Only a few of us remember the cache exists. And if anyone has found more, I’m not aware of it.
I never told Gemma, but I fear the tech as much as I admire it. I wouldn’t use my spear if it hadn’t been given to me by my father. Overwhelming power radiates from these alien contraptions, and the way these things scramble my mind when I hold them… it is not always easy to endure.
It can be frightening.
But she… She seemed to know exactly what she was looking at.
Guns, bombs, and arsenal ware, she called them. Thousands, lined up on racks as far as the eye could see, vanishing in the distance. She picked them up, held them, even loaded a gun, but put it back when it wouldn’t charge for her. I saw what the stuff did to her kind, and it has no place in the forests. No place in this world. I thought about leaving my spear behind.
I couldn’t do it in the end, my spear is a fourth limb I do not know how to live without.
She said the guns weren’t alien, but I’m not sure I believe her. I picked up the same gun she put down, and it immediately charged for me, scrambled my mind. And when she took it back? It died in her grasp.
That was when we realized she can’t light the fire at the tip of my spear. Only I can.
Her kind wouldn’t make weapons they couldn’t use, right?
It wasn’t the guns and weapons that scared her though, like I thought they would. Like how they make me and the rest of the nagas uneasy. It was the pods, much like the one Zaku had in his den. They were filled with liquid, with tubes and wires connected to a singular central orb in the middle.
Eggs, she called them, barely speaking above a whisper.
She wanted to leave after that.
We fled the cache, leaving the weapons and pods behind, putting the rocks back into place, and adding more when she demanded it. Since that day, I sometimes notice her looking at me differently, at least at first, but the looks didn’t last.
Once I got her back into my nest and made sure she had nothing else to think about but us, her quiet contemplation fell from her mind.
I would not have brought her to the tunnels again so soon if I hadn’t seen the underlying fear in her eyes. I promised her protection forever, and I plan on keeping that promise. I’ll keep all my promises.
And if I was born from one of those eggs? Or my father was, my mother?
I rest my chin on Gemma’s head.
I’m not interested in finding out.
I have what I wanted, and I’m going to keep it. Whoever may come, whatever might happen, they’ll have to go through me if they come here and try and take it away.
“Anybody out there? Is anybody out there?” a feminine voice says, crackling the music.
Gemma tenses and I lift my head.
“What was that?” she asks, turning to look at me. “It didn’t sound like it was from the movie.”
“I don’t know.”
We break eye contact and look around the room. In the background, the movie continues to play. A minute goes by, and the crackly voice doesn’t return.
“Can you rewind the movie?” she asks.
“Please, answer! This is Shelby from The Dreadnaut, and we’re in trouble,” the voice, spiked with desperation this time, says again. It’s coming from behind us.
Gemma shoots to her feet. “Shelby?” she gasps, searching for where the voice came from. I rise with her, pausing the screens.
We both turn to an orb, half-hovering, twinkling in the corner. It’s one I thought as good as broken, and it hasn’t been solar charged in months.
Gemma rushes to it just as I pluck it out of the air with my tail, grabbing it before it falls and breaks.
“How do we answer? Can we answer?” Gemma asks hurriedly.
The female calls out again. “Anybody out there?”
I turn the orb in my hand, asking it to—
“Connect us,” Gemma orders.
“Connecting…” the orb responds. It works. It twinkles, glows.
Gemma grabs it from me. “Shelby, it’s Gemma. What’s wrong? I’m here. Are you okay?”
“Gemma! Oh, hell. You’re alive! Thank god you’re alive. It’s good to hear your voice, any voice.”
“I am.” Gemma shakes her head. “What’s the matter? What’s happening? Are you okay? Where are you?”
“I’m trapped,” the female answers on a hitch. “Under the facility. I’m trapped with him.”
“Who?”
Shelby’s voice lowers. “There’s something you need to know. I’ve found something—” Shelby cuts off.
“What?” Gemma asks. “Shelby? Are you there? What do I need to know? Who’s him?”
The orb twinkles one last time and dies.
“Shelby! Answer me!” Gemma yells, shaking it.
I snatch it from her before she hurts herself. “It’s dead. She’s gone.”
“We need to find another!”
I nod, and we make our way back to my bunker at record speed, but when we reach the other orbs I’ve gathered, we cannot reach Shelby. The connection is gone.
“Scanning. Scanning. Scanning.”
Gemma cries out in frustration, threading her fingers into her hair and pulling it away from her face. She turns to me.
“Vruksha…”
I already know what she’s going to ask. I already know my answer.
I grab my spear.
Whatever comes. I’ll protect what’s mine.
“Scanning. Scanning. Scanning.”
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading Viper, Naga Brides Book One. If you liked the story or have a comment, please leave a review! I love reviews and so do other readers :)! Continue onto King Cobra if you want to learn more about the ferocious naga males who rule Earth and all its secrets, and the strong women who fall in love with them.
If you adore cyborgs, aliens, anti-heroes, and adventure, follow me on Facebook or through my blog online for information on new releases and updates.
Join my newsletter for
