He gave Thalia a shove and Havik roared. Rough hands grabbed him, holding him back as he struggled. He would end every male present. Slowly. Painfully. They would suffer for making his mate choose self-sacrifice, believing she helped him.
She would perish above ground. There was no point of existence without her.
With a sorrowful look, Thalia disappeared into the shadows.
“I’ll find you!” he shouted. “They cannot hold me.”
An unseen hand delivered a blow to the back of his head. Bright sparks of light dotted his vision.
Havik growled, knowing he faced a harsh reality. Even if he defeated all the warriors present, by the time he reached Thalia she’d be ill from radiation or frozen from exposure. He hated them. All his past irritation, annoyance, and grumbling was nothing to the white heat that burned his heart to a black cinder. The fire would consume him, which was the best outcome because he would not go on without Thalia.
But first, they all must die.
Chapter 23
Havik
He rolled his shoulders and stretched his neck. His expression must have transmitted his every thought. He was never good at deception, unlike Kaos. The male breathed lies and deceit as readily as air.
Havik growled, ready.
“Do not be foolish,” Kaos said. “Reinforcements are coming.”
“Good.”
Kaos opened his mouth to continue boasting or making idle threats. He talked too much. How had Havik never noticed that before? Using that opening, he reached for the male nearest him and smashed his forehead into the male’s nose.
The male reeled back, clutching his broken nose.
Havik grabbed the blaster from the male’s hip and shot him in the chest. The male fell to the ground.
The warriors swarmed Havik and knocked the blaster out of his hand. He blocked blows and dodged, falling into a rhythm. Sound and extraneous details fell away. All that existed in that moment was his blood pounding, his breath laboring, and the burn in underused muscle.
He missed this. Not the betrayal from his father, though that occurred with disappointing frequency, but fighting all-out, holding nothing back. Sparring with Ren was different. Their competition was too friendly. Ren did not push himself hard enough, and Havik found he instinctively pulled his punches.
His blood sang with joy as his fists met his opponent but four on one was unsustainable. He grew slower. Their blows landed more and more. His blows hit with less strength. The more time he wasted with these males, the less likely he would be able to find Thalia in time.
This needed to end. He needed to retreat to a defensible position or at least find a weapon.
A blow landed solidly on his jaw. Havik landed on his back.
Kaos shouted an order. The other warriors puffed out their chests, like the battle was already over.
Havik rolled to his feet and retreated down the tunnel, toward the entrance. If he could reach the vehicle, there was a weapons cache in the back. If he was very lucky, his ID chip would unlock the trunk. If not, he would have to improvise.
The frigid night air slapped Havik, shocking his senses awake. Finding his mate took priority. What he needed to accomplish that task jumbled in his head. Transportation. Kill the warriors so they could not follow. Get medical care or a kit. Water. Shove a blade through Kaos’ black heart.
That.
That was his first task.
An engine roared overhead and warm air blasted down. Light blinded him. Kaos’ reinforcements finally arrived.
The tasks reordered themselves. Eliminate the reinforcements. Then drive a blade through Kaos’ black heart.
“Surrender. You cannot win now,” Kaos boasted.
Sand exploded. A large kumakre burst through, claws slashing all in its path. On its back…
Havik blinked because he was obviously hallucinating. Perhaps he was already bleeding out onto the sands. These last moments were nothing more than random firings of his neurons and synapses because that made more sense than what he saw.
Thalia rode the back of the kumakre, a fist held high as she let out a war cry. A cold wind blew her hair into every direction, the color of sand and green. She glowed in the moonlight, a vengeful dencadiz there to deliver justice at the point of a sword or fearsome beast.
The kumakre shrieked and reared back, deadly claws lashing out.
Kaos’ warriors scattered, diving for cover.
Thalia called his name, pulling him into the maelstrom. Something in her raised hand gleamed in the moonlight. She flung it toward him, and he caught the object. With a confident grin, she dove off the back of the kumakre, gracefully tumbling onto the sand.
The kumakre’s tail curled and flexed, displaying pale blue stripes.
“Stabs?”
Thalia
The paint was obviously worn and flaking, but she knew her Stabs in an instant. He was ginormous and seemed to understand this was not the time for a reunion. She did not have time to wonder at his rapid growth.
They burst through the sand to find Havik surrounded and weaponless. Fortunately, their entrance caused enough of a distraction that she flung the utility knife to Havik.
Kaos rushed her man. Havik lashed out with the utility knife, aiming for the unprotected swathes of skin: hands, neck, and face.
A red line bloomed across Kaos’ cheek. He roared, swinging the mace with force. Havik rolled to dodge but he moved too slowly and caught the blow on his shoulder.
Kaos stood over him, mace raised and ready to bludgeon his only son. “Beg,” he said.
Thalia knew in her core that Havik wouldn’t beg for mercy from a male who would murder his child for perceived insults to his reputation. She just needed him to live long enough for her to think of something. He needed a weapon, a proper one. Something stabby and shooty.
She scanned the crowd, hoping for a conveniently fallen body and gun. Stabs made progress through the minions, judging from the screaming. Blood splashed across the sand, black in the moonlight. She dashed to the closest body.
The man fell face-down on top of
