Stupid male.
Azsote hisses and drops from the tree to put his tail between him and Zaku.
Gemma pushes out of my hold, answering before Azsote can. “She’s hurt. Azsote’s taking us to her. He’s been looking for you. We’ve been looking for her.”
Zaku’s eyes swing to my female, and I brace for an attack.
His crazed gaze flicks over us, and he wipes the back of his hand across his mouth, taking us in. I notice a new wound on his chest that’s swollen and red.
I hiss in warning when it appears Zaku isn’t going to calm. “I will strike if you get close.”
Zaku swings back to Azsote. “Take me to Daisy!”
“And them?” Azsote indicates us.
Gemma tenses. “We’re going too, I demand to see her. If you try and stop us, you’ll have to deal with me,” she threatens.
Zaku grabs Azsote’s neck and jerks the Boomslang close. “Take me to her. I won’t ask again. I don’t care what they do.”
Azsote tugs Zaku’s hand from around his throat and twists, dashing away. Zaku takes off after him, and I surge forward to follow. Gemma’s hair flies against my chest, tickling my scales.
From one tree to the next, we rush through the forest. No one stops us. No one even comes out and tries. Three naga males against one is certain death. Invigorated, I feel part of a clan for the first time since my sisters left. A hunt with my brethren for the precious, rare females we all desire.
I suck in the warm air, grasping my female close.
It’s at this moment, as the forest gives way to a long stretch of land and I watch Zaku rush after Azsote, that I forgive her for choosing her friend over me. I remember what it’s like to care for more than my own hide. I had forgotten the strength there is in numbers.
If we came together, no human, beast, or otherwise would be able to stop us. And if what Gemma says is true, and the humans will never stop searching for the tech… then rejoining my brethren is imperative for all our safety going forward. Using the tech that we hide would be easier united.
Because this land is ours.
And no one can make us leave.
“Smoke,” Gemma gasps. “There, see it?” She points to a ribbon of it rising from the trees in the distance. I smell it when she does. “Please be okay,” she whispers, low enough she probably doesn’t think I hear it.
“She will be okay,” I rumble.
She rests her head against my chest. I feel her tremble.
By the time we make it to the smoke, Azsote and Zaku are already there. It’s worse than I thought. The trees are charred, some are still burning, and a clear streak of land has been cleared out from the skiff.
The skiff is in ruins. The majority of the smoke comes from it. Part of its side is crumpled, and the windows are shattered. There’s metal and debris everywhere. No one could’ve survived such mechanical violence.
“Daisy!” Gemma breathes.
I hold onto her as she tries to break from my arms.
Zaku’s silence is deafening. Another naga male is there, staring at the smoke. As a breeze wisps some of it away, familiar brown and beige scales appear. I grip my spear, bringing it forward.
Krellix, the last Copperhead. I haven’t seen him since the plateau. Azsote snarls at him but doesn’t stop, moving through the wreckage. Krellix glances at the rest of us, stopping to stare at Gemma. Zaku goes after Azsote.
“Vruksha,” Gemma whispers. “We need to get to Daisy.”
I don’t take my gaze off Krellix. The male twists to face us head-on. The way he looks at my female forces a growl from my throat. Heat, desperation, and lust appear all at once, etched over his face.
He slides closer. His muscles bunch. Through the smoke, I smell his cloying scent. I tense, immediately acknowledging it as a scent I’ve recently been giving off too.
I set Gemma down. Her arm comes up around me as she moves under my shoulder. “Get behind me,” I tell her, readying my weapon.
“You can’t have me,” Gemma snaps, glaring at Krellix. “I’m already taken.” She shoots Krellix a withering look.
I go still, shocked by her words.
The Copperhead cocks his head. “You are a feisty one.”
“And I’m Vruksha’s, so don’t even try it. If he doesn’t kill you, I will. Now move. My friend is hurt and needs me.”
Krellix’s lips twitch.
“Move,” I warn.
He finally looks at me. “You are lucky,” he says, slipping out of our path and disappearing into the trees.
I’m skilled, vicious, and a little reckless, but lucky? I hiss. It wasn’t luck that won me Gemma. It was fate. Gemma stretches up and hooks her arm around my neck. I haul her back into the cradle of my arms. We take off after the others.
We don’t have to go far, finding Zaku and Azsote on the other side. Zaku is emerging from a fox hole with something in his arms. A broken, ashen thing I barely recognize as human, let alone a female at all.
“Daisy!” Gemma cries out. She pushes from my arms and stumbles toward Zaku.
The Cobra snarls before I can stop her, rushing up behind. Gemma doesn’t notice. She’s entirely focused on the crumpled form in Zaku’s hold.
A weak moan leaves the creature’s lips.
“We need to get her out of her clothes and cleaned, quickly! We need water!” Gemma yells, turning to Azsote. “Get water!”
The next hour is a flurry of activity. Zaku doesn’t leave Daisy’s side, and my female takes over, ignoring anyone who tries to stop her. We get Daisy away from the wreckage and bring her to a creek that Azsote leads us to.
Zaku and Gemma hover over her, cutting off the remainder of her burnt clothes. It’s not until her screaming starts that Azsote and I shoot into action to secure our perimeter.
Azsote darts up into the trees, disappearing, while I take ground cover. I run into
