Dizon sat in the booth that was in a dark corner of the small tavern with his four friends. Dizon, the leader of the group, was Termera's older brother. He downed his strong beverage, trying to dull the pain and anger of his sister being executed for plotting the murder of the human female, Aleigha.

He knew his sister wanted the human's mate. The human should have handed Merrick over to his sister since she was a more appropriate match because she was Ramesian and not a human.

"It isn't right!" Holg spa. "Humans are nothing. She should have been executed just for being one. They should not have executed Termera; she's one of us."

Holg was Dizon's friend. He was trying to be a good friend, siding with Dizon, or at least that was what Holg was thinking.

Krix poured his friend another strong beverage from the jug, then poured his own. Drizon promptly downed that one too.

"Slow down, Dizon, or we'll have to carry you out of here," Shorell, the only female of the group, complained before downing her own.

The only one who remained quiet was Verion. He was the youngest of the group. He sat quietly, sipping his strong beverage. He didn't want to be in this particular tavern. It was too close to the girl in question. He wished they had gone to the other tavern on the other side of the city. Dizon didn't want to. He wanted to be able to watch Aleigha. He wanted an opportunity to kill her as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

Drizon grabbed the jug from the table and poured the last of the liquid from the jug into his cup, then waved the server over. "We need another jug," he yelled to her. His words started to slur from too much of the strong beverage.

The server quickly brought another jug, setting it on the table. Dizon immediately picked it up, and the liquid in the jug sloshed over the side of the jug as he filled his cup. Overfilling his cup, the liquid poured over the side of the cup, spilling some onto the table. The liquid ran to the edge and dripped onto the floor.

"Careful, Dizon," Shorell hissed, wiping the liquid with a cloth before it could spill more on the floor. Shorell was a server at the other tavern. She was off today, so she went with her friends to drink. It was a surprise to her which tavern they were going to when they had told her it wasn't the one she worked at.

Krix picked up the jug and filled his own cup, then Shorell's and Holgs. Drizon's cup was being raised to his lips, or he would have filled his too. Krix looked at Verion's cup, noting it was still nearly full.

"Not drinking today, Verion?" Krix asked, a wide grin on his face. "Down that so I can refill your cup."

Reluctantly, Verion did as he was told and downed his cup, pushing it forward to be refilled. Krix refilled it, then grabbed Dizon's now-empty cup and refilled it too. By now, the jug was empty again.

Dizon guzzled his strong beverage, slamming the empty cup on the table. "I think we need to go find the girl and take care of business," he told his friends loudly. He didn't care that everyone in the tavern could hear him.

"Let's finish our strong beverage first. We just poured it. You're not giving us time to drink it," Holg complained. He looked over at Shorell. "I like this tavern better than yours. This one has a better atmosphere. I smell something that smells very good. Whatever I smell, I want to try it."

Holg looked around the tavern, trying to find out what he was smelling. They saw that many in the tavern were eating some sort of flat item with a red sauce dripping between the bottom and the white stuff on the top. He could see chunks of something, too, but he didn't know what any of it was. Whatever it was, it smelled delicious.

Dizon took Verion's drink from him and downed it. "I'm not waiting for you to drink that." He laughed at his timid friend. Then looked around the booth at his friends. "We have some business to take care of. We have a human to kill." He stated, not too silently, then turned and walked out of the tavern. Others in the tavern, sitting, eating their pizza and drinking their strong beverage, watched him go.

Dizon felt that it shouldn't matter that Merrick was mated to a human; he should have rejected her when he found her. In Dizon's eyes, humans were nothing. The two men and his sister shouldn't have been executed for wanting one of them dead.

Holg and Krix quickly followed, then Shorell. Verion reluctantly got up and followed. Dizon was volatile right now. He needed to calm down before he did something that would get him executed.

Once outside the tavern, they followed the small walkway that led to an area of dwellings. It was near the area where they had chemically burned-out zombies that were in a tunnel system. It was also the same group of dwellings that the human female lived in.

Dizon stopped suddenly. "There," he pointed to a dwelling. "That was Merrick's dwelling. His mate would live there by herself now."

"She has an infant," Verion reminded him quietly. He didn't want anything to do with what Dizon wanted to do.

"Half-breed," Dizon shot back in disgust, spitting on the walkway beside him. Holg, Krix, and Shorell laughed.

Aleigha's door slid open, silencing their laughter as they watched her exit the dwelling, her infant in her arms. They watched as she headed to another dwelling across the way.

"Why can't we just kill her," Holg asked. He eyed Aleigha with contempt. He wanted to get it over with so he could continue with his life.

"We can't," Krix complained, watching Aleigha as she passed by where they were hiding. "It's too soon."

"But Merrick, Rask, and Termera were executed because of her," Shorell hissed. Anger was beginning to boil over within her, making her shake with anger.

"It's not natural for humans to be with our kind," Drizon sneered. "It was better for Merrick to be with Termera than that disgusting human female. Because of her, my sister is dead."

Verion stayed silent, watching Aleigha as she passed by with her infant. He turned and looked at his friends, who were still watching her as she disappeared into her sister's home. Verion silently turned and walked away. He couldn't be part of killing an infant. He was at the interrogation, just like everyone else. They broke the law. The girl Aleigha didn't do anything wrong. She was a victim. Merrick, Rask, and Termera were executed because of the law. The truth serum didn't lie.

After walking for a few minutes, Verion turned and looked at his friends. All four of them were so engrossed in watching the door through which Aleigha disappeared with her infant that they didn't even notice that he had left.

** ** **

Mikiel sat alone in the tavern, hidden by shadows. He watched the group as they consumed too much of the strong beverage. Only one of them in the group of five friends remained silent.

One of them was loud, speaking about killing Aleigha. He recognized the female with them. She was a server at the other tavern on the other side of the dome. He used to go to the one she worked at because his previous dwelling was close to it.

Just before they walked out, he heard the one who had been drinking most of the strong beverage call something out that he didn't like.

"We have some business to take care of. We have a human to kill." The voice said loudly.

Mikiel looked over at the group. He recognized them. The one calling out was Dizon, Termera's older brother.

He had heard talk of many of their people who did not like humans. This particular Ramesian had a reason not to like Aleigha. The man's sister was killed for plotting murder against her.

Mikiel waited for the group to leave before getting up. He strolled out silently, not wanting anyone to realize he was following them. It appeared that the others in the tavern didn't care about what Dizon was saying. Everyone heard it. Dizon spoke loudly. No one seemed to care, though.

Once Mikiel was out of the tavern and its doors closed, he looked around him discreetly for the group.

He spotted them almost immediately. They were headed toward Aliegha's dwelling, or at least the group of dwellings that her home was in. He was fortunate that he lived where he could see it. Her home was right across from his. If they spotted him, he could tell them he was merely going home.

The group he was following stopped suddenly. "There," Dizon pointed to Aleigha's dwelling. "That was Merrick's dwelling. His mate would live there by herself now," he told his friends.

"She has an infant," the one who didn't speak at the tavern told him. Mikiel could tell that the younger one didn't want to be there. It sounded like he was trying to talk his friend out of whatever he was planning by reminding him of the infant in the dwelling.

"Half-breed," Dizon shot back, spitting his disgust on the cement beside him. Mikiel could see the anger and hatred in Dizon's face as he spat out the demeaning phrase.

Three of Dizon's friends laughed while the younger one stayed quiet. He looked uncomfortable.

Aleigha's door suddenly slid open, silencing the laughter of the group watching her. Aleigha, holding her infant son, Finn, exited. She walked slowly toward Niki's dwelling.

The group watching her stopped talking and watched her as she made her way toward her sister's dwelling.

"Why can't we just kill her?" one of them in the group asked. Mikiel watched as the speaker eyed Aleigha and her infant with contempt.

"We can't," another complained. He was watching Aleigha pass by, too. "It's too soon."

"But Merrick, Rask, and Termera were executed because of her," the only female of the group hissed. Mikiel didn't know her name, although he did receive strong beverages from her in the other tavern.

"It's not natural for humans to be with our kind," Drizon, Termera's brother, sneered. "It was better for Merrick to be with Termera than that disgusting human female. Because of her, my sister is dead."

Mikiel could tell that this one wasn't going to calm down. He was a threat to Aleigha and her infant. He needed to do something soon before they decided to act on their threats.

Scanning the group, Mikiel noted that the younger one stayed silent, watching Aleigha as she passed by with her infant. It was clear he didn't feel the same hatred and contempt for Aleigha as the others in his group. The younger one turned and looked at his friends, his gaze going to each one of them, one by one, watching them watch Aleigha as she disappeared into her sister's dwelling. The young male silently turned and walked away, leaving his friends behind. His friends were so engrossed in watching Aleigha that they didn't even notice he had left.

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