Defying the Relic Hunter (Coletti Warlord Series Book 11)

by Gail Koger

Ethan’s scary index shot off the charts. “Drink. Now.”

  I was too tired to argue or fight. “Ok. Ok. Don’t get your panties in a twist.” I reluctantly took his hand. With a grimace of distaste, I sucked down some of his warm, coppery blood. Ewww. Gross. “You know you’re being a butthead, don’t you?”

  “It’s my duty to take care of you.”

  I clamped a hand to my chest. “Be still my heart.”

  Ethan gave me the stink-eye. “Your mouth never stops, does it?”

  “You can always take me back to the pound and get another puppy.”

  “Not a chance. You’re mine now. Drink some more, you’ve been through a lot today.”

  “Yes’um, boss.” I lapped up some more. “Happy?”

  “For now.” Ethan licked his wound. Presto, it stopped bleeding.

  I watched in amazement as the cut instantaneously healed. “I’ll help you find the treasure, but the romance stuff isn’t necessary.”

  “Isn’t it?” Ethan’s hand clamped around the back of my neck and his mouth crushed mine in a fierce, hungry kiss.

  Before I knew it, I was kissing him back and our tongues were tangling in an intimate dance.

  Granny Annabel crowed, “I told you, he is your soul mate.”

  Reality came crashing back and I broke free. “Gotta admit, you’re one hell of a kisser, sugar, but this seduction thing? It’s not gonna work.”

  A laugh rumbled deep in Ethan’s chest. “Oh, it’s working alright.”

  “You smug bastard.” I swung at him.

  Ethan easily caught my hand and brought it up to his mouth for a lingering kiss. “Got a bit of a temper, don’t you?”

  “You have no idea.” I yanked my hand free and rubbed it on my jeans.

  “My clan is full of strong gutsy women. You’ll fit right in.” Ethan pulled me on his lap.

  “Hey!” I shoved at his chest. “No funny stuff.”

  “Every woman needs some passion in her life.” Ethan’s lips closed over mine in a sensual kiss that stole my breath. Suddenly, I wanted to hump him like a deranged monkey. “Wait! Stop! You’re using mind control on me.”

  “It’s not necessary. No one can resist my brand of charm. You’ll come willingly to my bed.” His strong hands caressed my body.

  I almost died from the blast of lust that exploded inside my hoo-ha. Damn, the conceited ass was good. “Why me? I’m not a Barbie doll and most people consider me a freak.”

  Ethan cuddled me against his chest and stroked my back. “At the first sign of trouble, Barbie dolls cower in the corner and scream bloody murder. Only a fool picks a Barbie. I chose you Angel because you’re one of a kind. Your powers make you unique not a freak. I find you fascinating. I like your clever mind, your sense of humor and no matter how hard your life gets, you never give up.”

  I stared at him in stunned disbelief. “Is that all?” I shudder as Ethan’s naughty fingers pinched my nipples.

  “Your breasts are magnificent.” He gently nipped at my lower lip. “And without me, you’ll be dead in a week.”

  I glared at him. “If you returned my bracelet and weapons, that wouldn’t be a problem.”

  “I can’t allow you to run free until I have you tamed.”

  I literally saw red. Pulling back my fist, I punched him as hard as I could.

  “We need to work on your battle skills.” Ethan rubbed his jaw. “You hit like a girl.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “I am a girl.”

  A shit-eating grin spread across Ethan’s face. “Don’t I know it.”

  “Arrrgh!” Swatting at his hands, I slid off his lap. “Don’t touch me again.”

  “Not possible. The mating bond has started.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Ethan wrapped an arm around my neck, pulled me close and gave me a smacking kiss. “It means lots of hot, monkey sex.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Got that part. What else?”

  “You’re my girl forever.”

  “Oh, whoopee and if I want a divorce?”

  “You won’t,” Ethan promised.

  “You’re an egotistical, conceited ass.” I frowned as my psychic senses went on red alert. I cocked my head and reached out mentally. Something nasty was heading our way. “You feel that?”

  Ethan was suddenly all predator. “I do.”

  “The Thunder God comes,” Granny warned.

  “Some guy dressed up as the Thunder God or the real thing?” I opened my senses.

  Granny materialized next to us. She was back in her Indiana Jones outfit. “The Thunder God has the power to summon the dead.”

  Ethan’s jaw dropped and he cautiously reached out to touch her.

  Granny smacked his hand. “Where are your manners, young man?”

  “Sorry, ma’am.”

  I bit my lip to keep from grinning and pasted a grim look on my face. “Are you prepared to meet something that goes bump in the night Ethan?”

  “Coletti warlords fear nothing.”

  I sighed. Testosterone should be banned.

  Lightning crackled like fiery snakes and the sky darkened to night. The wind swirled around us, whispering that death was ever near.

  “Ooh! They’re going for spooky!”

  Ethan checked his scanner. “Nothing’s showing up on my sensors.”

  “The illusions are merely a distraction,” Granny warned.

  “For what?” The breath left my lungs in an involuntary gasp as a glittering blue light engulfed me. “Ethan!”

  “Angel!” Ethan lunged for me twenty seconds too late.

  Chapter Ten

  The blue light faded, and I stood in an immense cavern lit by floating yellow skulls. Grotesque stone trees rose like blackened specters from the rocky floor. These Tomb Raiders were really into Halloween. I opened my psychic eye. Crap. It was real. “Granny?”

  She appeared beside me. “Your man is very worried.”

  “And he should be. I don’t have my bracelet or any weapons.”

  “A fact he greatly regrets.”

  “Why didn’t Ethan come with you?”

  “The Tomb Raiders have erected an energy barrier that blocks his ability to track you.”

  “Any idea where we are?”

  “A cavern beneath the Superstition Mountains,” Granny answered.

  I blew out a long breath. At least I was still in Arizona. “I kinda expected the Tomb Raiders to be waiting for me.”

  “You are nothing but a bargaining chip. As soon as they took you, they contacted Zarek.”

  “Let me guess. They’ll exchange me for the amulet and the sacred stone.”

  “Yes.”

  “How do I get out of here?”

  “Without access to the Tomb Raiders’ transporter you are trapped.”

  “No, Ethan can teleport me out. Find him and tell him where I am.”

  Granny shook her head. “I promised Ethan I would not leave you.”

  “He can’t rescue me, if he doesn’t know where I am. Now can he?”

  “If the Tomb Raiders return, you’ll be helpless,” Granny cried.

  “Then you’d better hurry.”

  Granny vanished.

  “Come here female and free me,” an autocratic voice demanded in my head.

  “Another dickhead. You must be related to the Coletti.”

  The voice said sarcastically, “You must be a Jones female.”

  “Not yet. What’s your name?”

  “Adan. Free me before my captors return.”

  “Can you get us out of here, Adan?”

  “I can.”

  I mentally scanned the cavern but couldn’t pick up any life signs. “Good, where are you?”

  The image of a hoodoo shaped like a weird alien skull appeared in my mind. “My cage is beside it.”

  My gaze locked on the one of a kind rock. “Gotcha.” The floor of the cavern was strewn with broken armor and the skeletal remains of long dead warriors. I bent down and examined the armo
r. It looked Aztec to me. The treasure had to be close!

  “Do you wish to join the dead female?”

  “My name is Kizzy, and no, I don’t.”

  “Then move your ass,” Adan bellowed.

  I increased my pace. “You sure you’re not Coletti?”

  “I am not.”

  I grinned at the note of outrage in his voice. “How did the Tomb Raiders capture you?”

  “I do not wish to discuss it.”

  “They snatched me with a transporter beam,” I confided.

  “Which Coletti has claimed you?”

  “Ethan Jones.”

  Adan sniffed. “An adequate warrior.”

  I came to an abrupt halt and gaped at the occupant of a glass cage. It was a kid and he was a dead ringer for that boy in those wizard books. Minus the glasses and funky scar. I stomped up to the cage. “You’re gonna get us out of here?”

  Adan’s burning yellow eyes stared at me. “I can and will.”

  “What are you?” Those weird eyes didn’t belong to a human.

  “I am Katanic.”

  I took a step back. Damn. He was a shape-shifting alien who could out-eat the Tai-Kok. “How long have you been locked in there?”

  “Too long.”

  “If I let you out, what’s to keep you from eating me?”

  “My word,” Adan snapped.

  Fear skittered up my spine when his face contorted, and hundreds of serrated teeth appeared where his mouth should be. “Only a fool would let you out.”

  “The enemy comes. Free me and I will eat them.”

  On the far side of the cavern over a dozen glittering blue lights materialized in the darkness. Were the Tomb Raiders coming or had they sent their henchmen to collect me? Either way. Not good. “Tell me what to do.” A series of symbols popped into my head.

  “Touch the appropriate symbols on the keypad.”

  I did and the door to the cage slid open. I gasped when Adan transformed into me. My double had one hell of a sunburn, her hair looked like a rat had nested in it and her tee-shirt was a filthy mess. Did I really look that bad?

  A long, ropy tentacle shot out from my double’s body. It wrapped around my waist and dumped me on top of the alien skull. “Do not move.”

  “Not moving.” I shivered. Watching yourself was kinda unnerving.

  Fourteen heavily armed warriors with long purple hair cautiously approached Adan. Each was carrying an oddly shaped laser rifle. I had a sick feeling the rifles had been used in Adan’s capture.

  A hulking warrior with green tattoos covering his face snarled, “Get back in your cage or die.”

  Adan burst into very realistic tears. “Diversion female.”

  “Yes, sir.” I picked up a rock and threw it. When two warriors turned to look, I projected the image of a monstrous Katanic.

  The warriors shouted something in a language I didn’t know and started firing. Soon all of them were firing at my illusion. Guess they didn’t realize you can’t kill a mirage, no matter how hard you try.

  In a blink of an eye, my form had been replaced by a heaving silky black mass with ropy tentacles. That’s when the bad guys realized there were two Katanics and all hell broke loose. Multiple laser beams hit Adan’s hide. Instead of dying, he got bigger and bigger and bigger.

  The battle-hardened men ran for their lives. Their terrified screams echoed around the cavern as Adan’s tentacles quickly stuffed them into his gaping maw. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

  Ugh. The sound of the warriors’ bones breaking was truly horrible.

  When Adan had eaten the last one, his gaze fell on me. “Don’t even think about it. Zarek wants to add my unique talents to the Coletti gene pool. Do you really want to piss him off?”

  No.” A tentacle plucked me off the rock and pinned me against his slimy hide. “Ewww! You’re all gooey and what is that smell? Nausea rose in my throat. I think I’m gonna puke.”

  “That smell is my cells dying, Adan replied.

  “Dying? Shit! I thought Katanic shapeshifters were extremely hard to kill.”

  “We are, but the weapons they used on me in my human form did considerable damage. The being that calls himself the Thunder God has been draining my energy, keeping me too weak to escape. Without proper food I cannot regenerate.”

  “This Thunder God has a lot to answer for.”

  “He is mine to kill!” Adan thundered.

  I held up my hands. “Ok. He’s all yours. What do the Tomb Raiders want?”

  “The treasure and the Overlord’s personal security codes.”

  “Yeow! They could do some serious damage with those.”

  “I would never put Detja in danger.”

  “Detja? As in Zarek’s mate?”

  “She is my daughter.”

  God, he stunk. I tried breathing through my mouth. “Gotta say, I don’t see a family resemblance.”

  “She is the daughter of my heart.”

  I guess that meant he had adopted Detja. I’d love to hear that story but from the other side of an energy field. “Luke Air Force Base is holding about three hundred Rodan prisoners. Would they get you back to full strength?”

  Adan’s body trembled. “Yes.”

  “Great. You can go munch on them and I’ll head back to my truck.”

  “You are a feeble human without any weapons. Zarek would be annoyed if anything happened to you.”

  “Not your problem. Just get me out of this cavern and we’re even.” A boot kicked me in the ribs. Ouch! I twisted around and noticed there were body parts moving inside Adam. “Holy crap! They’re still alive!”

  “Yes, it will take some of them days to die,” Adan gloated.

  “Oh ick.”

  An incandescent orange light formed around us.

  I shielded my eyes. “What’s that?”

  “The way out.”

  “If it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll stay here. Really. Let go of me!”

  The light spun faster and faster and faster until it became a vortex. Slurppp! We were sucked inside. It was like going from zero to warp drive in five seconds flat. The horrific, twisting funnel of energy rocketed us across a weird black void.

  I clung to Adan and did a great imitation of a Barbie. I was still screaming when the vortex spat us out on a tarmac. I shuddered as the world spun wildly around me. It was hard to breathe. I couldn’t feel my face and I was covered in goopy, green slime.

  Adan pushed me away. “Hide.”

  “What?” I wiped the crap out of my eyes.

  “Hide! Now!”

  I blinked to clear my vision and sucked in a horrified breath. A horde of Rodan warriors were closing in on me. “Are you fucking nuts?”

  Adan was too busy stuffing the monsters down his gullet to reply.

  I threw up a nothing here illusion and backed away. To me the Rodan look like a rat who had mated with a T-Rex. They stood about five feet tall, had black armor-plated skin and used their tails as a weapon. Like the Tai-Kok, the Rodan were always hungry.

  A Coletti electro-fence surrounded the pen with dozens of automated laser canons strategically placed along the barrier. One wrong move and zap! I would be incinerated.

  Sniffing like a bloodhound, a Rodan lunged for me, I jumped to one side and he crashed into the fence. Zap! The monster was instantly cremated.

  The wind changed. I grimaced as I got a good whiff of myself. The odor of rotting flesh would send most people running, but not the Rodan. Oh no. It was like waving a red flag at a bull.

  Another monster seized my arm. I slipped out of his grip like a greased pig. No matter how many times he grabbed me, he couldn’t hang on to me. Who knew being coated in goo had an upside?

  Adan’s tentacles were still stuffing Rodan after Rodan down his cavernous jaws.

  “I could use some help here!”

  Adan nabbed a Rodan getting ready to pounce on me.

  “How about you just toss me over the fence?”

  “The las
er cannons would reduce you to ash,” Adan replied.

  “That’s better than being eaten alive.” It was like a horrible game of slip and slide. A Rodan would grab an arm or leg and I’d squirt out of their grip. There was only one person who could save me. I screamed with every ounce of power I had, “Ethan! I need help now!”

  Ethan, Zarek, Voss and several other Coletti warriors appeared outside the fence.

  “Get me out of here,” I yelled, dodging another Rodan.

  Thirty seconds later, Ethan teleported in, scooped me up and poof! We were outside the fence. The color drained from his face. Dumping me on my feet, Ethan backed away. “Good God. Did you fall in a sewer?”

  I planted my hands on my hips and glared at him. “No. I got this lovely smell from Adan. I want my bracelet and weapons back. Now!”

  “Once Voss has made alterations to your bracelet, you’ll get it back.”

  “What kind of alterations?”

  “He’s adding a direct link to Central Command and General Jones.”

  I gave him the stink-eye. “Why would I need those?”

  “You’re my mate.”

  “And the joy continues.” I spotted a water hose, stomped over to it and turned it on.

  Ethan took the hose from me. “You are now a member of the Coletti family, and we take care of our own. Never doubt that.”

  “You forgot to mention the swell fangs and a DNA do-over.”

  Ethan shrugged and turned the hose on me. “Once you become Coletti you’ll be stronger, harder to kill. You can teleport out of any dangerous situation. Any injuries you do receive will heal faster. You might even live to be a thousand.”

  I rubbed the goo off my face as the water poured down. “With my luck, I doubt I’ll make it to Sunday.”

  “I’m taking you to the Jones clan compound. You’ll be safe there,” Ethan said, scrubbing at the slime coating my hair.

  “One whiff of me and they’ll kick me out.”

  “Shrek has some of Detja’s special soap. Once you bathe with it, the smell will be gone,” Zarek said.

  I raised my eyes heavenward. “Praise the Lord.”

  His gaze focused on Adan, Zarek asked, “Where did you find Adan?”

  “Didn’t Granny Annabel tell you where I was?”

  “She couldn’t maintain her form and we only got bits and pieces of what she was trying to tell us,” Ethan answered.