Page 5 of The Firebrand
“Well, how do you avoid listening to your parents nag about a mate?”
Rein answered, but kept his lids clamped tight. “We don’t talk.”
“Lucky.”
“Yeah.”
“Why would I want to settle down when there is so much lonely pussy? Just last night I was balls deep in this…”
“Shut up, Chay. We have another problem.”
Rein pushed off from the tree, his body on full alert, eyes fixed on a spot in the distance. He caught a faint Kalli scent brought by a shifting breeze. He listened. Leaves rustled. Low, guttural grunts carried from afar.
ChapterTwo
Withscents and sounds drifting over the hill, Rein sprang away, thundering up the slope, jumping bushes, side-stepping trees, hacking a path with his blade as he ran.
“Hot damn.” Chay slid off the boulder. “More tunnel rats.”
In a clearing ahead, a Kalli kneeled on a female’s shoulders. Restraining her hands, he bent forward, fangs bared, as he prepared to bite into her jugular.
Another tunnel-dweller stood splay-legged at her feet, laboring to hold her struggling legs. Breaking free of his grasp, the female landed blows to his groin and abdomen. With one palm, he shielded his erect, already blood-sated penis. As if he heard boots tramping on the ground, he whipped around to gape at the Scion Firebrands who tore through the woods in his direction. In a panic, he released the female’s ankles, deserted his partner, and lumbered down the path, arms flapping.
The other Kalli, his chance to feed from the victim ruined, glanced up, piercing anger in his eyes. He dropped the female’s hands, shot upright, and scurried after his partner.
Once he was closer to the female, Rein blinked in recognition. Melia, an Oread nymph.
He had attended the nymphs’ rutting party, the coming-out bash as they approached their erotic season each year. Using Oread tricks to drive him mad with desire, Melia danced the Sikinnis. Her sultry golden-brown eyes smoldered. Her flowing honey-colored, bead-laced hair tapped against her bronze skin. She swung her head and hips in time to the sensual music, whipping her audience into a frenzy. As a hypnotic scent wafted off her flesh, the young Firebrand fell under her spell.
But now, forest debris tangled in Melia’s wavy hair and grime dirtied her alluring bronze-tinted face. The Kallis had ripped her stained tunic, once a rich purple.Bravo for the Oread.She had fought hard against her attackers.
The heady smell of blood spurting from deep gashes on the nymph’s body, put there by the wildings’ tusks and claws, flooded Rein’s senses. His lips parted as fangs punched from his gums. Flicking his tongue along the sharp points of his teeth, he remembered how she had tasted at that rutting party. Craving a sample of her flavor again, he felt his lids drop, heavy with desire.
Breathe. Breathe. Control.
He willed his feral canines to retract.
With his emotions in check, he lifted his eyes, his glower softened. “You okay?” On his knees beside her, Rein positioned a palm over the gaping wound on her upper thigh to stay the bleeding. Single-minded when he pursued his target, though, he aimed his gaze at the path taken by the Kallis.
Melia covered the Firebrand’s hand with her own, drawing his attention back to her. “Hunt those bastards. Kill them.” She clipped her words, panting, taking quick gasps of air.
With a predatory snarl, Rein rose and offered his promise to Melia through clenched teeth. “Done.”
Chay swung his crossbow to his side. “I’ll call a healer.”
“No.” The nymph spread her arms wide. As she lifted them, pain shadowed her eyes. Her hands shook. But soil wrapped around her injured body, cocooning her in the healing powers of earth. Melia’s thick lashes fluttered when the soothing nutrients flowed into her wounds, sealing them. Relief swept across her taut face, her muscles relaxing, deep lacerations knitting.
As if she were already an after-thought, Chay glanced at Rein. “Hey, man, they have a head start.” While he shot off down the trail, the ylve jacked an arrow into the chamber of his weapon. “Let’s have fun,” he called over his shoulder.
With a nod at Melia, Rein took off after his partner, his boots pounding the dirt. Spotting their quarry in a clearing ahead, he called out a command. “The one running in front’s Malok. That bastard causes trouble every year when he comes out of the tunnels. His ass is mine.”
The Kallis headed back into the brush, each choosing a different trail.
“I got the left. See ya, man.” On his target’s heels, Chay disappeared into a thick growth of shrubs.
Malok’s path narrowed, taking a sharp turn to the right and sloping downhill. Rein put his hand to the ground to keep from falling when he cornered fast and slid on the loose dirt. His feet finally gained traction, allowing him to straighten as he ran. Malok raced ahead, grabbing branches, throwing them in Rein’s way, trying to increase the distance between them.
“You can’t outrun me, you red-fuzzed bastard.” Sure, he could shadowflash to Malok or cast a spell to break his bones, but he enjoyed the chase. He enjoyed the capture.Hell. If he were honest, he enjoyed the kill. Adrenaline was his heroin, and right now it shot through his veins. In front of him, his prey darted like a scared rabbit while the Firebrand slowed down to prolong the adventure.
