my head and pivoting on my heel, I traced the motions of mortal combat at half-speed, but my attention was on the voice in my helmet.
“Raxthezana has found and revived CeCe,” VELMA said. “They may need help escaping Ikshe.”
My motions remained smooth as I spoke.
“I cannot,” I said.
Silence for a jotik.
“Has your loyalty to the Ikma returned?” VELMA asked, her false voice free of judgment.
“It has,” I said, bending at the knee and sweeping my leg across the floor, disabling an invisible opponent. “I advise they leave with haste before my sister beckons me.”
VELMA did not reply, and I swallowed the bitter taste of bile in my throat. Licking my lips, iron coated my tongue.
Betrayal had its own flavor and its own fragrance, and if my loyalty to the Kama was to be proven, I could not be party to Raxthezana’s escape. All of my prior lies and subterfuges were easily masked with distance. But his proximity would prove too dangerous for me. I couldn’t know where he found his mate, either, though my suspicions centered around my Queen. Had the human been anywhere else besides the fortress, it would have taken days or weeks for Raxthezana to find her.
Washing my hands of them, I would curry my Queen’s favor. Perhaps the humans’ best hope now was for me to remain alive and in the Kama’s good graces.