“I saw him in New City. He drives a big truck. I told him I’d seen you.”
She balled her hands into fists and looked back at the sanctuary. She opened her mouth but said nothing when Mayhem took the horse’s reins. The horse startled, and Sienna left. I thought Center might just gallop out from under my body. He neighed and moved his head away from Mayhem.
Mayhem let go of the reins and smiled. “Horses are smarter than humans. They know danger when they see it.” The back of his hand trailed down my naked thigh. “You wear our clothes. Let’s go, mine. We’re running late.” He sniffed the air and jogged.
I galloped on the horse next to him. For the past few nights, he’d kept me here in a place that was safer than a hunt. I feared he’d do it again. However, tonight, he took me with him.
I loved him all the more for it.
A while later, with the darkness of night all around me, I fell into a rhythm. The horse’s hooves stepping on the dirt and Mayhem’s grunts as he walked next to me soothed my nerves. Even though I didn’t know what to expect of a hunt, I still had no trouble coming up with gruesome scenarios of beasts tearing into people and devouring everything in their path.
“Have you told them to spare anyone?”
“Females. If there are any.”
“Why?” I asked, slightly offended.
He slid me a look, so I offered him a piece of my mind. “A woman can be just as fierce and just as dangerous as a man. Even more so because you don’t expect it from a woman. We’re not made of glass, you know.”
“Believe me, I know. You intended to poison me.”
Right. “So why, then?”
“Mates. They might be mates, so we keep them around.”
“If they’re not mates, what do you with them?”
“I do nothing with them. My males do things with them.”
“You know, Mayhem, I know you weren’t a virgin. I’m sure you’ve had your share as have I.”
“Nonsense. Nobody’s ever touched you.”
“Right.”
“And I was a virgin.”
I leaned to the side so I could hear him better. “Can you repeat that? My brain is stuck. Did you say you were a virgin?”
“You deflowered me that night in our home.”
I held on to the horse’s mane so I wouldn’t fall off. He didn’t seem to be joking. “Oh my God, you’re serious!”
“Shhh. We’re in the middle of a hunt. Let’s not wake up the dead around here.”
“You weren’t a virgin. You like anal sex.”
“My dick met only your pussy. I was a virgin. The end.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“I stand offended that my mate would think I was not.”
Mayhem walked on. Intent on continuing with the best small talk of my entire life, I gaped at him. In the front, a pair of pale eyes appeared as if from thin air. “Whoa,” I told the horse and pulled back its reins. On silent feet, a beast with long brown hair approached Mayhem. Damn. I needed to practice some stealth. Compared to the hunters, in the dead of the night, my horse and I sounded like a herd of zebras running from hyenas.
“Yes?” Mayhem said.
“Not a soul on the road,” the beast man answered. “Two dogs, one cat, and some mice.”
“But?”
“Our trucks are passing through right on time.”
“How far till we meet?” Mayhem asked.
“About a mile.”
Mayhem showed me his big teeth. “Do your best to keep up. I’m faster than your horse. And just as big.” He winked. “This is your hunt, baby. You ready?”
“No, nope. Why mine?”
“You’ll see.” Mayhem and the beast sprinted.
I clicked my tongue, zebra herd be damned. “Ya!”
We raced across the desert. I clamped my knees around Center’s middle, and held on to his mane as he ran after them. We kept up. Beasts were fast, and, judging by the snarls, also hungry. We came to a paved road and beasts ran on both sides while I galloped in the middle. I heard trucks but didn’t know if they were in front of us or behind us. We followed the road. It curved, then straightened, and a pair of blue trucks appeared in front of us.
The food trucks at Mayhem’s court. Of course! A trap. Mayhem had set me up to deliver information. Men of Earth took the bait, and now he would devour them.
The beasts picked up their speed.
They caught up to the moving trucks, but I could only see the second one.
They swarmed it from both sides. Some beasts jumped on the front, some hung on the windows, and some climbed on the top and began punching the frame. Behind the truck, I galloped, and even the wind in my ears couldn’t mask the screams.