tell it's important to him, so I hold off while they exchange insults, my gun poised as I wait for the final sweep of movement he said indicates he's done playing Mister Knightly and Noble.

I pull in a few long breaths to steady myself, wipe my hands on my black suit, and settle into a comfortable position. I swing my gun toward Xar'Ar'ax, just to dream, but keep moving to another target.

I also promised not to snipe that bastard, although it is the obvious strategic choice to take him out when they are puffing up their chests and posturing.

Whatever. I swing the gun over to his brother, Mar'cte, then curse at myself when I realize that I don't want to make his death quick.

Hypocrite , I chide myself, but then move my aim to one of their cronies.

I pick the largest one, at least. A big, dark-blue freak that looks like he had the genali mutate him into a bloated caricature of a drak. His spines are hard to make out among all the added muscle, but from what I can tell, he has even more arrogance than Drasuk.

Impossible, I know.

When I see Drasuk move into the last stage of accepting Xar'Ar'ax's challenge, his tail sweeping in an intricate pattern, I stop pondering and start shooting.

One careful squeeze and all that muscle is useless because the bloated fucker is stone cold dead with a shot through his eye.

Shots from Ree and Thivoll ping off two others, missing anything vital, but they do provide another opening for me as one of the smaller draks, a purple and black bastard with half his tail missing, roars out his rage.

He doesn't seem to like a bullet down his throat a moment later.

And six become four, three of which are now barreling toward us, leaving Drasuk and Xar'Ar'ax to their fight.

We keep shooting, but they are on to us now, slitting their eyes mostly closed and keeping their mouths shut. I shatter a few of the larger green one's teeth just for fun as they run at us, but know the time for guns has passed.

The smaller green one is the fastest, which means he's the one that dies when Thivoll drops out of a tree, thumps on top of his back, whips his tail around and I assume pumps a load of venom in him because a moment later the drak is screaming.

Thivoll takes advantage of his momentary incapacitation to pivot his body, kick him onto his side, and then start tearing at his stomach like a giant, enraged tomcat. I shiver at the sight of it.

Big cats have always been terrifying to me and I'm glad he's part of my squad.

I yell out, taking shots of Mar'cte to make sure he's pissed off enough at me to not double-team Thivoll, or worse, figure out where Ree is.

Her tree perch isn't much protection against a drak.

The bigger green one reaches Thivoll a few beats later and without the benefit of surprise he has a much harder fight, but I can't focus on it because Mar'cte is almost to my rock, his eyes promising death.

A quick glance to Drasuk lets me know he's holding his own so far.

I take a few more shots at Mar'cte's teeth, making sure he loses a couple, then I scramble up to pull out my sword. Not exactly a marine's weapon of choice, but a dagger isn't going to do much against the enraged red drakonid.

He leaps at me, easily jumping up the dozen feet to the top of the rock. I stab out at the junction of two of his belly armor plates and the blade sinks in as I scream out to increase my braceaaer enhanced strength. Mar'cte roars in pain, but continues the swipe of his enormous arm, launching me backward off the rock.

After a few moments airborne, I land hard on my back, then struggle to get air back into my lungs. Mar'cte doesn't even bother removing my sword, just skitters down the rock, moving far quicker toward me than I have time to recover my breath.

A streak of black, indigo, and orange lets me know Ree definitely lied to Thivoll when she said she would only shoot from a tree. Instead, she is plummeting toward Mar'cte, her face betraying just how much she would like to scream out in horror.

She hits him hard, throwing him off balance just long enough for me to drag a ragged breath in and push myself up to my feet. I launch myself at the arm he is raising to swat her out of the way, terrified he will hit her before I make it.

I plant both my daggers in his arm before he has a chance, screaming out my defiance as he tries to fling me off. Then a moment later he uses his much greater strength, making my new ant power seem like nothing, to slam me down onto the ground.

My collarbone snaps, sending a wave of agony, then he's tearing at my belly, not yet realizing that he can't penetrate the hard sand monster skin. He's reaching up to tear into my throat when I hear Ree's scream and a thump.

A glance down lets me know she's used her new venom on a small opening in his armor. Mar'cte starts bellowing out his pain, limbs twitching, his claws still close enough to my throat to make long gashes in the black scales.

Thivoll said his venom would only last a few minutes, so I push past my agony, rise up with a screaming cry of pain and push on the end of my sword as hard as I can. It penetrates to the hilt, and Mar'cte's dead weight is suddenly crushing me.

"Kira!" I hear Ree scream out, then pull at one of my arms, but I'm not going anywhere, my lungs screaming out with the need to breathe.