Viper (Naga Brides Book 1)

by Naomi Lucas

  “I understand you’re mad because of Daisy, but I can’t live knowing she’s out here alone, possibly in desperate need of help, and I did nothing. I’m not doing this to hurt you.” I need him to know this. I don’t know why, but I do. “I won’t leave. I promise.”

  “I would never let you leave,” he says. “I have told you this again and again.”

  I search his face. “Why are you so angry then?”

  Vruksha keeps me in his embrace, even when we’re back inside. He clutches my chin between his fingers and brings my face to his. “Angry? You think I’m angry? I’m furious,” he seethes.

  I flinch.

  “You,” he begins but stops. “You…”

  “Me what?”

  “You didn’t choose me!” he roars. He drops my chin and pushes me to the ground. His face is a mask of darkness as he leans over me. The outline of his fangs, his scowl. It steals my breath. He takes my hands and traps them above my head.

  Like an animal about to devour his prey, he pants, holding me down. His powerful body trembles. Warmth rushes to my cheeks. An ache swells between my thighs.

  My legs fall open unwittingly. “I did choose you.”

  “You chose Azsote, your humans, this Daisy, and even old tech over me, female. You haven’t chosen me.”

  My brow furrows. “I—” How can I answer that?

  He lifts off me, and I scramble onto my elbows as he leaves the alcove again. “Sleep,” he orders, his voice gruff, agitated. “You’ll need your strength.”

  Grabbing his spear with finality, he slinks into the forest and vanishes. I bring my legs together and hug them, feeling more alone than I’ve ever been before. Hurt that I offered my body to him and he rejected me.

  My heart aches.

  He’s right.

  I lean my face into my knees.

  Now he knows I’m truly not fantastical after all.

  The next morning, I rise bleary-eyed, rubbing my joints where they locked overnight. When I’m done, I find Vruksha perched on the ruins of the building, his tail hanging down the side, watching me.

  I inhale sharply.

  He could’ve been there all night while I waited for his return, and I would’ve never known. He jumps down and, without a word, checks my bandages. He slips our supply bag over his shoulder after handing me a ration.

  “Eat.”

  “Last night—”

  “We’ll talk later,” he says, rounding his arm under me to help me stand. He lifts me, but I push him away, keeping my feet on the ground.

  “I can do this.”

  For once, he doesn’t argue. Instead, he takes the lead, leaving me his tailtip to grasp if I need it. And for the rest of the trek, we’re climbing, moving from one ledge to the next, working our way up. Each step is easier than the last. He doesn’t speak, and so I don’t either.

  He intimidates me, I realize. It’s not that I fear him; I’m intimidated by him. I don’t know how to… make things right. Every time I want to, my tongue grows big and my throat constricts.

  I try and focus on our surroundings while I swallow all of my words.

  The trees have grown thick and tall, and there are fewer of them with leaves and more with green needles and cones. As we journey higher, I catch glimpses of the horizon and survey the terrain. There is a giant lake far in the distance, and I see streams and ponds. There are mountains around the facility—I knew this going in—and the forest is thick. But peering down into the gorge we were in earlier, I find dead spots here and there. Little patches where there are no trees but ruins.

  We’ve come across many things, broken structures, overgrown buildings, and even items in the forest. I try to commit them to memory so I can use them as landmarks in the future.

  Vruksha always seems to know where he’s going, despite how many miles we travel, even without a compass or a mapping system. To me, it’s amazing.

  Seeing a spot of color by my foot, I lean down to pick up what appears to be a doll. Brushing the dirt off it, Vruksha pivots back to me and tugs me into his chest.

  I tense, waiting for him to tell me what’s wrong, but when a minute goes by and he doesn’t, I start to get afraid. I whisper, “Do you hear something?”

  “Another naga.” Holding me hard to his chest, he moves us to a nearby tree, ducking under its low branches. He scans the canopy above us.

  I search with him. “They’re still out here?”

  His eyes slide to me. “They live here.”

  “So close to the facility? Isn’t that dangerous?” I shiver.

  “This was our land first.”

  “What do we do?”

  “Move quietly and not alert them that you are here.”

  My eyes go wide. “And if they find out I am?”

  “I kill them and you run.”

  I drop the dirty doll and grip my walking stick. “Fine. Okay.”

  “Stay close to me.”

  I nod.

  Vruksha helps me out from the branches and pulls me close. We continue our climb, a little warier of the noise we’re making, and slow down, taking our time to not make any additional sounds.

  Another hour goes by, and the tension eases from my shoulders. We pass by another series of ruins when something pricks my ears. A voice far off in the distance. Vruksha and I stop at the same time, waiting to see if the voice comes again.

  I move under his arm and into the curl of his tail before he can tug me to him.

  “What was that?” I whisper.

  It sounds like someone, or something is—

  “DAISY!” They’re shouting her name.

  I jump. Vruksha plasters me to his side.

  “Daisy?” I gasp.

  “DAISY!” Her name comes again, sounding from elsewhere, roaring through the trees.

  Gooseflesh rises on my arms. “Daisy! Someone is looking for Daisy. She could be nearby.”

  Vruksha’s eyes darken.

  “We have to look for her!”

  He nods, curling his fingers around my wrist, and we take off after the voice.

  It seems like hours go by before it’s loud enough to eclipse the sounds of the forest. Still, the quicker we move, the farther the voice seems to get. I want to call out but don’t.

  “DAISY!” The roar comes again after a short while. We reach the summit of the mountain and stop.

  “Which direction did it come from?” I ask, huffing. I can see everything from here.

  “It’s Zaku.”

  I shake my head, wiping the sweat from my forehead as the naga with the large, spiked cowl rises in my mind. “Great.”

  The trees beside us shake. I stumble back just as something large and green drops down from them. Vruksha swings in front of me.

  A naga male, shimmering vibrant green, rises, catches my eye, and puffs out his chest.

  “Azsote,” Vruksha snarls.

  “Vruksssha,” the other male hisses in answer.

  “DAISY!” the roar comes again, startling the three of us.

  “Take your eyes off my female,” Vruksha’s voice lowers, sending a shiver down my spine.

  Azsote looks away from me and at him.

  “I’m not here for her,” he tells Vruksha. “I’m looking for Zaku.” Azsote’s eyes cut to me again though, making Vruksha hiss.

  “Why?” he snaps.

  “I’ve found the other female.”

  I step forward before Vruksha can stop me. “You have? Where is she? Is she okay? Take us to her.”

  Vruksha pulls me behind him, coiling his tail around me. “Is she safe?” he asks.

  “She’s hurt, burned up.”

  My lips part. Burned? The skiff didn’t make it… “Take us to her, now,” I demand, clutching Vruksha’s arm.

  Azsote flicks his eyes to me.

  “DAISY!”

  All three of us flinch. Zaku’s roaring is further away now—we’re losing him.

  “She’s not asking for you, female,” Azsote says. “She asks for Zak
u.”

  Azsote looks at Vruksha, and I see something pass between them. Vruksha lowers his spear, and Azsote slips into the forest, vanishing so swiftly it was like he was never here at all.

  I twist under Vruksha’s arm. “We’re following him, right?”

  I think he’s going to fight me, tell me our job is done, but to my complete surprise, Vruksha nods, picks me up, and chases after Azsote. It’s not long before he catches up to the silent green male, joining him in his swift hunt for the king.

  Twenty-Five

  Daisy

  Vruksha

  I slide through the trees after the Boomslang, holding my female against me. I’ve missed having her in my arms. My mate’s softness warms my scales, and her scent invigorates me.

  She is mine, and I adore it.

  “Thank you, mate.”

  I curse as the words snap into my head.

  They haven’t stopped repeating through my mind since Gemma said them. I didn’t know how badly I needed to hear her call me mate in return, until she did.

  Then they stung, and now, each time they repeat, the thrill of it muddies further. She called me mate so I would help her find her friend. And once that thought entered my head, I haven’t been able to push it out. I’ve been mulling it over all night.

  I don’t feel like I’m her mate. Not entirely. Not yet.

  Gemma’s mine, but I’m not hers. Glancing down, I find her eyes are closed, her forehead wrinkled, face scrunched up again. She gets this way when I sprint through the trees and it’s almost… precious.

  She would not like being held if I swung through the trees as Azsote does. The branches above us shake as the Boomslang slips from one to the next, catching and bracing with his tail muscles.

  Zaku’s roars heighten as we catch up to him.

  “King Cobra!” Azsote yells when we’re close. “I know where she is,” he calls out, dropping from the trees. I come to a stop a short distance away. Gemma wiggles in my arms.

  Azsote won’t try and steal her. I read it in his eyes. And if Zaku is after the other female, then Gemma is at least safe from these nagas, but if there are more nearby, brought out by Zaku’s shouting, I want to keep a hold on her so they know she’s been claimed.

  I could coax her into a rutting for everyone to view—to establish who is her mate, the one who caught her—but I neither want Gemma naked in front of them nor want to share her sweet secrets with males who may try and risk taking her from me anyway.

  If I were made to watch such a beautiful female open up her arms and accept her mate with a moan, I would want to steal her for myself—nothing would stop me. Not even another naga’s prick sinking into her.

  It would be the last thing he ever did.

  “Zaku!” Azsote yells once more, coiling his tail around the trunk of a nearby tree.

  Noises of passage strike my ears, snaps of sticks, and the rustle of leaves. Zaku’s giant form bursts into the clearing, tackling Azsote to the forest floor. The Boomslang slides himself out from under Zaku, using his hold on the tree.

  “Where is she?” Zaku claws at him. “Take me to her!” Zaku’s nostrils flare, his cowl expands, and the spikes of it straighten out. He’s covered in dirt, eyes fierce, and I bare my fangs. But the King Cobra doesn’t see me.

  Stupid male.

  Azsote hisses and drops from the tree to put his tail between him and Zaku.

  Gemma pushes out of my hold, answering before Azsote can. “She’s hurt. Azsote’s taking us to her. He’s been looking for you. We’ve been looking for her.”

  Zaku’s eyes swing to my female, and I brace for an attack.

  His crazed gaze flicks over us, and he wipes the back of his hand across his mouth, taking us in. I notice a new wound on his chest that’s swollen and red.

  I hiss in warning when it appears Zaku isn’t going to calm. “I will strike if you get close.”

  Zaku swings back to Azsote. “Take me to Daisy!”

  “And them?” Azsote indicates us.

  Gemma tenses. “We’re going too, I demand to see her. If you try and stop us, you’ll have to deal with me,” she threatens.

  Zaku grabs Azsote’s neck and jerks the Boomslang close. “Take me to her. I won’t ask again. I don’t care what they do.”

  Azsote tugs Zaku’s hand from around his throat and twists, dashing away. Zaku takes off after him, and I surge forward to follow. Gemma’s hair flies against my chest, tickling my scales.

  From one tree to the next, we rush through the forest. No one stops us. No one even comes out and tries. Three naga males against one is certain death. Invigorated, I feel part of a clan for the first time since my sisters left. A hunt with my brethren for the precious, rare females we all desire.

  I suck in the warm air, grasping my female close.

  It’s at this moment, as the forest gives way to a long stretch of land and I watch Zaku rush after Azsote, that I forgive her for choosing her friend over me. I remember what it’s like to care for more than my own hide. I had forgotten the strength there is in numbers.

  If we came together, no human, beast, or otherwise would be able to stop us. And if what Gemma says is true, and the humans will never stop searching for the tech… then rejoining my brethren is imperative for all our safety going forward. Using the tech that we hide would be easier united.

  Because this land is ours.

  And no one can make us leave.

  “Smoke,” Gemma gasps. “There, see it?” She points to a ribbon of it rising from the trees in the distance. I smell it when she does. “Please be okay,” she whispers, low enough she probably doesn’t think I hear it.

  “She will be okay,” I rumble.

  She rests her head against my chest. I feel her tremble.

  By the time we make it to the smoke, Azsote and Zaku are already there. It’s worse than I thought. The trees are charred, some are still burning, and a clear streak of land has been cleared out from the skiff.

  The skiff is in ruins. The majority of the smoke comes from it. Part of its side is crumpled, and the windows are shattered. There’s metal and debris everywhere. No one could’ve survived such mechanical violence.

  “Daisy!” Gemma breathes.

  I hold onto her as she tries to break from my arms.

  Zaku’s silence is deafening. Another naga male is there, staring at the smoke. As a breeze wisps some of it away, familiar brown and beige scales appear. I grip my spear, bringing it forward.

  Krellix, the last Copperhead. I haven’t seen him since the plateau. Azsote snarls at him but doesn’t stop, moving through the wreckage. Krellix glances at the rest of us, stopping to stare at Gemma. Zaku goes after Azsote.

  “Vruksha,” Gemma whispers. “We need to get to Daisy.”

  I don’t take my gaze off Krellix. The male twists to face us head-on. The way he looks at my female forces a growl from my throat. Heat, desperation, and lust appear all at once, etched over his face.

  He slides closer. His muscles bunch. Through the smoke, I smell his cloying scent. I tense, immediately acknowledging it as a scent I’ve recently been giving off too.

  I set Gemma down. Her arm comes up around me as she moves under my shoulder. “Get behind me,” I tell her, readying my weapon.

  “You can’t have me,” Gemma snaps, glaring at Krellix. “I’m already taken.” She shoots Krellix a withering look.

  I go still, shocked by her words.

  The Copperhead cocks his head. “You are a feisty one.”

  “And I’m Vruksha’s, so don’t even try it. If he doesn’t kill you, I will. Now move. My friend is hurt and needs me.”

  Krellix’s lips twitch.

  “Move,” I warn.

  He finally looks at me. “You are lucky,” he says, slipping out of our path and disappearing into the trees.

  I’m skilled, vicious, and a little reckless, but lucky? I hiss. It wasn’t luck that won me Gemma. It was fate. Gemma stretches up and hooks her arm around my neck. I haul her
back into the cradle of my arms. We take off after the others.

  We don’t have to go far, finding Zaku and Azsote on the other side. Zaku is emerging from a fox hole with something in his arms. A broken, ashen thing I barely recognize as human, let alone a female at all.

  “Daisy!” Gemma cries out. She pushes from my arms and stumbles toward Zaku.

  The Cobra snarls before I can stop her, rushing up behind. Gemma doesn’t notice. She’s entirely focused on the crumpled form in Zaku’s hold.

  A weak moan leaves the creature’s lips.

  “We need to get her out of her clothes and cleaned, quickly! We need water!” Gemma yells, turning to Azsote. “Get water!”

  The next hour is a flurry of activity. Zaku doesn’t leave Daisy’s side, and my female takes over, ignoring anyone who tries to stop her. We get Daisy away from the wreckage and bring her to a creek that Azsote leads us to.

  Zaku and Gemma hover over her, cutting off the remainder of her burnt clothes. It’s not until her screaming starts that Azsote and I shoot into action to secure our perimeter.

  Azsote darts up into the trees, disappearing, while I take ground cover. I run into Krellix, who’s returned to the wreckage, stamping out the last of the flames with his tail. I leave him to it.

  The screams continue until they abruptly cut off. They will haunt my dreams for years to come.

  When I know the area around us is clear, I head for Gemma, who’s bandaging her friend with as much care as possible. Gemma’s hands are bloody, and ash has gotten all over her hair and skin. She turns to me when I approach and wipes her hands on the grass at her sides.

  The grass is covered in blood.

  “You said you know of a medical pod? You’ve seen one?” Her face is strained, worried.

  I coil my tail around her. “It’s unusable.” I glimpse the other female. She’s naked save some strips of cloth, and half her face is mottled, bright red with purpling splotches. She’s burned from the left side of her face, down her chest, to her navel. If she survives, it’s a wound that will never fully heal.

  I’m sickened. I see Gemma in her place, and bile rises.

  Zaku’s tail is ringed around where she lays motionless, leaving just enough room for Gemma to get close. His hands are white, his expression is a mask of worry, desperation. I see the pain, the fear.