Chapter 40
You are the Bringer of Chaos. The God of Destruction and Rebirth. Why have you faltered? The voice inside Nahash’s head—the one that had kept him alive during his journey to the capital city—now sounded angry and impatient. The Great Serpent had guided him, shown him how to truly harness the full potential of his power. It’d shown him how to use his own nervous system as a conduit to draw power directly from the city, in order to create an impenetrable shield to protect him as he built up enough energy for a pulse that would send a devastating shockwave through the city, destroying everything in its path.
The madness had threatened to overcome him, that voice threatening to overtake him until he became nothing but it—the Great Serpent.
And then, he’d heard Cass’s voice, calling him back to himself. He’d turned to see her running past armed soldiers bent on killing him. He’d nearly died from his heart stopping right then and there. He couldn’t believe she could be so reckless, but the sight of her also filled him with joy.
The serpent raged inside him as he pushed it to the back of his mind, though he kept his focus strong and even expanded his shield towards Cass, praying she moved fast enough not to be shot by the soldiers. For the moment, they hesitated to act, no doubt unsure what they were supposed to do about this latest development.
That uncertainty served to her advantage as she was able to stagger past the perimeter of his shield, coming far too close to touching it for his comfort. She fell to her knees, then collapsed on the grass, lying on her side because of her swollen stomach. He rushed to her side, scooping her up in his tail, his scales sliding gently across her distended belly, a thrill shooting through him as he recognized that within that bulge beat the heart of his child. He would do anything to keep that heart beating, along with the heart of his child’s mother. Even if that meant surrender.
Now that he had taken a moment to greet his mate, he had to return to the reality that they were at a standoff. His original intent had been to turn himself into a dealer of death, sending pulse after pulse of his psionic energy at the city using the power supplied by its own reactors to destroy it. But that had been because the madness of the serpent had infected him. Now, he felt like himself again, and he was reluctant to kill more of the soldiers who pointed their primitive rifles at him, because he understood their position. They were just following orders, and he posed a threat to the city.
He certainly didn’t want to murder millions of innocent civilians, or plunge one of the largest cities in their empire into chaos. He also feared for Cass. At this point, the imperial military might be considering orbital bombardment, willing to sacrifice portions of the city to destroy Nahash. It could be the very reason the force opposing him was so small in contrast to the number of soldiers garrisoned in the city.
They would have to evacuate the civilians on foot, as Nahash had already taken down all their transportation hubs and wouldn’t allow any vehicle to leave from the city’s gates that could be shut down, knowing they would try and smuggle Cass away once they realized he was on her trail.
The extent of his power shocked even him, and he realized that he and the science team had only begun to scratch the surface of his abilities before he’d gone rogue. He couldn’t help thinking that was a good thing. Now, since the voice in his head had guided him, he felt like he’d had a lifetime to learn the true capabilities of his body. He could be unstoppable. If he wanted to be.
But all he really wanted was to find a place where he and Cass could be free to raise their child, and perhaps, if the Spinner willed it, maybe even have more children. That life still seemed like an impossible dream to him, even with Cass safe in his arms. How long could she stay that way before someone would try to take her from him yet again?
As if to answer his question, a Menops came forward out of the tree line, one of its bulbous eyes leaking black fluid down its face. He’d sensed the creature there, and realized now that this was his hunter. He also came to the chilling realization that the hunter had come from the same direction as Cass.
“She will die without an antidote,” the Menops said, without bothering with an introduction.
Nahash hissed at its words, stiffening as he stared down into the eyes of the woman in his arms. She stared back at him with a glazed, confused look, one hand lifting to her forehead to rub it.
“Are you okay?” he asked through a throat suddenly gone dry.
Her brows pinched together. “I… I think so. I feel a bit… a bit lightheaded and numb.”
Terror like he’d never known before swamped him then as he ran his hands along her back until he felt the shaft of the stinger that protruded from it.
He looked up from her face into the Menop’s remaining shiny black eye. “If she dies, I’ll destroy you!”
The Menops trilled with amusement. “You mean before you deteriorate? I believe I can stay ahead of you that long.”
Nahash’s arms involuntarily tightened around Cass, causing her to grunt and then wriggle until he loosened his hold. “Then I kill you now, hunter!”
The hunter didn’t even bother to raise his weapon. “If you do that, you’ll never find an antidote to my venom in time. I have a better option. You turn the female over to me. I’ll see to it that she gets the antidote, allowing her and your child to live, and you will return quietly to your cell in payment.” The Menops pointed to its destroyed eye. “I won’t even exact vengeance for the damage she’s done. You have my word.”
The thought of returning to prison wasn’t what scared Nahash the most. It was the fear of what would happen to Cass without him to protect her. The Iriduans would use her, and use their child. Neither of them would ever truly be free. Cass would never see her Earth again. She’d never play her grandfather’s guitar, or work with her animals, or find a way to grow closer to the family her father had left behind. She would be alone, at least until they forced her to accept more males into her bed, perhaps even force her to breed more hybrids. He feared for what that life might do to her soul.
But what life would she have being forever on the run with him? Assuming he could even find an antidote to save her life at all? Perhaps it would be better to let her go. The Iriduans would keep her comfortable, at least, even if she had no more freedom than any other pheromone-producing female. Millions of Iriduan females lived that way. Cass could adapt to that life. She’d proven herself very adaptable.
They would kill him this time. They wouldn’t allow him to live and risk that he’d escape again. He knew that. His surrender meant his death. But Cass was worth the sacrifice.
Nahash brushed his fingers along her forehead, where sweat had begun to bead her brow. “My mate, the happiness you’ve given me will sustain me even after death until my fate is spun anew. Now, you must allow your fate to be spun again.”
She seemed confused by his words, pulling away from his stroking fingers, her face flushed by her rising temperature. “What are you saying, Nahash?”
He lowered his head to press his lips to hers. “I’m saying goodbye, my love. I want you to find new happiness with someone else. Don’t wait for me.”
She gasped, and her hands moved to weakly clutch his forearms for only a moment before they slipped off and fell to her sides. “Don’t you even dare leave me again. I need you to survive!”
He shook his head. “No, love, you can live without me. Your body doesn’t require my scent—“
“You’re too much a part of me. These months without you have been torture. I love you,” she said, her words breaking on a sob. “Please, don’t leave me!”
He pulled her against his chest, cradling her head beneath his chin as he held her sobbing body close and stroked her back around the swelling lump where the stinger still protruded. He was afraid to take it out, lest he do more harm than he helped.
“I do what’s best for you, Casss. And for our child.”
“Nahash Junior,” she whispered against his chest. “His name… will be… Nahash.”
A bittersweet joy filled him at finally knowing that he would have son, though he would’ve been just as happy had it been a female child. At least he knew he wouldn’t be leaving Cass completely alone.
“This is quite the reunion,” a stranger’s voice said. “Shall I pull up a chair and wait for Cass to die? That seems to be your plan.”
Nahash lifted his head to identify the owner of the new voice, so absorbed in his grief that he hadn’t noticed when the hunter told the soldiers to stand down.
The newcomer wasn’t a soldier. He wore a civilian’s robes that were covered in blood. He also wore no mask, suggesting he was a mated male. His green eyes were so cold they could have been crackling with ice.
He appeared to have his own team of soldiers, but they weren’t Iriduan, though they were the ones in charge at the moment. They surrounded the remaining Iriduan soldiers, their weapons trained on them. The surrender had taken place either so quietly Nahash hadn’t heard them, or he’d just been so wrapped up in Cass he’d missed the interchange.
“Akrellians?” Nahash stared at the humped backs of the armored soldiers.
The platoon of enemy soldiers kept their attention fixed on the Iriduans under their guard.
“Well, if you’re going to go traitor, you might as well go all the way,” the stranger said with a smirk. “Halian was always so conflicted. I grew tired of waiting for him to come around and took matters into my own hands.” He held up his hands, showing them to Nahash. They were covered with blood, and there were a lot more Iriduan corpses that Nahash hadn’t killed, explaining why only a small platoon of Akrellians had been able to take over.
“So to speak.” The stranger’s smirk stretched into a mocking grin as he lowered his hands.
Nahash looked for the Menops, not seeing its distinct shape anywhere among the trees. “It’s gone! It was going to give her an antidote!” He turned back to the stranger. “Where did it go?”
The newcomer’s cold gaze settled on Cass with an intensity that gave Nahash a chill. He gestured to the Akrellian enemy soldiers who had somehow managed to infiltrate so deeply into Iriduan territory that they were standing outside the boundary wall of the capital city. He had no idea how this traitor had managed such access.
“My new friends have access to an antidote to Menops paralytic poison—which I suspect is what the creature injected her with. I suggest we move quickly. I assure you, imperial forces are trying their best to surround you while staying out of range of your attacks. You’re making things difficult for them, but they will find a way around the obstacles, and that would cut off our escape.”
Cass had lost consciousness in his arms, her body stiffening as the paralytic venom pumped through her blood. He had no more time to waste. He’d already taken too long to decide, though his delay may have changed his options.
“Let’s go. I’ll keep the surveillance shut down, as well as the drones out of the air, but once we get too far from the city, I’ll lose connection with the reactor, limiting my power.” He looked up at the sky, which was deepening into full night. “I don’t have the range to affect the warships blockading the planet. At least not from a distance. If we can get within range of them, I can take out their shields.”
He didn’t like that idea. It would open up too many innocent people to attack, and the enemy had already entered their territory, but he was also desperate to escape with Cass. So desperate, he’d do whatever it took, even fully commit to the betrayal of his empire.
The stranger chuckled. “We’re not going up. Not yet. We have an extraction plan in place. For now, we go below ground.”
********
Someone had tunneled under the city, tapping into ancient sewer ways to create a maze of passages where they could hide from pursuers forever, especially since the empire wouldn’t be able to use tech to find them.
The traitor led him to a small encampment deep within the tunnels, where an Akrellian soldier produced a medical kit while Nahash laid Cass’s body down on a stretcher. Another Akrellian began hooking her up to a monitor, which Nahash resisted the urge to shut down, raising his mental shield to silence the noise that grated in his skull from the device—a noise that threatened to summon the serpent back from the depths of his mind, where she still lay coiled in darkness. Someday, he would have to confront that creature again and slay her so she could never take over, but today was not that day. His entire focus was on Cass as he trusted his enemies to heal her.