Page 22 of The Naga Princess's Soldier Mate

We left the pits behind us, but not the hostile crowd that surrounded us. Aser was as much a burden as a hostage now; they wanted him, but only to kill him. And I understood their anger because nothing he’d done for the Clan had improved their fortune. I realized now that Aser had thought to escape with us, but my denial of his bribes had dashed that hope. He was fighting Reid every minute of our approach to the exit.

The cave entrance was visible in the distance, an arch of light and hope. We were close to reaching it: a stretch of flat granitewas visible beyond it, and beyond that, clear skies and forests, the beautiful purple and violet hues of Serant’s lush world. We were guided to it through a path of Bitter Storm members that lined the sides, some hissing angrily as we passed, and some just staring. It was beginning to look like we’d make it without another fight.

Then we exited the cave and stood on the terrace outside, fresh, cool air blowing past my scales. I could see so far from here, including the lower mountain arm where Artek, the Shaman, kept his home and the tall peak of Ahoshaga, where Haven was located. From here, we could travel to Reid’s home in less than a week if we moved fast.

Of course, nothing ever went exactly according to plan. When a desperate Aser lunged, I didn’t expect him—I wasn’t ready.

Chapter 18

Reid

I breathed in deeply the moment I set foot outside the cave, drawing in the clean scents of the planet rather than the stink from inside the caves. Our escort was fanning out around us, but the path was now free and clear. Aser had stopped pulling, and ahead of us, the Bitter Storm Naga had abandoned our cart with the dead at the edge of the terrace, at the start of a path that led down into the woods below.

Locating the male, Tharsos, and his two companions, I flung Aser toward them, happy to get rid of that burden. I did not expect the coward to turn on us; I had expected him to try to flee instead. But a cornered crook was always unpredictable—I should have remembered that. He spun as he rolled across the granite plateau, then coiled his tail beneath him and leaped.

He was going after Sazzie, and I could not let that happen. He was fast, but my nano-enhanced reflexes were far quicker. Throwing myself between them, I caught his reaching claws in my hands and slammed him down. Things snapped in my grip, but even though he screeched like a banshee, I did not let go. Our eyes locked—his, a burning red like coals, full of pain and full of hate too. “You cannot have her. You are done,” I told him, and then I tossed him away from me.

Naga pounced on him as soon as he rolled to a stop on the granite. Aser would not keep them busy for long. Already, I could feel their focus shifting from him to us. They were closingranks again, changing their minds, letting their hate and fear of all things different lead the way.

“We must hurry,” I told Sazzie, drawing her into my arms and starting to run. She curled her tail around my hip, her arms around my neck, and I knew she was watching what was happening on the plateau behind us. Even without seeing it, I could hear the carnage and wished I could shield her from it. Aser got exactly what he deserved, but my angel did not need to witness any part of that.

Reaching the cart at the edge of the large rock ledge, I yanked Astrexa out of it, then eyed the steep path down. It was a gamble, but it was the fastest way to get down. “Hold on tight, angel,” I said, and leaped onto the wagon, setting it in motion down the rocky path. We immediately began accelerating down the mountain, and I fought to keep control of our direction—first by shifting my weight around, then by putting my feet on the ground to halt our speed.

Sazzie screamed in my ear, her blue hair streaking against my face, her eyes wide with fear. We were still going faster and faster, and the path was getting rougher. In the distance, I could see the trees, and we’d crash into one of them if we kept going this way. I knew I’d survive that, but Sazzie? If she broke something, it could be catastrophic.

Giving up on braking by hanging from the back of the wagon, I threw us both forward onto the wagon bed. Then, I pressed Sazzie against the wooden side and flipped over it myself so I was now in front of the cart. It forced Sazzie’s arms to rip from around my neck, but her tail stayed clutched around my middle. This time, I could brace my arms against the wood and dig myheels into the gravel slope we were sliding down. I could also see what was happening above us—the row of red-scaled faces peering over the edge of the plateau to follow our descent.

They weren’t following us down—either letting us go or thinking that our speed would kill us against the tree trunks when we hit them. But we were slowing now: my legs ached with the strain, and rocks flew against my back, nicking or bruising my bare skin with their force. Then, a bigger rock struck a wheel, and it broke, sending us lurching to the side, off the path and down the slope instead.

Slower, almost slow enough, we hit the treeline with a cracking of branches and leaves. Sazzie screamed again, throwing herself out of the wagon and into my arms. The two of us rolled across the ground, and I did all I could to protect her from the fall. My back struck a tree trunk, scraping us against tree roots and bark, and then we finally came to a stop. She lay on top of me, breathing fast, her eyes huge in her delicate face, the arches of her brows as high as the firm nubbed scales allowed them to go.

“Are you hurt?” I demanded, taking full advantage of the opportunity to touch her everywhere. Sliding my hands along her spine, I cupped her curved rear, then kept going to check every inch of her pretty tail. She was petting my shoulders at the same time, a sob wrenching from her chest as her fingers tangled in my hair.

“Am I hurt? You’re the one who struck the tree! Are your nanobots managing? Do you need more of those capsules?” she demanded through her tears. I sat up, cradling her in my lap, and winced when that sent a shot of pain through my spine. That pain smoothed away almost instantly, and my arms shimmeredwith a hint of silver as my nanobots rose to the surface. In response, Sazzie began to glow too, her mating marks slashing beautifully across her body. I was the luckiest damn human on the planet to have found my angel—to be granted such a miracle.

A little guiltily, I admitted that I’d eaten all of them before I came to the fighting pits. My body was still on fire, running on far more energy than it knew what to do with. Despite everything I’d made it do, my body had not run out of fuel yet to power the nanobots. “You are crazy, Reid,” she told me with a huff, but it was followed by a wet sound as she tried to hold back more tears.

Cupping the side of her face, I leaned my forehead against hers. “Crazy? Hell yes,” I agreed against her mouth. “Crazy in love with you. I know Naga don’t say that, but humans do. We love wholeheartedly. And I love you, Sazzie. So much.” Then I kissed her, sweeping my tongue past all her defenses and laying my claim.

When we finally parted, I was greeted with a bright, glowing look in her pretty azure eyes. It was a look full of wonder. “Love? You love me?” she tilted her head at an angle, and I grinned because the head move was so alien and so familiar at the same time. “Yesssss,” she hissed, drawing out the sound as she pressed her hand to her chest. “This is love. I love you, Reid.” I knew that, I knew I would never doubt it. My Sazzie was a miracle, my angel; she was everything I’d ever dreamed of.

I climbed to my feet with her in my arms, unwilling to let her go. If it were up to me, we’d stay in that embrace and make love right at the foot of this mountain slope. I did not think our Bitter Storm audience would be okay with that, though, and, frankly, Idid not need them to see the things I wanted to do to my mate. “Let’s get out of here, angel,” I told her instead.

***

Sazzie

Reid loved me. I was literally glowing because of those words; I did not know words could have that kind of effect. My mating marks were so bright, and they were coming down the front of my tail all the way to the tip—big and bright, like those of the males I’d seen in the village, as bright and eager as Zathar had glowed for his human mate.

I did not want to let go of my male when he rose, but he was right to urge us to start moving. A look up the slope of the mountain showed me that we still had a huge audience of Bitter Rock males staring down at us. They had not decided to pursue us yet, but I knew that was only a matter of time. With some reluctance, I helped Reid locate what remained of the wagon we’d ridden down the slope—a wild ride I was never going to forget, though I desperately wanted to. I did not think Naga were made to go that fast. It wasn’t right, and I never wanted to try that again.

“Over there,” Reid said, pointing over my shoulder further into the trees. He had not let go of me, his arm snug around my waist as if he could not bear to be parted from me. Since I felt the same way, I eagerly clung to him as we searched for the wagon and poor Khawla’s remains. I was not prepared for what we found when we rounded the base of a large tree and discovered a few broken planks of the wagon sticking out of the dirt.

“Are you seeing that?” Reid muttered, as confused as I felt. Khawla’s body lay nudged up against the planks and the trees, turned on his back, tail spiraling around the base of the tree. The wound in his abdomen was no longer a gaping hole but a strange pink slash. Pink… no, it was scaleless skin, much like Reid’s skin. The flesh had knitted back together over the wound, but it had left behind this odd mark. I did not dare to hope what it meant. Had Reid’s attempt at giving Khawla some of his bots worked after all?

“Yes,” I whispered, afraid to say it out loud in case it wasn’t true. Reid shuffled us closer, angling his head as if he were searching for something, and then he nodded. I heard it at the same time he must have: a heartbeat, slow but there. Khawla lived. He must have fallen into a very deep healing sleep to aid his recovery, but he might just make it.

After that discovery, Reid and I worked together to improvise a travois from the remains of the wagon. We tied it all together with rope I quickly wove from the tall, tough grasses that grew here. Then we strapped Khawla to it, and with Reid pulling the Master Scout, the two of us set off down the mountain. “That way,” I indicated. “It is where Artek makes his home. He is closest.” Artek would know how to help Khawla, and he would have news on what was going on at Thunder Rock and Haven too.

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