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To say she was shocked would have been downplaying it. Majorly.
"You don't believe in killing."
"Apparently I am not as against it as I believed. I found it was unacceptable for them to live after what they did to you."
She didn't know when he'd moved his hand and knee away, but she was guessing it was during her shock because she'd been very aware of his touch till then.
"What did all of your committees think about that?"
"Most of your humans believe like you, that the Ratkillgon cannot get away with what they did, but for the most part they remain unsure what to do about them. They are hoping the upcoming battle will see most of them dead, but that will not be the case. They are not a match for us. The Ratkillgon are cowards that must sneak up on a planet and poison them. My people are not even seeing it as a war coming any longer. We will send some men to meet them and handle them quickly. Then there will still be the issue of what to do with them."
"When you say you killed them, you mean they're dead now?"
"They are, yes."
She wouldn't lose any sleep over it, but she could feel that he was losing sleep over it. She thought his guilt was from his relationship with Hayden, but apparently, she'd been wrong.
"Can we leave this subject now?"
"The night I found you with Hayden, is that why you went to her?"
"She came to me."
"How did you do it?"
"Jessalynn."
"I want to know."
His despair grew.
"Did you kiss her?"
He frowned. His mind not making the jump with her.
"Did you kiss Hayden the other night? I'm the one who taught you how to kiss, so I think I have the right to know if you're swapping spit with ray of sunshine."
He didn't answer. Just sat there with a dumb expression on his face. She'd be damn if she asked again, and she'd be damn if she'd leave without an answer.
"You are my mate."
"Not for long. You don't believe I can find a way out, do you?"
"I do not."
"I have to. What did you do to them?"
"I took her and the others back to that swamp you left her in."
"That doesn't mean__."
"They are."
"How do you know?"
"Jessalynn, it is done, and I did it. Me."
"You're afraid I'll blame myself." She gave her head a shake and made a humorless laugh. "I'm afraid they aren't really dead."
"I went back till they were all accounted for. The smallest died the first night. The other three killed her. They believe it is merciful to take out the weakest one so that the others might survive."
"I'm not surprised. These are the same women who beat each other over who got to beat me."
"The one who gave you the knife marks, died next. She had water in her lungs. The other two were allergic to your mosquitos."
"You're kidding?"
"No. Severely allergic. Dezrick has concluded that if the other two had not died so quickly they all would have succumbed to the sting of your mosquitos."
"My mom always said they had an appetite for her. Said her blood was sweet. We'd go camping, Uncle Chad loved going camping, so he'd talk us into it once a year, anyway, we'd come back with dozens of bites and mom would come back covered from head to toe. That's why Uncle Chad could only talk us into it once a year."
The sun was just starting to go down. There were thick white clouds overhead that moved by slowly. "They would have loved it here. I was in San Francisco, and it broke my heart to see it so empty. So lifeless, but I think this is the way this place is supposed to be. It seems at peace."
Jess looked up at him and waited for him to look at her. "Stop feeling bad about it. There's no peaceful world where they get to still exist."
"It is one more lie I told you. I told you we do not kill unless we have to."
"You and I disagree with what killing is. If you had wrapped your hands around their throats then fine, you killed them. All you did was drop them off in the middle of nowhere."
"With the sole intent of them dying."
"Semantics. If you remember, I left one of them there first. Hell, I picked the place. I don't want to live in a world where someone can kill billions upon billions of people, and they get to live. And, I don't want to be a Queen, for however short the time, who's too scared to do what needs to be done. If you wouldn't have done it, I would have. What are we doing about the rest of them?"
"We are taking a leaf from your people. Trials. We are going to filter out the leaders and the ones who have a say in their actions, handle them quickly then find a place to put the rest of them."
"A place with hand size mosquitoes?"
Jess climbed to her feet and dusted off her pants. "What if you can't figure out who the leaders are?"
"We have a truth tonic."
"Right. Forgot about that." She stood on the edge and looked down.
He moved pretty quick. His eyes panicked. She guessed dead boy still had some life to him.
"You will not." Kellum ordered.
"We both know I will. The question is, are you going to do it with me?"
"It's too dan__."
"You once told me that as long as I was with you then I was safe."
"We have established that was a lie."
"On the count of three. One."
"Jessalynn, do not____."
"Two."
"Dezrick, lower the___."
"Three!"
