Chapter 232: Had To Count For Something
Tha’juen stiffened as he heard the scream coming from the enraged Istar queen. Shooting to his feet, he rejoined the other two males, their weapons at the ready. They might not be gasping for air, but killing that creature had taken a lot out of each of them.
And there were still two more queens to go.
Closing his eyes, Tha’juen closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, preparing himself mentally for the next fight. Shifting his grip on his spear, he looked up, trying to see any sort of movement in the shadows of the ceiling.
There was a tense moment of silence, the original queen’s blood still flowing from the decapitated body at their feet, the only sound they could hear. Suddenly, there was a thud behind them.
Spinning around, Tha’juen, Ye’tab, and Da’kea froze for a second as they caught sight of a snow white Istar queen slowly rising to her full height, towering over the seven foot males.
The queen seemed to study the three of them, her head cocked to the side as she sniffed the air. She crouched down suddenly and let out a threatening hiss.
Relaxing into a fighting stand, his weight subtly shifting to the balls of his feet, Da’kea prepared to launch himself over the top of the creature so they could surround her between the three of them.
"Stop!" shouted a hurried voice from down the hall. "Don’t even think about it!"
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Hearing Princess scream, I quickly broke out into a sprint, more than aware that the guys could easily keep up with me.
It seemed to take only seconds before I could feel a cramp in my side, and my breathing started to become uneven. I was not a fan of exercise. In fact, I was a firm believer that the only time you would ever see me running was if something was chasing me. And if that was the case, you might want to start running, too.
If I had known, I would need to run down the hallways of an alien ship, trying to get toward four aliens that could kill me with the flick of their finger... I still would not have taken up running. Runners were people with a thing for pain, and I was not a masochist.
But I digress.
I finally saw the outline of my three missing males, but where was Princess? Their backs were to me, all seemingly focused on the same thing in front of them. Still rushing ahead, I watched as Da’kea crouched down, ready to attack.
"Stop!" I yelled as loud as I could, ignoring the burning of my lungs from lack of oxygen. "Don’t even think about it!" I didn’t know if I was yelling at Da’kea and the guys or if I was yelling at Princess, but either way, I was not going to be impressed if they broke out into a fight.
Tha’juen turned around to look at me, and I was close enough to see the tension in his shoulders lessen, causing them to drop down in relief.
"Stay back," growled Da’kea, flinging his hand out behind him as if holding up a hand would be enough to stop me. Stupidity was not a cute element in my males.
"Fuck off," I growled at him, finally coming to a stop. I leaned forward, my hands braced on my knees as I hunched over, trying to catch my breath. My helmet was flashing all sorts of warnings about oxygen levels and elevated heart rates. There was even a big banner right above my eyes that, in big, bold, red letters, stated that I was in danger of a heart attack. All the more reason for me to never run again.
Da’kea stiffened at my words, and I cursed myself for not thinking things through. Cursing like a drunken sailor in my mind, I skirted around the males and looked at Princess crouched down in front of them.
"Are you okay?" I demanded, leaning forward to pet the Istar queen. I felt Tha’juen and Da’kea lurch forward at my move, but thankfully, GA and Midnight were quick enough to stop them from doing anything stupid.
Princess turned her head and hissed at me. However, she didn’t make any aggressive moves toward me. Instead, she sounded a lot like a child who had been denied something and was now pouting. I looked around but couldn’t see anything that could have set her off.
"Sorry, baby girl," I said, scratching her soft, soft fur right behind her ear. "I have no idea what you are telling me."
Princess closed her eyes and hissed again, this time pointing toward the floor in front of the guys.
"I think she is pissed that they managed to kill the last queen," said Midnight, looking down at his feet from where he was holding Tha’juen back. He kicked the body of the dead Istar creature before turning his attention back to me.
"Is that it? Are you upset that they took the kill from you?" I asked, continuing to scratch her head. She nodded before collapsing into a sitting position on the floor, letting out a disgruntled huff of air.
"Awe, I’m sorry," I cooed, not sure what I could say to comfort her. If you had told me that I would be in this position even a few hours ago, I would have laughed myself silly. But here I was, trying to calm down a serial killer, Easter Bunny because she had her final kill taken away from her.
"Think of it this way," I continued, switching my attention to her other ear. "You managed to kill two in less time than it took three of them to kill one. That has to count for something, right?"
She tilted her head to the side. Whether it was to give me better access to a particularly itchy spot or because she was thinking about my words, I had no idea. But at least no one was killing the other.
Finally, she nodded her head in agreement at my words before pointing to a spot under her chin. With a slight chuckle, I turned my attention to the new spot, redoubling my efforts to keep her happy.
"Could someone tell me what is going on?"
