Citrine (Deliverance #3)

55. Wroahk

55

Wroahk

The only thing lowering my excitement as we wait lurking under the water is that Eli refused to stay behind. I considered the different ways I could stash her somewhere else as we made our way down the lakeshore, ensuring that we were far enough away from the stretch of water that lead to the island to not attract other hunters, but nowhere is safe right now.

The purple coward is terrible protection and everyone else is out driving the enemy to us.

I'll just have to keep her behind me.

There's no chance to come up with a better plan before I see them, gray flesh jiggling, terror in their eyes as they realize they are trapped against the shore. I fight the urge to surge up out of the water, reminding myself to follow through with the plan.

So, I wait. Keeping myself still and Eli positioned under me so her bright colors don't attract their gaze, thankful my greens and blues are just as well-suited to blending in to this water as my salt water home.

For once, there is no pang of feeling in my chest as I think of it. Instead, I use one of my tentacles to touch Eli's face, a reminder of what is most important.

And then I see it, their relief. They think they are safe now. My mouth opens as I mimic the look Kira had on her face. She is more like the females of my species than Eli, though none of them would have delivered such a prize to me on the same day I asked for a deal .

The females of my kind have no concept of deals or how good they can make you feel.

I push the thought aside, and enjoy the moment my community has given me, tentacles pushing hard against the boulders I waited on to make us fly out of the water. I shift Eli as we move through the air, pulling her body tight behind mine so none of these guns they spoke of can hurt her.

There is a whole school of the enemy, all of them screaming out gurgling cries of terror, two of which are instantly cut short as I punch a tentacle through their disgusting bodies.

I keep one tentacle around Eli, and one free to kill each one in my hold, but then use all the remaining ones to snatch up the enemy—the genali—by one of their short, useless limbs. Blood paints the nearby rocks and plants as I pull them apart, dash them against rocks, rip heads and limbs off, all the while roaring out my most intimidating song.

Their screams are just as sweet as I imagined.

Soon, Eli joins her smaller voice to mine, raising it like a torrent of sound as her bright tentacles reach around me, grabbing genali for me to rip apart.

The loud sounds of the guns begin soon after, and the moment I see one of her tentacles injured, I stop playing with my kills and finish them, barely stopping myself from tearing into them with my teeth.

As soon as they are all dead, and then crushed some more just in case, I will be claiming kisses from my Eli. Right after I punish her for not doing what I said.

An image of how I can use my tentacles to whip her until she pleads with me to fill every one of her holes makes me kill them all the faster.