Pirate's Gold - S.J. Sanders Page 0,75

the dry ground. Turning, he grabbed Azan next and ignored her snarl as he repeated the move, hurling her and Garswal as far as he could. The female pulled the male into her arms and curled around him midair. When they landed with a splash in the shallow water close to where Terri lay on the dry floor, the pirate had absorbed the full impact.

The water quaked everywhere, droplets bouncing from the surface at its approach. He was not going to be able to outrun it. His eyes fell on his mate as she pushed to her feet. Her hand cradled her ribs as she grimaced, but her expression turned to one of terror.

“Veral!” she screamed, grief trembling in her voice.

It was too late. He turned, slashing out with his claws, his vibrissae whipping out in defiance just as the large maw of the predator opened wide, a crest of water rushing over him. Metallic teeth descended just as a large metallic barb struck it. Veral felt a piercing pain scream through him. It was echoed by the terrible screams of pain from the creature as it thrashed behind him.

Despite the red-hot pain and alarm flashing through his systems, he turned away from the thing, racing forward again. The barb, possessing the same bio-organic signature of the symbiont, had bought him time. Azan grabbed him at the same time Terri did, both females helping to haul him to dry ground as he stumbled forward. Tattered remains of several vibrissae on the right side of his head attempted to writhe in their instinctive need for input, sending shooting pain through him.

He could already feel his nanos rushing to the spot in an attempt to heal it. It would take time, but they would mend. Until then, he felt off balance, the sudden loss of a part of his sensory receptors making him move with uncertainty, a large blind spot now at his right.

An Argurma with injured vibrissae was vulnerable. This was a hazardous place to be vulnerable, especially with his mate in danger.

She and his unborn offspring needed him.

Turning back, he glared at 226. Its body writhed and splashed, terrible shrieks still coming from it as it rolled in the shallow water. It was pushing away from them, flopping to push its girth back into deeper water. From one of its lower eyes, he could see the barb jutting out, dark blood spurting from the wound. Eventually, it would heal. It was not a killing shot any more than its bite, its aim disrupted, was a killing strike to Veral.

They were both left with injuries from their encounter, but they both would survive.

“Veral, thank the gods,” Terri whispered, her hands running over him in self-assurance. Her hand raised to the side of his head and she winced. “Your vibrissae…”

“Their loss is better than dead, or any greater damage. I will heal,” he murmured as he pulled her hand down and brought it to his lips. “You are safe. That is what is most important to me.”

She gently pulled her hand back and punched his shoulder. “Damn it, Veral! Stopping to throw us out of the water slowed you down. You nearly got yourself killed. You shouldn’t have done that. We could have made it!”

“Speak for yourself,” Azan muttered, two pairs of her arms wrapped around Garswal, comforting the young male who had finally broken down and curled against her with soft sobs. “I, for one, am grateful. Not only for my life, but for his as well.” The pirate glanced over at Veral, her expression contemplative. “I do not have much use for males, not even before I was captured by Egbor, and certainly not after revolutions of torture at his hands. But you have made me reconsider that there could be a few males who could be worthy allies and not just crew to follow my orders. I owe you a life debt. If we get out of here and you are ever in need, call on me and I will repay my debt.”

The debt of a pirate was one that could be useful if a dire circumstance rose. He eyed her extended hand, the one that had her comm out and activated, the gesture inviting an exchange of comm information. Slowly, he nodded and activated his own comm before reaching out to grip her forearm. It took less than a second for them to exchange details, and even less time for that information to imprint on his systems so