Venomous Craving

by Mary Auclair

“That he will.” Erlock smiled, and a deep chill slithered through Rose’s bones at the sight. “If he finds me before the grieving sets in, that is. But rest assured that I will be far, far away from any of them until he’s gone for good.”

  “If she doesn’t betray you before that,” Rose said, as softly and sweetly as Maral had done before.

  “She won’t betray me,” Erlock said, but there was a flash of uncertainty in his eyes. “She’s got too much to lose.”

  “What, like a big-mouthed associate who will be a constant thorn in her side?” Rose smiled, putting as much bile in her voice as she could. “My bet is you won’t live long after I’m gone. She can’t have you poking holes in her scheme to be the top female in the tribe. You’re a threat.”

  Erlock squinted at Rose, but didn’t answer. His gaze wandered to where Maral stood a few paces back, her face turned to the door. She was too far away to have heard, and her mind seemed to be light years away, lost in her hatred of Karian and her plans for the future. As if sensing it, Maral turned her head and met Erlock’s gaze.

  “They’re here,” she said.

  The door opened and a familiar tall, mottled green male appeared. The Cattelan male walked in after casting a long glance at Maral, who stood straight, watching him with careful eyes. Arrik stopped in front of Rose, while two others of his kind stood at the back, near Maral.

  “You.” Rose bit her lower lip until blood set its coppery taste on her tongue.

  “She’s damaged.” Arrik’s gaze ran over her body, slowing at her breasts before going down. “I need to take her to medical before payment is processed. There will be a price deducted for the injury.”

  “You’re not taking her without payment.” Maral’s crystal voice rang heavy with outrage. “You can inspect her here and deduct the broken arm, but she stays until I get paid.”

  “Fine, I’ll inspect her here.” Arrik’s frown showed that it wasn’t all right. He didn’t like to be talked to like that by females.

  He approached, his eyes hard and speaking volumes about revenge that was long overdue.

  “Touch me and I’ll be the last female you’ll ever see, because I’ll rip your last eye out with my teeth,” Rose spat.

  “It’s going to be a week before I deliver you.” Arrik brought his hand to his face, touching his fingers to the scar from their last encounter. “It can be a long, long time.”

  “Don’t tell me you’re still mad at me.” Rose chuckled. She was surprised at her own bravado, but then, she didn’t have much to lose anyway. She might as well go down fighting.

  Arrik smiled, his thin, lip-less mouth curving upward, misshapen because of the scar. The eye Rose had blinded with the spear was a dull milky gray, unseeing and hypnotic. Her eyes traced the scar that pulled down the eye socket, traveled over the sharp cheekbone, and ended up at the corner of his mouth. It was darker than his skin, a green almost black.

  It was ugly. It was befitting.

  “You know what? I like you better like that.” Rose smiled as bright and wide as she could. “It’s an improvement.”

  The sound of the slap registered before Rose understood Arrik had hit her. Her broken arm hurt in a pulsating inferno, eating away at her sanity as pain invaded her body. She blinked, realizing she was still sprawled on the floor, the cold of the stone against her cheek, contrasting with the burning on the side of her face.

  “And I like you better like that, too.” Arrik’s voice was shaking with anger. “On your knees. You’ll be doing a lot of that from now on.”

  “I had a deal with the Minister.” Erlock slipped between Arrik and Rose, blocking her view of the Cattelan’s face. “He said I could have her first.”

  “The Minister is impatient to get his new pet back,” Arrik answered. “He’s already going to be upset the merchandise is damaged, don’t go thinking you have any kind of leverage for what happens from now on.”

  “You asshole!”

  Erlock tried to take a swing at Arrik but the other male ducked easily, then hit back with a powerful hook from his right. Arrik’s fist connected with Erlock’s jaw, and a sickening snap announced the breaking of bone. Erlock’s howls of pain echoed, confirming what Rose already knew: Arrik was the superior fighter. In a flash of memory, Rose remembered Karian’s fluid movements as he had fought the Cattelan. Karian was the best of them all, but Karian wasn’t there.

  “Stay where you are,” Arrik snapped as Maral took a few quiet steps toward the door. “We’re not finished.”

  Maral stopped dead in her tracks. Her beautiful face was paler than usual, as white as alabaster and twice as taut. She was scared. She had made a mistake, and was now realizing just how vulnerable she truly was. A pang of pity bit Rose, but it was soon tempered by a hateful glare from Maral’s purple eyes. Her hatred of Rose was greater than her desire to protect herself.

  “Take her away,” Maral said. “And never come back.”

  Arrik turned to Rose. His face was a mask of hatred, and when he leaned down close to her, his breath was heavy with the putrid stench of sick lust. Despair drew its slimy tentacles around Rose’s heart, squeezing and compressing the flow of blood until her vision was filled with tiny black dots swimming in a sea of meaningless blur.

  A hand closed around her nape, fingers digging deep, immobilizing her head. Arrik brought his face close to hers and, for a dizzying second, Rose was afraid he was going to kiss her. Then his tongue slid over her cheek, raspy and slimy like a dead frog. Rose knew she should have had the courage to keep quiet, but she couldn’t help the yelp of disgust and helplessness that escaped her lips.

  “I’ll make you wish you’d slit your own throat on the Saarmak moon.”

  Then an explosion of clay and dust invaded the air, and a roar like thunder itself filled the door.

  CHAPTER 29

  KARIAN

  F igures came into focus as the dust dissipated. Karian’s senses were sharpened by the knowledge his mate was in mortal danger, and his entire body was electrified with the burst of energy preceding the fight that was to come. He glanced over the two dead Cattelans lying on the stone floor. Blood was still gushing out of their slashed throats, but the gleam of life was gone from their eyes. It was a mercy they didn’t deserve. If he could have chosen, they wouldn’t have had a quick death.

  A scream, female and shrill, came to his ears. Wrong… it was the wrong voice.

  Karian scanned Maral’s prostrate form on the ground. She was unconscious, her body lying in a heap against the wall, dust covering her exposed flesh, making her look like a statue. A wave of anger flared from deep inside his guts, instinctive and primal, but he pushed it aside. Revenge was not important for now, only rescuing Rose was.

  He walked into the room, leaving Maral and the dead Cattelans behind.

  Another female yelp, low and infinitely more scared. This time, his talons shot out and his muscles rippled with wrath. Rose. This was Rose.

  His eyes focused on three figures near the back of the room. A male was crouched on the floor in front of two others. From the way they were lying on the floor, all wrong and twisted, it was clear the male’s legs were broken. Karian recognized Erlock immediately. He hissed furiously at his cousin.

  “No, wait,” Erlock began. “She’s lying. The female can’t be trusted.”

  Karian didn’t let him finish. Following an instinct written on the ivory of his bones, he leapt. Erlock’s neck snapped before he had a chance to utter one more word.

  Karian got up and turned to face the remaining threat in the room. His eyes latched onto the glare of a single yellow eye. Arrik. Karian’s shoulders hurt from the tension accumulating in his muscles. He took a step forward.

  “Take one more step and I’ll snap her pretty neck.” Arrik brought his hand over Rose’s slender throat, squeezing just enough to make her eyes gleam with fear.

  Karian stopped. His fists opened and closed without his commanding them to. “You kill her, and there’s no money.”


  Arrik scowled, his face misshapen by the ugly scar. “Money is no good to me if I’m dead.”

  Silence fell between the Cattelan and Eok as they stared each other down. They were at a standstill. Arrik knew Karian would kill him the instant he released Rose. He was also dead if he failed to bring Rose back to her buyer. His only option was to bring Rose to his ship alive, and as intact as possible. That made him a dangerous and desperate male.

  Arrik didn’t care about hurting Rose, damaging her beyond repair, as long as she was alive. Karian cared about nothing else.

  In a nutshell, Arrik had a leverage Karian did not possess.

  “Step back slowly.” Arrik kept his remaining eye on Karian. “One bad move and your bloodmate is history.”

  “Don’t do it, Karian,” Rose pleaded. “I’m not worth a thousand human beings.”

  “I can’t,” Karian said, looking straight into those eyes the color of the sky before a storm. “I can’t abandon you, not for a million other lives. I’m sorry.”

  “I love you,” she whispered. Her lips were trembling but her eyes were steady. Such strength, such courage. His heart swelled.

  “I know.”

  Karian backed up until the path was clear between the door and Arrik. Arrik didn’t wait, pushing Rose in front of him as they walked to the door. Rose stared at Karian, her storm-gray eyes tugging at his insides, tearing him apart one morsel at a time. He felt the bond of the bloodmating, pure and fierce along his veins, screaming for his mate. He understood now how the killkon had died. He wouldn’t survive if anything happened to Rose, either. The will to live would slip out of him one agonizing second at a time.

  Behind him, a furtive movement attracted his attention, but Karian didn’t dare look away from Arrik.

  “Kill her.” Maral spoke from somewhere behind Karian. “Kill that bitch now. It’s what he’ll do anyway.”

  “Shut up.” Arrik’s eye traced frantic glances from Karian to the door. “I’m not giving up on the human.”

  A creeping chill invaded Karian’s mind. Maral was right. Karian should have thought of it sooner. After she had touched so many hearts in the Ring’s session, Rose’s death would make a compelling case. All Trade Minister Knut would have to do would be to show Rose’s tortured, abused body to prove that humans still needed protection from the Genetic Preservation Board. It was the perfect set up.

  Minister Knut was a very cunning male.

  “She’s a loose end.” Maral got to her feet, wiping dust off her ruined gown. Her purple eyes shone with a cold resolve. “She has to die.”

  “No.” Arrik changed his hold on Rose, sliding his hand from her throat to her shoulder. His other arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her in to his body even more. “The human female is mine.”

  The words resonated in Karian’s body, across his ribs and into the depths of his guts. Rage flowed, unabashed and unrestrained along his veins, spreading a fire that burned his flesh, leaving behind only an iron red wasteland.

  Karian roared, his wrath pouring out in a white flash. A female screamed at his back, the sound shrill and grating. Arrik’s single eye grew wide as he realized his mistake. He had let go of his grip on Rose’s throat, and his life had slipped through that small moment of inattention. Rose dove to the ground, understanding Karian’s intention without needing any additional instruction.

  In the split second it took Karian to act, he reveled in the knowledge that she was his half, connected to him in everything. It wasn’t surprising his blood had reacted the way it did. She was his mate, the one inside whom his life essence ran. She was his life.

  A wet sound reached parts of Karian’s awareness as his talons dug deep into Arrik’s throat, cutting the soft tissue, veins and arteries. The Cattelan’s blood splattered his face, its warm salty taste spreading on his tongue. His warrior instinct surged with the knowledge that the wound he’d inflicted was fatal.

  Arrik’s single eye latched onto Karian, its yellow iris swirling with fear and understanding as his hands went up in a futile attempt to stem the flow of blood. It gave Rose enough time to jump out of harm’s way, and she landed on a heap of debris as Karian’s talons shredded through Arrik’s chest, ripping through his ribcage as if through the most tender meat. Arrik’s eye shone with surprise as his hearts were stabbed, stopping the life force from flowing into his body. The awareness of life shone, brief and bright, then a cloud settled over his face. Karian’s enemy was dead.

  Suddenly Rose screamed a warning.

  “Karian, behind you!”

  Karian turned, his talons at the ready, but he was too late. Purple eyes bright with ancient hatred shone in his field of vision, and a blade played a red dance as it slid into his chest.

  ROSE

  Rose tried to scream but there wasn’t enough air in her lungs. She felt as if she were watching the universe through an ever reducing tunnel, and she could only stare helplessly as events unfolded.

  As Karian watched, Maral’s twisted face broke into a fierce smile. The small, wicked blade she pulled out of Karian’s ribs was covered in bright red, and she stared directly at Rose as she stabbed it into Karian’s powerful chest again. And again. And again.

  “No!”

  Rose heard herself scream, then she was on top of Maral, her hands around the Avonie’s tiny neck. The two females tumbled backward while Karian’s heavy weight hit the floor with a sickening sound. It was the sound of a dead weight. The sound of a body which didn’t have enough life left in it to absorb its fall. Rose’s heart shredded into pieces. As she fought with Maral, a separate part of her mind registered Karian’s fall, the way his life spilled out faster than the pool of blood spreading under him on the stone. He was facing away from her, his head flat on the ground.

  Maral screeched and hissed under Rose’s heavier weight. Finally getting the upper hand, Rose sat on Maral’s delicate chest, holding her hands above her head. Rose pummeled Maral’s hand to the stone floor, still holding the blade soiled with Karian’s blood. The Avonie twisted and writhed like a snake, tiny fangs trying to dig into her wrist. Rose continued hitting Maral’s hand on the stone as hard as she could, trying to loosen Maral’s hold on the only weapon in the room.

  The pool of blood from Karian’s body spread to them, creeping under Maral’s hand as Rose banged it on the floor. A sob escaped Rose’s lips even as she screeched in fury. Karian’s blood splashed and droplets landed on her face. The contact made her resolve even stronger, but Maral was not easily defeated. She was surprisingly strong for such a fragile creature. Rose finally managed to make the Avonie’s hold on the blade falter, and as the knife fell to the floor, she reached for the weapon with both hands.

  Tiny fangs dug into Rose’s flesh, at midpoint in her upper arm, like a million needles. Rose screamed in pain but didn’t let go of the blade. Maral twisted under her, then kicked her straight in the chest. Rose lost her balance and rolled away, still clutching the blade.

  “I’ll kill you.” Rose held the blade in front of her like a promise. “You twisted, sick bitch.”

  Maral got to her feet, wiping blood from her lips. Her purple eyes shone with madness, but there was no defeat in them. She laughed, the sound insane and terrible, penetrating Rose’s body like a cold wind.

  Cold, she was so cold. Something was wrong.

  “I’m sorry,” Maral said between two burst of hilarity. “It’s just so funny. You made this so perfect.”

  “What are you talking about?” Rose took a side step toward Karian. Her teeth chattered and her muscles were stiff. “What did you do?”

  “You let me bite you.” Maral’s mouth opened in a wide grin, revealing tiny fangs stained with Rose’s blood. A drop of white, pearly fluid fell on her lower lip. “Avonies are poisonous. And you know what the best part is? We only produce poison when we’re scared for our lives. You couldn’t have made this better if you’d tried.”

  The cold seeped to Rose’s legs, and she fell to her knees beside K
arian.

  “They’ll kill you for this.” Rose managed to get the words out, but her jaw seemed to be moving through mud. “Arlen will never forgive you for killing his brother. He’ll hunt you to the end of the universe.”

  “How will he know?” Maral brushed her hair away from her face, leaving a long trail of red on her cheek. “All he will see is that a crazy, violent human female conspired with those filthy Cattelans to murder his brother. Even worse, it’s going to cause me to lose our poor, poor youngling. Why, you even killed Erlock, who came to Karian’s rescue. After that, who will care for a bunch of slaves? They deserve nothing more than to be treated like the animals they are.”

  The cold invaded the rest of Rose’s body and she fell, her head hitting the already cooling pool of blood beside Karian. Rose could see his handsome, strong face now. His eyes were closed and his lips parted. Dead. Karian was dead. Pain tore at her, savage and deep. He couldn’t die. He was too fierce, too proud, and too passionate. Rose wanted to scream and kick, shock him back to himself, the strong lover who had kept all the world’s threats away. She wanted to stroke his cheek and kiss him until life returned to his hard, kissable lips.

  “You won’t get away with it.” Her words were as hollow as her body was becoming. The cold was reaching higher inside her ribcage. She could feel it enclosing her heart, slowing its pace.

  Maral lay down beside Rose, bracing her head with her hand. A perverted, sweet smile stretched on her lips as she watched Rose.

  “But I already have.” Maral was so close to Rose that her lips brushed her cheek. “And I’ll make sure your precious family follows you to the grave.”

  Anger flared inside Rose’s numb chest, warming it just enough so she could clutch the wet handle of the knife between her frozen fingers. Her arm was a lump of wood encased in ice, but it answered Rose’s order.

  The blade flashed and Maral’s eyes widened as it was embedded in her throat. Rose locked eyes with the Avonie as understanding dawned in her shining purple gaze. Her pupils dilated and shrank furiously as a gush of blood flowed from the wound in her neck. Maral brought two long-fingered hands up to her throat and jerked the blade out in an instinctive gesture. The knife clattered to the floor in a wet splash. Blood poured freely from the open wound, and the Avonie fell on her back in the pooling red, gasping helplessly.