Children of Krina

Chapter Forty-One

Korum's POV

It was easy enough to adjust the force field on the bio suits to react to the touch of a human, shocking them enough to stun them if they managed to reach Victor and Sang. My concern was creating a shield that would prevent them from reaching the kids in the first place. I needed something to anchor it to, something that the humans could not see. That led me to the small stone bridge, it was located toward the edge of the park and you could see the skyscrapers above the trees. During the day, humans would throw breadcrumbs down to the swans swimming below. Very few humans visited it at night, it was isolated and the path leading to it wandered through thick undergrowth and small corpses of trees. It was distant from the jogging trails and the criminals who preyed on unsuspecting runners. Could I connect the shield to the bridge itself? Could the kids reach it before the humans tried to seize them? There were too many ifs to satisfy me. While Victor had proven himself in the arena, Sang had yet to be tested. Would she fight back? She had a sweet nature and preferred to help others, I wasn't sure she could bring herself to hurt someone else. It is why I had been irate to learn that Mia and her mother hadn't treated her well. If Sang hadn't talked to the Elders on their behalf, Mia's family would still be living among the humans in Ormond Beach.

Victor's POV

Sang and I went to dinner, one of the newer restaurants that served grass fed beef and noodles made from real eggs. We kept to complete vegetarian dishes and sipped wine sparingly. While human alcohol didn't affect us, we preferred juice or water to drink. Our conversation wandered through subjects, ranging from what activities we had already done and what we planned to do in the next few days. We left the restaurant with a small bag of bread rolls the waiter had brought Sang so she could feed the swans. It was a beautiful night, the moon was full and we both longed to commune with a bit of nature. The limo driver deposited us at the main gate to Central Park, promising to return for us in two hours. We meandered down the trail, talking lightly and exchanging playful kisses. Acting obvious to our surroundings, we reached the bridge without interruption and settled at the rounded peak to feed the swans.

I knew we weren't alone, we have been followed from the moment we entered the commons. I knew it wasn't the Krinar, they had entered the park earlier today and were hidden along our path to the bridge. I gave a slight sniff of the air, picking up manufactured scents from both ends of the bridge. Two were flowery and the other four were more masculine in their scent. The peppery scent of Old Spice, the rich smell of Bay Rum, and a mixture of musk and sweat. Huh, who knew being friends with Gabe for so long would teach me something useful.

Princess tossed the last of the breadcrumbs and turned to face me; I pulled her into my arms and kissed her. Holding her close as I listened for any noise to tell me our enemy was approaching. There it was, footsteps against the stone, some heavier than the rest. I pulled Princess closer, insuring we were in the circumference of the shield. I could feel them draw nearer. A buzz filled the air, electricity crackled into life around us. There was a scream of terror, several grunts of pain, followed by curses, the sound of a gun firing and someone tried to rip Sang from my embrace. The shield on her suit lit up the bridge and I watched Agatha Biggs fall to the ground, her body jerking as if she was holding onto a live wire. I looked around at the others, lying unconscious around us. Two of the men's face and hands were smoking, having been to close when the shield activated. Ellet was tending them as Doctor Roberts was examining Alma, who seemed to have taken the brunt of it with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. I looked around for the gun, locating it in Agatha's grasp.

"She was aiming at Sang, the young woman got in her way. The one called Alma did not like seeing Sang in your arms; I can only guess that she was trying to pull her from you when her mother shot her. The older woman was trying to grab Sang and use her as a shield when Sang's personal shield zapped her." Alir informed me. "With the bridge being made of stone, we could only raise the shield for a few minutes. The women approached you once the shield was down."