Chapter 12
When Talon felt that hand on his shoulder, analyzing and dealing with the situation melted into one unit. Being the damned idiot that he was, he had forgotten about the king’s men. He turned around in one smooth move, so that he could look his opponent in the eye. At the same time, he released his predator from its jail. The lion had been waiting for an opportunity like this and stormed out. The animal wasted no time on a pain-free change. He took over command in a split second, moving bones, and growing teeth and razor-sharp claws.
Talon’s hand shot out, softening the blow at the last second. The man who had come up behind him was not ill-disposed towards him. His instinct recognized the face of a friend who thought as little about Ferthoris as he did, so he reduced the fatal blow to a push that made the man fly down the steps with a loud crash. The noise alarmed the others. There was nothing he could do about that now. He sprinted to the front door, tore it open, and ran in the direction that would lead out of the city the quickest. He sniffed the air for Cat and thanked all of the Gods that he had instinctively chosen the same direction she had taken. He couldn’t even contemplate how many valuable minutes he might have lost, otherwise!
With his animal at the surface, it was easy for him to rely on his sense of smell in the pursuit and let his eyes scan the dark streets at the same time. The exciting synergy of all senses put him in something like a state of intoxication every time. Cat’s scent trail practically glowed in his direction, and when he had calmed down enough to get his animal under control, he turned his thoughts back to Cat. He wasn’t sure if a future together was even possible anymore, but he would fight for it to his last breath. He just needed to get her to hear him out.
Just. He laughed softly. That job would be harder than shaking off Ferthoris and his men. There were a few men among the guards that the king had brought with him, who also had predators living in them, even though they weren’t as experienced as he was. He could easily have covered his tracks, but Cat hadn’t been that careful. Humans, he thought, both desperate and amused. This was just like them.
Gradually, he came to the realization that Cat was moving in a straight line out of the city in the direction of the abandoned zoo. He cursed softly when he heard the bodyguards’ soft tapping behind him, accompanied by the king’s heavy footfalls. A small part of him wanted to warn the moron with a crown that he was running straight into the Kraks’ arms, but a different and much stronger part coldly calculated the chances. He didn’t think that Cat was running to the Krak with the intention of delivering the king into their hands. She was probably trying to apologize to them, or doing something else emotional, thinking that she owed it to them for moral reasons. It was fine with him, if Ferthoris followed him to the Krak. He stopped and listened. It was quiet. Had the bloody beginners on the guard already lost his trail? He sighed softly when he realized that, in addition to everything else, he would need to make sure that they found him again without seeming obvious. If it wouldn’t have been such an undignified move, he would have rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue at them. Did he really have to do everything himself around here?
Ten minutes later, they had found him again, thanks to some hints as to his and Cat’s location that were more or less discreet. It almost seemed like they had lost his trail on purpose, or had only searched half-heartedly, so that the king wouldn’t notice when they didn’t succeed in finding the traitor and the new bride.
The thought gave him a glimmer of hope.
Could it be that he would be able to return to his home with Cat? He would have gladly given up the loveable desert and the blood-red sun for her, but if the Krak took care of the king, and if the men were just as fed up with the king and his crazy moods as he was… If – too many ifs. There would be time later for these trains of thought. Now, the most important thing was taking care of one job at a time, and the next job was to close a trap.
He passed through the entrance to the zoo, making sure that a broken branch would show the kings’ men the way. He scraped at the gravel a little with his feet, turned left towards the aquarium and stopped dead in his tracks. A sight he would never forget, as long as he lived, awaited him in front of the deserted building. His Cat was standing in the middle of the square. She was completely relaxed and even smiling. Her gaze was strangely empty, something he could even see from far away.
The thing that scared him the most though, was something completely different. The Krak had formed a half-circle around Cat. At first, he thought they were going to circle all the way around her, but then he realized that they were not threatening his beloved at all. It was quite the opposite. They were prepared to protect her. The buzzing coming from their throats and the swaying of their strange bodies with their tentacles, started the minute Ferthoris entered the scene. Talon turned around, because he didn’t want to miss a single second of this. He retreated slowly to the edge of the half circle and watched as the king moved forward to reach for Cat, but then he stopped when he recognized the Krak.
“What is going on here?” he asked. There was no trace of fear in his voice, proof once again of how dumb he was. Ferthoris came closer until he was close to touching Cat. “Come with me now,” he ordered. When Cat didn’t move and just stared at him with those horribly empty eyes, he stomped his foot on the ground. “I want you to come with me. I won you fair and square. You belong to me.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Talon saw one of his men take a few hesitant steps forward. His mates grabbed him immediately, shaking their heads at him vigorously. He would have loved to join them, but he didn’t dare. Not yet. He didn’t know how the tentacled creatures would react and he wanted to stay near Cat, just in case he needed to intervene.
He almost missed the moment when life returned to her eyes. She looked at him briefly. Fury flashed in her eyes. Talon was relieved, because at least it was a feeling – anything was better than the expressionless, emotionless look from before. New hope flowed through his body when she glared at him angrily one more time, before turning her attention to Ferthoris. He had no clue about the danger he was in and licked his lips in anticipation. He was probably imagining undressing Cat and adding her to his collection of exotic women.
Cat’s expression turned cold when she looked at the king. Talon knew that the Krak had burdened her with the memory of their dead woman, and he could only imagine what was going on inside her. It was also hard for him to have any sympathy for a man who had rewarded his loyalty by placing a bounty on his head.
Everything happened very quickly after that. Cat did nothing other than point her finger at Ferthoris. The black mass of Kraks started moving. You could see a tentacle here and there in the moonlight. Talon had an idea of what was about to happen but couldn’t turn his eyes away.
The king understood far too late. He turned, and the second he started to run, a tentacle shot out and wrapped around his ankle. Cat withdrew. The Krak surged ahead. Another tentacle found its mark.
The king screamed.