Instead, it was Adonis that looked away first.
“I see.” Sadness crept into the human’s tone, and when he looked at her again, a tear streaked her cheek.
Maisie sat back on her haunches, still eyeing him, watching closely. “I should kill you, you know,” she said softly, and for the first time Adonis noticed the knife she held. Where had she gotten that? How was she free, in fact? “For everything you’ve done, you deserve it.”
Swallowing his pain, Adonis gently lay Nyriah down, her black wings falling limp in the mud, then turned to face the human. She rose quickly at the movement, knife raised before her, and he felt a brief satisfaction. At least his injured presence was still enough to generate fear in the human.
But as he pushed himself slowly to his feet, it became obvious Adonis could not defend himself. Pain ate at his leg where it had twisted in the fall, strong enough to cripple him. It would be days before the torn muscles repaired themselves. Based on the look in Maisie’s eyes, he didn’t have days, or even hours.
So instead he slumped back in the mud and stared up at her, lips pursed. For the first time in his life, he wished he could speak the language of humans, if only to demand she do it quickly, that she end his shame, his suffering, his…grief. He watched her with wide eyes, arms hung at his side, as though to say he was ready.
But the human did not act, only stared back at him, knife gripped at her side. “I won’t though,” she said abruptly. Shaking her head, she turned away, her gaze falling on the fallen Anahera. “I don’t know why she saved you, but…I won’t undo what she did.” She flashed him a glare. “So you don’t need to worry about me.”
Adonis hesitated at her words, heart twisting in his chest. For a second, he felt the urge to throw himself at the human, to force her to kill him, to end his suffering. The Anahera’s wings, so glorious, so beautiful, lay in the mud, dirt treaded into her soft feathers. Dead. Dead because of his foolishness. Because of what he’d done to her people.
He wiped away a tear of his own, then looked around. The grounds before the great river had been churned to mud by the passage of his people, but the Tangata were long gone now. They had crossed the river in darkness, following the eager drumbeats of their master’s Voice, driven into a frenzy, into the madness his people had long sought to suppress.
Commanded by Maya.
“You’re wondering where your beloved Old One has gone?” Adonis looked at the human sharply as she spoke, eyes narrowing, but Maisie’s gaze was also on the river. “Afraid I have some bad news for you,” she continued. “She’s ditched you bud. Gone off with that army you helped her win.” She looked at him then, and he saw the accusation in her eyes. “You know, the thousands of Tangatan villagers and Anaheran slaves you recruited. Pretty sure they’ll make short work of anyone standing in their way on the other side.” She shrugged. “On the bright side, they were all in such a frenzy when they left, they seemed to forget all about little old me.”
The queen, Adonis thought, reaching out to Speak without thinking, the half-blood. Maya fears her.
He trailed off when the human did not react, then belatedly remembered Maisie could not hear his Voice. Adonis cursed softly to himself. How could so many of his brethren stand to bond with these coarse creatures, when they could not even communicate with one another. His eyes fell again on the knife, wondering…
“I know, I know,” the human mused, seeming to notice the direction of his stare. “I really should kill you. Only, I’m pretty sure you’re my only hope of reaching civilisation.” She gestured at her leg, and while the human stood now without aid, when she took a step, it was clear she couldn’t put much weight on the injured limb. “I’m not in any condition to walk unaided. Looks like you’re pretty beaten up yourself. Must have really pissed off that Old One of yours. Still, I’m hoping you’re a faster healer than this old body of mine.”
She hesitated, looking at Adonis as though waiting for something. He nodded hesitantly, and she cracked a smile.
“So you can understand me. I was beginning to think I was raving to myself.”
Adonis offered a scowl, then ignoring her, he pressed his hands to the ground and forced himself up. Agony slice through his left leg, the torn muscles screaming their outrage. Gritting his teeth, Adonis fought the pain, until finally he found himself standing. He looked at Maisie, teeth bared to show his strength, though in truth he wasn’t in any better shape than the human.
At least the rain had ceased during the night and the morning fog was lifting, revealing the broad expanse of water—and in the distance, the flames of Maya’s conquest.
The burning ships had long since sunk beneath the brown surface, but on the far distant banks, something else was aflame. A building, or perhaps an entire town, had already fallen to the fury of Maya’s rage.
Even after her rejection, Adonis’s heart lurched at the thought of his mate out there alone, carrying his children without him…
“I know.” He flinched as Maisie spoke into the silence. “Sucks to be rejected, doesn’t it? Let’s face it though, she was out of your league bud. Made the same mistake myself once, if it makes you feel any better. What is it about monarchs and all that bloodline business?”
Adonis clenched his jaw and flicked the human a look. Already her coarse voice was grating
