He ground his teeth and clenching his fists, Adonis his mind back to the human, the revenge he would have against her. His heart raced at the thought of watching the life flee her eyes to see her fear as she realised death came creeping upon her…
…how it pained Adonis that he not touched her, not yet. For now, all he could do was stalk the forest in search of another target for his rage. It would be a day yet before they reached human territory, and even then, they may need to search for their foes if Maisie’s information proved true.
But when they did finally encounter the humans, when they destroyed the enemy armies and took more captives, Maisie would no longer have value.
Then she would learn the true extent of his displeasure.
In truth, only the Nyriah had kept Adonis from unleashing his rage against the human. Despite her subservience, the Anahera had stepped between them, protecting the creature’s welfare, just as she had been ordered.
But that had not protected her from Adonis.
Now he paused in his stride, turning to where the Anaheran woman shadowed him. He’d removed her from assignment with the human. She was too close to the cunning creature, it seemed to Adonis, and so he’d made her his own personal guard. To keep an eye on her…
…though looking upon her now, a shiver ran down Adonis’s spine. She had defied him to protect the human, and so he had unleashed his rage against her instead. Now bruises covered Nyriah’s face and arms, just reward for her obedience. The pale skin typical of the mountainous Anahera seemed to bruise easily, though surely his blows could not have caused great damage to one of their kind. Certainly, Adonis suffered far more with Maya, when the lust took his mate and she thew him down beneath her…
What makes you believe her children are your own?
Adonis’s rage returned and he advanced on Nyriah. They were alone in the forest, and he saw the fear in her eyes now, saw her flinch at his approach. Instantly, he regretted his actions. It was the human that deserved his castigation. Not this sorry excuse for a god.
“You should not have stopped me, slave,” he said harshly, looking up at the woman. He had quickly come to ignore the wings. Far from being a symbol of the Anahera’s strength and majesty, he saw them now as a reminder of their cowardice, of the unfulfilled promise of her people.
“I was ordered to watch over her,” Nyriah replied meekly.
“To keep her from escaping,” Adonis spat. He turned away, the anger slipping from him. “She will pay for what she said, one way or another.”
“Yes, master.”
He glanced at her. “That’s not…necessary.”
The Anahera bowed her head but said nothing. Adonis shook his head. It didn’t matter what this creature said, what the human thought. He knew the truth. His future, the future of the Tangata, was bound to Maya. The children she birthed would be his, would give way to a new era for the Tangata. Within a generation the greatness of his people would be restored, while humanity would fail, crushed beneath the boots of the Tangata, reduced to mere servitude…
A shiver ran down his spine as another image flickered into his mind, of bodies in the snow, of the dead children Maya had left in her wake. They too had been weak, too fragile to be worthy of her love, however much they wished to serve the Old One.
She isn’t even one of you.
Adonis clenched his fists, hurling the words from him. Maya was harsh, it was true, but everything she did was for the betterment of his people. After all, look what had come of their sacrifice, of the sacrifice of those they’d left behind. His people had conquered the Anahera, a feat unimaginable before her coming. And now…
…now they marched new children through the snow. He swallowed, a lump lodging in his throat. The young Anahera were the picture of innocence, with their pale wings and wide eyes. They couldn’t understand this cruel world they’d suddenly been plunged into, the hardship and death and pain they faced.
She reminds me of Farhan.
Adonis looked around as Nyriah’s words whispered into his mind. The Anahera’s eyes widened at his attention, as though she hadn’t meant for the silent words to escape. His frown deepened and he advanced on her, watching the fear grow in her eyes, even as she clenched her fists, as her wings lifted in preparation for a fight.
But he knew she would not resist him, not with the threat hanging over the Anaheran fledgelings. She might have lost her own child, but she would not risk the lives of the others.
What did you say? he murmured.
A tremor passed across her face and she dropped her eyes to the ground, wings slumping into the snow.
“Please, forgive me, master. I spoke out of turn.”
I asked you what you said, slave.
“I…only that the Old One…she reminds me of my former partner, of Farhan.”
The one Maya slew? Adonis frowned. Explain.
Nyriah shook her head. He could see that she regretted speaking, could read the terror in the white of her aura. “Only that she is powerful, that she dominates those within her control, just as…just as Farhan did for our own people,” she hesitated, still looking away. “But…I would not think to speak for your master.”
She is not my master, Adonis hissed.
This time Nyriah did not flinch away. Instead, she faced him, eyes wide with defiance, though her body was tense, awaiting his blows.
She is my mate, Adonis said instead, my Matriarch. Soon-to-be the mother of my young. She is more powerful than any other being alive. It is her right to dominate, to control those too weak to decide their own fate.
“So very like Farhan indeed,” the Anaheran woman replied softly.
No, Adonis rumbled. Your Farhan was weak, trapped in a past long since vanished.
And it is so different with
