Khyron's Claim

by Rayna Tyler

  The mood of the group grew solemn the second we left Burke’s place, reminding me of our trip to the Quaddrien. The vryndarr males were a powerful team that worked well together and, without Jardun saying a word, had all taken positions to ensure Khyron stayed protected. Garyck and Zaedon had taken the lead. Sloane, Khyron, and I ended up in the middle with Thrayn following behind us, and Laria and Jardun a few more feet farther back.

  “Zadierra, is everything all right?” Khyron pressed his hand to the small of my back.

  How did I tell him something wasn’t right when nothing in the surrounding area seemed out of place? “Just a feeling, but it’s probably nothing.” I forced a smile, hoping it would remove the concerned frown from his face.

  “What kind of feeling?” Sloane, who’d been walking on my other side, asked.

  “Not sure.” I searched for the right words, but Zaedon spared me an explanation.

  Zaedon stopped, his focus on something Garyck had found on the ground. “Khyron, Jardun, you need to see this.”

  The rest of us quickly joined them.

  “These tracks were made by a luzardee male. He took off his boots, no doubt so he could climb through the trees and remain undetected. The ravine and passage Rygael specified are not far from here.” Garyck pointed to the left of the direction we’d been traveling. “These tracks head away from us, back into the wooded area.”

  “Can you tell if it is the same luzardee from the other day?” Khyron asked.

  Garyck squatted to get a closer look. “Uncertain.”

  Khyron rubbed his nape. “You and Zaedon follow the tracks and see if you can find the male. The rest of us will continue on to the transport.”

  Out of all the vryndarr, I’d learned that Garyck and Zaedon were excellent trackers and the best choice for finding the luzardee.

  “And when we find him?” The smile Zaedon usually wore had faded, revealing the dangerous warrior I knew him to be.

  “Alive, if possible. I wish to know why he is here and if there are more. But protecting the settlement’s inhabitants is the priority.”

  “Understood.” Zaedon paused long enough to answer, then trailed after Garyck, who was already following the tracks.

  “I think I should head back to Harper’s and make sure everyone there is okay.” Leaving Khyron was the last thing I wanted to do, but Rygael was in no condition to fight. If the children were the target, I wanted to make sure they were well protected.

  “You stay here. I’ll go.” Sloane, perceptive as always, glanced at Khyron, then back to me, letting me know she thought I should stay by his side.

  “You be careful,” Laria said.

  With a grin, she drew the blade she’d won from Thrayn and headed back the way we came. “Always,” Sloane replied as she ducked between two thorny blue trees and disappeared.

  “Do you think it was wise to let her go alone?” Thrayn asked.

  Jardun held out his hand to Laria. “You can go after her and tell her otherwise if you wish.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure that will go over well.” Sarcasm laced Laria’s comment.

  “Come on, Thrayn.” I jerked my head, urging him to follow Khyron and me. “Laria and I wouldn’t have let her go if we thought she couldn’t handle herself.”

  “If you are certain.” Thrayn glanced in the direction Sloane had gone one more time, then hurried to catch up with us.

  About fifteen minutes later, we reached the area where the trees ended and the rocky surface began. I pointed in the general direction of the ravine. “The passageway Rygael mentioned is on the other side of those boulders.”

  Laria walked to the rocky edge and peered below. “That ledge isn’t very wide. Rygael’s lucky he didn’t miss it when he fell.”

  Jardun leaned forward to get a glimpse. “I do not think we need to worry about retrieving Travis’s body. It does not look like the leezacorrs left much.”

  “Knowing how you feel about heights, Celeste, I still can’t believe you went down there,” Laria said.

  “It wasn’t nearly as scary as that rock wall I scaled on Lou’s back.”

  “Who is this male you are referring to, and why were you on his back?” Khyron released a jealous growl, and swished his tail rapidly.

  “Easy there, drezdarr.” I giggled and placed my palms on his chest. “Lou’s the name I gave my chaugwas.”

  He wrapped his arms around my waist, his tail curling around the back of my legs, then softly murmured into my ear, “That is a good thing, zadierra. I do not wish to share your affections and was afraid I would have to order another male’s death.”

  I couldn’t tell if he was teasing or being earnest, though I suspected it was the latter. “Sharing will never be something you need to worry about.” I swept my fingertips along the part of his tail I could reach and thrilled at the power I had to make him shudder.

  Laria cleared her throat. “Um, guys, you’re embarrassing Thrayn.”

  “Female.” Thrayn sputtered, his cheeks flushing a dark green. “I am not embarrassed.”

  “Thrayn, my ketiorra was teasing. You must learn to lighten down,” Jardun said.

  Laria laughed harder than I did, then corrected him. “I believe the human phrase you’re looking for is lighten up.”

  ***

  Khyron

  Reluctantly, and with my tail still tingling with the aftereffects of Celeste’s caress, I released her. As much as I enjoyed the others’ playful banter and the tension-relieving distraction it provided, it did not resolve the critical issues we needed to address. “Laria is correct. We should continue. I do not wish to be out here after dark.” Though we had not found any evidence of more than one luzardee, I did not voice my concern that the males rarely traveled alone and there might be more than one of them in the area.

  I headed for the gap in the rock wall I had noticed the day before.

  “I will go first.” Jardun, with Laria in tow, moved ahead of me, amazing me once more with how in sync they had become in the short time they had known each other.

  Prior to leaving Burke’s place, I had attached a small glow emitter to my belt in case visibility in the tunnellike pass became difficult. So far, there were enough overhead gaps between the rock walls for the sun’s rays to provide ample light, leaving only small portions of the walkway harder to see.

  “This is pretty awesome.” Laria paused to brush her fingertips along the wall’s smooth surface. “It would also explain how Rygael gets around and we’ve never see him.”

  “You have to wonder if there are more of these passages that we don’t know about,” Celeste said, mimicking her friend’s movements.

  “It is a question I will address with Rygael. If there are more, then Marcus’s team will need to monitor them.” Discussing the various ways to access Rygael’s home would require substantial diplomacy. I did not want the male to view us as a threat and hoped he would be forthcoming with the information.

  Had I not been watching Celeste and seen the shower of tiny pebbles falling near her shoulder, I might not have looked up in time to see the avalanche of rocks toppling over the upper ledge of the rock wall behind her.

  “Look out!” I yelled, then grabbed Celeste around the waist, yanking her backward and colliding with Thrayn. In my periphery, I saw Jardun lunge for Laria in time to keep the largest of the rocks from landing on top of her.

  Though I did my best to take the brunt of the fall, Celeste and I hit the ground hard. I helped her into a sitting position, then pushed some stray strands off her face. “Are you all right?”

  “I think so.” She rubbed the back of her head.

  Thrayn had been knocked farther back and out of my immediate line of sight. “Thrayn.” I glanced behind us to make sure the male had not been injured during the fall.

  He was already on his feet and dusting off his pants. “I am unharmed.”

  “Oh no.” Celeste pushed to her feet, then rushed toward the impassable wall the loosened rocks had created
. “Laria, can you hear me?” She coughed from the dust filling the air.

  For Celeste, losing Laria would be like losing another sister, and I hated seeing the panic-stricken look on her face.

  “We’re okay.” Laria’s voice echoed through the small gap at the top of the pile. “What about you guys?”

  “A few bruises, but no injuries.” The rigid line of Celeste’s shoulders relaxed.

  Jardun spoke next. “Khyron.”

  “Yes.” I moved closer to Celeste.

  “There are too many rocks and no way for us to reach you.”

  Unease skittered across my skin, my instincts blaring that the fallen rocks had not dislodged themselves. So far, everyone was safe, and I wanted to keep them that way. “Take Laria and continue on to the transport, then use it to return to the settlement.” If Travis had planned to leave before being detected, there was a good chance he’d kept the vehicle’s solars charged.

  “What about you?” I could hear the frustration in my friend’s voice and knew he was worried about my safety.

  I reached for Celeste’s hand. “We will head back the way we came and find Garyck and Zaedon.” The sooner we were out of the narrow passageway, the better I would feel.

  Thrayn flanked my other side, easily matching my strides. “I do not believe those rocks fell by themselves.” The male might lack experience when dealing with humans, but he was intelligent, with good instincts when it came to assessing dangers.

  “Neither do I.” Celeste’s tone reflected her anger as she warily surveyed the area ahead of us.

  No sooner had we made it into the clearing outside the passage when three luzardees appeared around us. One clung to the rock wall behind us; the other two were on the ground in front of us and blocking the path leading back to the wooded area. The males were dressed in similar vests and pants, but because climbing required the use of the claws on their feet, they had shed their boots.

  Tan scales covered the majority of their body, including their bald heads. Their beady black eyes lacked pupils, their faces flatter than a ketaurran’s, with larger nostrils.

  “Hello, drezdarr.” One of the two luzardee standing in front of us took a step forward. “Are you aware that someone is willing to pay a large sum for you? And they do not care if you are dead.”

  The male standing behind him snickered. “Being crushed by rocks would have been less painful than what we will do to you now.”

  It was unclear until the male issued his threat whether or not they had meant to separate us or bury us under an avalanche of rocks.

  “Spare the female,” the luzardee standing closest said to the other two. “I know a buyer who will pay quite well to have a human female share his bed.”

  “You will not touch her.” My growl, loud and guttural, ripped through the air.

  “You will have no say what we do to her once you are dead.” The male flexed his hands.

  Luzardees didn’t need blades to injure or kill. They could extend and retract razor-sharp talons from their long fingers.

  With the ravine on our right and a wall of rock on our left, maneuvering during a fight would be difficult but not impossible. All that mattered was protecting Celeste, and I would risk my life if it meant keeping her safe.

  “We shall see,” I said as I withdrew my sword.

  ***

  Celeste

  Hearing what the luzardees had planned for me didn’t bother me nearly as much as hearing what they had planned for Khyron. “Draecking slimy lizards,” I muttered under my breath and withdrew my blade. Now that Khyron was back in my life, I planned to do everything possible to make sure he stayed there.

  Thrayn had also drawn his weapon and positioned himself between Khyron and the edge of the ravine. The young vryndarr had taken a vow to protect the drezdarr, but I hoped he wouldn’t have to give his life to keep the male I loved safe.

  My presence and the luzardee’s threat had Khyron reacting emotionally, not rationally. If we were going to work together, he needed to view me as one of the team on our missions and not as his ketiorra. It was something we’d be discussing later, but right now, I needed him to calm down and focus.

  My options were limited, so I used the one thing I could rely on—the ego of the luzardee male who’d done all the talking, the one who was most likely their leader. “I have to admit, it was really clever using the human male to gain access to the settlement.”

  When Khyron raised a curious brow in my direction, I hoped it wouldn’t take him long to realize what I was doing, and why.

  “It wasss easy to let him believe our main goal wasss stealing the children.” The luzardee’s forked tongue popped out of his mouth every time he hissed his words. “He never would have agreed to help if we told him it was the drezdarr we were after. The other ketaurran male saved us the trouble of killing him later.”

  “If you weren’t going to sell the children, why bother taking them?” I asked.

  “Oh, pretty one, your assumption is incorrect. There are definitely buyersss for human children, especially the half-breedsss.”

  Thinking about what would’ve happened to Melissa if Travis had turned her over to these males had me gripping my hilt even tighter. I steadied my breathing, reminding myself why I’d started the disgusting conversation.

  “Zadierra, do not waste your breath on this male. He is no better than chaugwas dung.” Khyron followed up his insult with a wink, letting me know he understood what I’d been trying to do and was back to thinking clearly.

  “I totally agree,” I said with a sneer. This wasn’t the first time I’d dealt with luzardees, and when the leader scowled, then glanced above my head, I knew what was coming next. I spun around and sidestepped, placing myself between the luzardee clinging to the rock wall and Khyron and Thrayn.

  Launching themselves through the air to attack was their favorite ploy, and the male didn’t disappoint me. He might have been ordered not to kill me, but it wouldn’t keep him from causing pain to subdue me.

  Unfortunately for him, I was prepared and ducked before his claws could connect with my flesh. As soon as he landed on the ground and turned, I drove my blade into the center of his chest. His heart might not be in the same place as a human’s, but the injury I’d caused was still fatal. With a shriek that turned into a gurgle, he clutched his chest and dropped to his knees before landing face-first in the dirt.

  Not bothering to wipe off the green blood coating my blade, I turned to help Khyron and Thrayn. Both males had moved and were engaged in battle with the other two luzardees. They wielded their blades with agile grace and precision, deflecting claw swipes to defeat their opponents.

  Luzardees could move fast, and it was hard to keep track of their actions. Letting them get close, risking injury from their claws, was the only way to kill one. It was either that or throwing a knife from a distance and hoping your aim was accurate and they didn’t move at the last second.

  I was about to jump into the fight when movement overhead caught my attention. Another luzardee had climbed over the rocky ledge and was slithering down the wall in Thrayn’s direction. He stopped in an area too high for me to reach with my blade without throwing it. I assumed the reason he hadn’t attacked yet had something to do with Thrayn’s nearness to the ravine. If the luzardee miscalculated or Thrayn decided to move after he’d launched, the male’s death would be extremely unpleasant.

  “Surrender now, drezdarr, and I promise your death will be quick.” The lead luzardee took another swipe.

  Khyron snorted his disbelief, then executed the same technique I’d seen him use on the leezacorr by leveling his sword and taking off the lead luzardee’s head. The other male, after seeing his friend’s head roll on the ground, released a furious roar. He dodged a blow from Thrayn and launched a vicious attack at Khyron. Thrayn turned to assist, the move taking him away from the ravine’s edge and giving the male creeping down the wall the advantage he was waiting for.

  “Thrayn, look o
ut!” My warning came too late to stop the male from landing on Thrayn’s back, knocking him on his knees, and digging claws into his shoulders.

  Thrayn snarled, dropping his sword, then reaching behind his back, trying to remove the male.

  The luzardee easily dodged his efforts and, in a deep, malicious tone, said, “You cannot help the drezdarr if you are dead, vryndarr.”

  When the luzardee freed one hand to strike, I threw my knife. The blade sailed through the air, then sank into the luzardee’s side below his ribs seconds before his swipe would have ripped out Thrayn’s throat.

  Between the male’s struggle to reach my knife and Thrayn’s forceful shrug, he lost his balance and fell sideways. His midsection caught the edge of the ravine, and he toppled over the side.

  As I’d expected, Khyron had been quick to end the other luzardee’s life and joined me in helping Thrayn off the ground.

  “Are your injuries bad? Do they need tending before we return to the settlement?” Khyron asked.

  “They would have been far worse…” Thrayn smiled at me, nothing but respect gleaming in his pale green eyes. “I will gladly fight by your side anytime, Celeste.”

  It was nice to hear his humble praise, and the fact that he’d used my name rather than call me female was also a plus.

  “As will I.” Khyron slipped his arm behind my back.

  I glanced into the ravine to make sure the luzardee was dead. Ironically, he’d landed several feet from what was left of Travis after the leezacorrs had made a meal out of him. “What a waste.”

  Confused, Thrayn wrinkled his nose. “You mourn for the male?”

  “No, I’m talking about the blade.” I leaned my head against Khyron’s shoulder and sighed. “It was my favorite.”