Valve noticed the arrival Gabbar out of the corner of her dark eye, but made no acknowledgment of his presence, other than the twist of a single jet-black ear in his direction. While it was true that Gabbar’s lack of attention had caused this pilfering half-breed to think he could lay claim to the sands upon which they all stood, Valve was not about to punish him for this—at least, not right now. It was a backwards way of these Islands—a canon she had been familiar with since birth—but like her dam before her, the Akhal-Teke mare did not abide by this idea of a purely patriarchal society. Thus, when the bastard had the nerve to speak to her as if she was the offender in this situation, Valve’s even tone took on a more sinister quality.

“No. You should not.”

She took a measured step forward and kept her icy gaze locked on the mottled stallion, expecting Gabbar, who stood dutifully off to her side, to do the same. The ocean crashed against the rocks of the cliff on the stranger’s heels and Valve decided she would very much enjoy watching this smug intruder go tumbling off the ledge to his death. But before she could flirt with that idea, the half-breed decided to open his blasphemous mouth again and oh-so-kindly offer the both of them a home, as if he had the authority to do such a thing.

She would have laughed at him, if she had a sense of humor.

“We fully intend to remain in the Dunes as long as it pleases us,” she retorted sharply. “But this fact does not go with an assumption that we will heed or respect a single word that you say.”

If somehow Strack were to survive here, he best stay out of Valve’s way.

VALVE
slenderman x black heart machine