Serpent of the Abyss by S.J. Sanders

Chapter 23

Lori frowned at the large male settled on the spare bench pushed up against the wall kitty-corner to her. The largest Seshanamitesh she had met, Daskh practically filled the bench by himself like a giant stone gargoyle from one of the old cathedrals she had seen pictures of. He had been for there for what felt like hours and barely spoke more than a handful of words to her, most of his communication being carried out in a series of grunts and growls.

She rolled her eyes and settled back against the cushion. What a conversationalist she got stuck with, and all because the males decided that Kehtal should accompany Slengral just in case there was an emergency. Everyone in the caverns apparently was still on alert for potential cave-ins that could occur even weeks later from structures that were damaged during the earthquake. As a result, she got stuck with him.

It wasn’t that she had anything against him being there or resented his presence. Frankly, she was exceedingly grateful not to be alone with all the haunting sounds of the cave system surrounding her but that didn’t outweigh the fact that she didn’t want to wait to go up to the surface. She would have rather gone up with Slengral than be stuck in the nest with the nanny snake.

“Must be thrilling to have drawn the short straw and gotten stuck babysitting,” she commented aloud.

Green eyes flicked over to her, his scaled brows lowering in a confused expression that she had come to recognize from Slengral. “I do not understand your words, female.”

She shrugged. “It’s a saying among my people meaning that you were left behind to wait with me rather than going with Slengral.”

“It matters not,” he replied, adjusting his coils so that he settled more comfortably. “Your people seem to have many things you say and do. Seshanamitesh only know do or do not.” He met her eyes, his gaze boring into hers. “I will tell you this: your human ways are not for Seshana. Keep them to your own world. Here, life is hard, and we must consequently also be hard and direct. We take when we must take and sustain ourselves, and without apology. Your ways endanger him and you.”

Lori scowled at him once more. “How can taking our time possibly endanger anyone?”

Daskh hissed and drank in her scent again with obvious relish, although his eyes did not heat with desire as Slengral’s did. They settled on her like heavy, unforgiving stones.

“You scent of an unmated female. It will continue to draw males. Even if you left Aglatha, they would still seek you from even the smallest whiff of your scent on the air. Even more so if they scent your arousal at all. Slengral will know no peace from being attacked. This is not the future you want,” he growled. His expression tightened in discomfort. “It may not even completely stop the more determined males. You completely lack the defenses that a female of our kind would possess to defend her nest.”

His wing shifted in a casual, dismissive movement, and he looked away. “I would not be surprised if that is not part of what is drawing males to your people. The scent of unclaimed females would drive vulnerable males nearby mad with desire, even as the scent of flesh would drive their predatory hungers. Even if they realized that you were not just labor beasts, they would consider your males expendable and competition for their interest—and still possibly food,” he admitted.

Lori stared at him, disquieted. “They would still do that? Eat people?”

He met her eyes, his green eyes dulling. “It has not stopped many of them, even after being made aware of your sentience. I have no doubt that given the opportunity, those males will continue to hunt among your people and steal your females.”

“Fuck,” she whispered, driving a hand through her short hair. “I need to get to the colony and warn them. Everyone believes it’s a wild animal, but if what you’re telling me is true, I can’t wait and hope for the best. If sharing information isn’t getting your people to stop killing them, I have to make them aware. They have to know what’s hunting them, that it’s so much worse, and that it won’t stop.”

Daskh watched her, his mouth opening slightly as if to speak before he appeared to decide against it. His ear ridges dropped back, and the tip of his tail curled in on itself, revealing his discomfort. He swallowed, looking away. Lori felt bad burdening him with this—he wasn’t one of the ones going around killing and eating humans. Not only that, despite his hulking silence, he was kind enough to stick around the cave with her. It wasn’t his fault that all of this was happening or that people were dying.

No, the only one at fault was the Corp. How the hell could the corporation have missed that the planet was inhabited? Sure, the Seshanamitesh only came out at night, but they were not the only nocturnal species in the alliance. Or maybe they just hadn’t cared enough to investigate before they set up their mining colonies on uninhabited stretches of open land. If they weren’t bothering with more than cursory examination, who knew what lurked in the night? Her eyes pinched shut anxiously as she tried not to picture what other predators shared this world. The Seshanamitesh couldn’t be the only ones—they were just the most direct and immediate threat.

Lori’s eyes flew open, and she glanced down in surprise when the knotted tip of Daskh’s tail very gently nudged her lower leg. She looked up at his profile, his expression inscrutable.

“In absence of Slengral, I would give you comfort if you would allow it,” he rumbled, still not meeting her eyes.

The offer came so unexpected from the gruff male that Lori stared at him blankly. She didn’t know how long she sat there like that, but eventually his wings pressed in closer against his back and the corners of his mouth tightened.

“Oh,” she said in a tiny, uncertain voice. “That’s… really sweet…”

And it was. The male sat there beside her, his entire body tense like he was prepared to jerk away from her at a moment’s notice. Like he expected her to refuse him. She couldn’t figure out where exactly that was coming from.

He was huge, with strong and well-defined features that she had become accustomed to on Slengral, and his eyes such an exotic green that they looked like they were fashioned from gems. If she would have guessed by looking at him, she would have thought he was popular with females. She might have been suspicious of his motivations, but he looked so damned uncomfortable that she couldn’t help but to believe that it was a genuine offer.

“You can refuse if you do not wish it,” he grunted, shooting an annoyed look at her.

She smothered the smile that threatened at his sour tone, and she nestled closer to his side, his large wing immediately flaring out to circle around her. She never minded a big teddy bear hug. With everything that had been going on, she couldn’t think of anything she would like more.

“Actually, I think I would like that. How would you like to…?”

Lori squeaked in surprise—an actual shrill sound escaping her—when his thick arm snatched her up against him, his wings slapping closed around her like two skeins of silk, incredibly warm and smelling of spiced musk. He hugged her tightly to his massive chest, his deep, resonating hum rolling out of him and vibrating through her. Its vibration sank deep into her bones like a hot soothing bath, drawing the tension from her muscles and relaxing her. She cuddled deeper into his warmth, burrowing her nose against the groove between his pectorals as she melted into him.

She could stay like this forever. She felt so safe and comfortable, like the horrors of what was going on above couldn’t touch her. She might have said that aloud because the next moment his cheek brushed the top of her head.

“Do not worry, hithana. I will keep you safe.”