by Cree Storm
Before Throg could stop him, Tumm opened his bedroom door and walked inside.
Throg made his way quickly into Tumm’s room, Mennen not far behind him. However, the guard was too good at his job and made sure not to look as if he was ready to defend Throg’s mate, even though he was just as ready as Throg. However, there was no sign of Spencer anywhere in the room.
“Close the door behind you, Throg. I just want to get a bit more comfortable.” Tumm said, with another of those supposed sensual looks and tones.
Throg did as Tumm said, giving Mennen a look telling the man to stay close. He got the message and nodded.
Tumm walked into the bathroom already removing his tie and the second the door closed Throg started looking around. Where the hell was Spencer?
Seeing the doors to the balcony slightly ajar Throg made his way outside into the darkness. Looking around and seeing nothing. He was about to turn and go back inside, when a slight movement caught his eye.
Looking down, Throg’s heart about stopped. Hanging from the bottom rail... just dangling like bait on a fishing rod, was his Viata in his sloth form. He was about the size of a small dog with a really flat head. His gray and white fur covered his body with black surrounding his round eyes looking like eyeliner that had gone wrong and black lips and surrounding fur that made him look like he had a permanent smile... damn, he was adorable. Okay, those long, curved claws might take a bit of the sweetness away, but Throg could only see him as adorable. He was thankful that Spencer didn’t have that algae he read about them having, and from the clean look of his fur, he wasn’t covered in parasites, so that was a plus too. Kneeling down, Throg petted his Viata, softly saying, “You are beautiful my Salvator, but can you please come from under there. My heart does not like your dangerous position.”
Spencer let out a squeak, that sounded like kind of sounding like a baby’s cry. It brought a smile to his lips, but the sound of Tumm calling his name had him standing and yelling, “I’m out on the balcony.”
Tumm came to the door with a towel wrapped around his waist, “I’m going to take a quick shower, care to join me?”
Another squeak came from the sloth and Tumm looked around, “What was that?”
Throg stepped in front of where Spencer was hanging to block Tumm’s view. “It must be a bird of some type.”
“I’ve never heard a bird sound like that before.” Tumm said, stepping further out onto the balcony.
Seeing Groth flying high and just behind Tumm, Throg Needed to get Tumm away from where Spencer was hanging, before the man caught sight of him or even Groth. Throg did the only thing he could think to do, and hoped that Spencer would forgive him. He went for Tumm’s weak spot... Throg himself.
Sauntering closer to Tumm, it had the desired effect, if the tenting behind the man’s towel was any indication. “Why are we worrying about a bird call when we could be doing something much better and far more entertaining?”
Tumm’s eyes darkened with want as Throg gripped him close, and turned him away from the outdoors, walking the man back into the room. He had just enough time to see Groth swoop in and snatch Spencer from the balcony and take him away... thank fuck.
Throg hated touching the man, and hated being touched by him. He needed to get the fuck out of there, but had no clue how it was...
“Throg! Get your ass out of that room, this minute.” Spencer shouted, as a hard banging started on the door.
Throg pulled back fast, thanking the gods once more for his mate’s quick thinking, but then again, he didn’t want his mate coming in the room and risking getting hurt.
Before Throg could do anything, Tumm went stiff and marched to the door, allowing his towel to fall as he swung the door open. “What do you want, shifter?”
Tumm’s disgust was clear as he faced down Spencer, and Throg was ready to knock the fucker out.
Spencer pushed passed Tumm, “I want my mate.”
“Well, he doesn’t want you, now get the fuck out of my room, or I’ll have you removed.” Tumm said, in that hoity-toity tone one would use on someone beneath you... or what a person might deem beneath themselves.
“Listen here, Tummy, Throg is mine... not yours... mine and I don’t fucking share.” Spencer snarled.
Tumm sneered at Spencer, “My name is Tumm, not Tummy.”
Shrugging, Spencer said, “I’m not real good at names, so I tend to use name recognition. You know dog... Throg, ass... Nas, Dummy... Tummy, that kind of thing.”
Tumm opened his mouth to say something when his eyes narrowed in on something just behind Spencer. “What the fuck?”
Throg turned to see Tumm’s laptop, not only open, but signaling something had been downloaded.
Throg pushed Spencer behind him as Tumm looked at him as if to kill, “What did you do? This was all a setup wasn’t it? You coming on to me and...” Tumm snarled, and pointed to Spencer as the man leaned around Throg to see what was going on. “You! You flea-bitten, fungus-growing, parasite, bed of shit! Give me what you stole.”
Spencer snorted, “Not likely asshole. I already sent it to three different locations and you are finished.”
Tumm rushed forward as if to attack Spencer. Throg shot a right hook that hit Tumm in the jaw causing his head to whip to the right as the man flew back into the bedside table and crashing the lamp to the ground. Tumm’s ass hit the floor, just as the door burst open and Mennen, Groth, Hron, and Caliph Redmen rushed into the room with the two ancients right behind them.
Seeing his son on the floor, blood dripping from his lip, Urr asked, “What is the meaning of this? Tumm is the eldest child of the ancients. How dare you or anyone harm him!”
“I dare when the fucker attacks my mate. I dare when the fucker is a treasonous bastard that needs to die. I do...” Throg stopped, not realizing he was moving towards Tumm, ready to choke the life out of the bastard, until Spencer grabbed him.
“Treason? Tumm, what is Throg talking about?” his father, Blinn, asked in confusion.
“He’s lying!” Tumm said, getting to his feet. “These two attacked me in my room. That... that shifter tried to kill me and he needs to be taken to the elder council.”
Spencer snorted, “You are so full of shit, Tummy. I don’t think an entire box of laxatives can help you.”
“Somebody better start talking and fast. I have a feeling that your trip here was done under false pretenses, and I don’t appreciate deception. I welcomed you into my clutch, and this is how you repay me? Attacking an ancient’s eldest son? Klondike, contact the ancient council and—”
“Go ahead and call them. When they get here, we can have good-ole Tummy here tell them how he’s been working with a group of Nakaka trying to take out every ancient... including his own fathers, so that he and a bunch of fucktards can take over and decimate the human race... oh, and the shifters too,” Spencer snapped. “What I got may not say exactly that, but that’s the gist of it... well, if his diary is anything to go by.”
Spencer pointed to Tumm’s wrist, “Someone needs to get the drive from his bracelet. I have a feeling we’ll get even more information from it. I already found names and locations of the others, and we were right, Hron. The places we thought the other drives were...”
“Shut up! Just shut the fuck up, shifter.” Tumm snarled once again, but before he could attack Spencer, Throg had the man pinned to the wall, with his forearm pressing into the Nakaka’s throat.
“I should crush your windpipe you traitorous fucker. How could you? How could you turn on your own like this? You are the eldest of the ancients. You know...”
“What I know is that the Nakaka were attacked and devastated by both humans and shifters, and where were you? Where were our great and loyal Ancient guards? Getting your rocks off, that’s where! My baby brother was dead. My friends were dead, and the guards, created to protect us, were off emptying their balls,” Tumm hissed out.
Throg let go of Tumm and stepped back. “We had no idea...”
/>
“No one did,” Urr said, looking at his son with great disappointment and sadness.
“That’s not true,” Tumm hissed out, then turned to his father with a look of disgust. “You all were warned by the oracle, and chose not to believe him. The great and powerful ancients knew what was coming... you were told, and instead of making sure we were all safe, you sent the man away, and never told any of us of the impending danger.”
“Tumm, we didn’t want to cause panic amongst our people. The gods had created us to protect the humans. None of us could believe that they would actually try and harm us, let alone kill us all,” Blinn said anxiously.
His son just snorted, “Puh-lease, father. I’m not buying what you’re selling, and neither are a lot of others, and trust me, there are a lot of others.” He turned to Spencer. “You think you know what’s going on, but you know nothing. I’m not the leader of this group and if you knew who it was... when you discover who brought us all together...”
“Who? Who started all of this?” Throg asked angrily.
Tumm snorted, “You, Throg. You started all of this, and one day he will...”
There was no sound to indicate anything out of the ordinary, but the tiny red hole that appeared in the middle of the forehead of Tumm, and the man slowly falling to the floor, had Urr and Blinn screaming Tumm’s name, and Throg lying over his mate, protecting him from the danger he couldn’t see, and hadn’t seen coming.
“Mennen you’re with me! Throg, get your Viata, the Caliphs and the ancients into your room, and stay there until I give the all clear.” Then Throg and Mennen were taking flight from the balcony.
Throg immediately said, “Everyone stay down and get out of the room. Go across the hall, now.”
“My son!” Urr cried.
“Is dead, Ancient Urr. You need to go before the next one that’s dead is you, or your Viata,” Throg insisted, then told Spencer, “Keep low and stay in front of me, Salvator.”
Spencer didn’t argue or say anything. His body was shaking... hard. Throg wished he had the time to calm his Viata, but at this point and time, the only thing he could do was get his pregnant Viata to safety. However, the second they were across the hall and into their room, Throg pulled Spencer into his arms and did something he had never done before... well, not to calm someone... he did the halcyon.
Wrapping his large eagle wings around Spencer, he began to hum. Within moments Spencer was humming with him and then whispered, “Gods I love this.”
Throg continued to hum, but gave Spencer a light kiss on the top of his head. He could feel Spencer calming bit by bit, and even when his breathing had returned to normal, Throg continued to hum. Spencer clasped Throg’s face in his hands, and brought Throg’s head down, and kissed him.
The humming stopped. Hell, Throg thought his heart might have as well, because one second he was humming, and the next second he was wishing they were alone... but they weren’t. Pulling back before things got out of control and everyone in the room got a hell of a show, Throg softly said, “I need to do a room check.
Spencer nodded, “Go. I’m fine now. I’ve just never... I never...”
“Saw someone die,” Throg finished for him.
Nodding, Spencer said, “Go. I’m going to go talk with Petree.” He looked around. “Where’s Nug?”
“I sent him down to the dining area,” Throg said, then pressed the com link. “Nas, do you have Nug and Nub in sight?”
“No sir. I saw something outside and went to check. I’m not in the dining area,” Nas answered.
“Someone shot and killed Tumm,” Throg stated.
There was silence for a few moments, then Nas said, “I’m heading back inside now. I’ll get Nug and Nub and get them to your location.”
“We’re in mine and Spencer’s room now.” Throg said, and turned quickly when the balcony doors opened and Groth walked in with Mennen by his side. “We couldn’t find the shooter. I did a sweep of Tumm’s room and found these.”
Throg looked at Groth’s open palms. “Son of a bitch, are those bugs?”
“Yeah, there was one in the lamp, another in the bathroom, and another on Tumm’s suit jacket,” Groth stated.
“Fuck, someone really didn’t trust the man,” Throg said.
Nodding, Hron said, “The question is, who?”
EPILOGUE
“Did we get all the flash drives?” Hron asked.
“We think so. I haven’t been able to go through them yet. I’m still reading everything Tumm had on his computer. He had one hell of a diary, but a shit ton of it is angry rants about how stupid the Nakaka are. He has some names and shit...”
“Why was the one guy...” Hron dug through his papers until he came upon the name he was looking for... “Zeus. Why was Zeus worried about Tumm’s computer? How would he even know that Tumm kept a diary. Hell, his own fathers had no clue he had one.”
Shaking his head, Throg answered, “No clue. Maybe he mentioned it to this Zeus guy.”
“Well, from the flash drive files we got off of Tumm, there’s a shit ton of names. Some are human and others shifters. Tumm’s the one that contacted them and gave them the addresses of all the clutch houses. He signed each e-mail the Fortie.” Spencer said in disgust.
“I can’t believe he did this to us. I’ve contacted the other Caliphs, and I have to say they are as worried as I am. If the Sortie know where we are, they could attack us any time they want to,” Groth said angrily.
Spencer sighed, “None of this makes any sense. Why give them this information, when it will place Tumm and his buddies in just as much danger as any of us. It’s not like the Sortie would know one Nakaka from another.”
“If they work together, then they know each other, Spencer.” Groth said.
“The Fortie and Sortie... for goddesses’ sake, this is insane. One a human-shifter group and the other Nakaka... and they’re working together to exterminate us, and for what? Two hundred years ago. All this took place two hundred years ago. This is not what the gods would want for any of us,” Petree said sadly.
“Have any of the Nakaka brought in talked?” Turq asked gruffly.
Shaking his head, Hron answered, “No, but the ancients are letting us handle this. They offered any assistance they could offer, though.”
“I say we go in and make them talk,” Emerald snarled.
“That won’t work. It’s a proven fact that torture doesn’t bring out the truth. No. We have to just keep talking to them, until one of them breaks,” Hron stated.
A soft voice said, “I don’t think the Sortie is working with the Fortie.”
Everyone looked at Jory in surprise. The little Nakaka had not been happy when Groth had brought him into the room. He hadn’t looked at anyone, and no matter how hard Nug tried, Jory refused to even look his way... or Groth’s. Spencer hated how sad his friend seemed to be, and was going to make it a point to help him as best he could. However, his comment had Spencer asking, “Why do you say that, Jory?”
Jory finally looked up, but only faced Spencer when he spoke, “The Sortie was formed, because of the killings of the humans and shifters that attacked us. From what you all said, Tumm said he was doing this because of so many Nakaka dying. It seems that the Sortie wants to end all Nakaka, and these Fortie Nakaka want to do something else. I think they want to take out the humans, and maybe even the shifters. It makes sense that if that’s the case, neither side would want to work with the other.”
“True, but maybe it’s like they say. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Turq said.
Shaking his head, but not looking at the man, instead he stared at his hands, “From the way things are going, I don’t think whoever this leader of the Fortie is, would willingly work with the Sortie. Not with the hate he has for humans and stuff.” Jory went quiet, then muttered, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. I don’t really know anything about this kind of stuff.”
“Jory, you are a part of our little group
here, and your voice is important. I happen to think you might be onto something,” Hron said, giving the man a pointed look.
Jory just nodded.
Hron’s phone went off. “Shit, it’s Dak and Topaz.”
He put the phone on speaker. “Dak did you find him?”
“Yeah, we have him now, and we’re coming in,” Dak said, sounding out of breath.
Hron quickly said, “Where are you? I can send some—”
Before Hron could even finish, Dak hissed out, “No. Stay where you are, Hron. We’re almost to the island now.”
“Why do you sound out of breath? If you’re in trouble, I can send some men to help,” Hron insisted.
A loud sigh escaped from Dak, as he said, “I... Topaz and Jade are hurt, Hron. I have them both on a litter. It’s slow, but I...”
“Where are you? My brothers and I will come and help.” Turq insisted.
Dak sighed once again. “Fine, but I want you to know that Jude is mine. We mated already, and if you do anything... I will end you. Brother or not.”
“Groth, go with them. I don’t need their shit right now,” Hron ordered.
Peth stood up along with Caden. “We’ll get the infirmary ready.”
Everyone left the room and Spencer stood up and stretched, then placed his hand on his stomach. Gods, he was tired. He wanted nothing more than to go to his and Throg’s room for a nap, but that wasn’t possible. He had so much to go through. So much information they needed to find and figure out.
Turning to go to his desk, Spencer was surprised when Throg stopped him.
“That can wait,” Throg softly said.
“But I have to—”
Throg kissed Spencer into silence, then pulled back. “You need to take care of yourself and our chickpea. You’re tired, and I happen to know you haven’t eaten yet. So, we’re going to go to our room, and I’m going to ask Jory to have some food brought to us. Then, you’re going to eat and then take a nice nap. After that, you can work, but only for a few hours. This shit is important, but so is your health.”
Spencer smiled up at his mate. “I love you, my warrior.”
