I continued my movements toward the cage. It was hard to walk when I thought about moving all four of my cat legs, but if I just thought about moving in a direction, the limbs seemed to work naturally. My tail even moved to counterbalance each of my four steps, and the sensation made me feel as if I could run as fast as the wind with ease.
There was dried blood in the cage, and I let my tongue roll out of my mouth to taste the floor. The lick returned thousands of sensations, memories, and emotions to my brain, and I felt my mind reel. I could make little sense of the tastes, so I took another lick to see if I could learn more.
The blood tasted like mine, only it was different. It was female.
I heard a growl behind me, and I turned to face a black cat about twice my size. The monster had two glowing red eyes, and its fur seemed to pull all the light from the room so that the creature looked to be only a shadow.
It growled again, and its lips curled back to show that it didn’t have teeth beyond twin fangs. A long forked tongue rolled out of its mouth to flick across the floor. It took a step toward me, and the intent of the monster was apparent.
It wanted to consume me, just as it had done to the others.
I didn’t wait for the monster to prepare itself. I felt the endless power in my rear legs, and I launched myself toward the creature. My leap carried me through the air with the speed of a bullet, and my claws tore into the flank of the shadowcat as if it was made of paper.
The beast roared and turned its jaw around to try to get at my throat. I was quicker though, and I managed to roll across its back. My enemy’s teeth closed around empty air, but the sound of its gnashing fangs convinced me that a single bite would rip me in half.
Even though the monster didn’t have more than two teeth.
I held my position on the back of the creature, and my front claws dug into its flesh like snow picks. It tried to buck me free, or turn to bite me again, but I was latched on, and it could not twist around to sink its fangs into me.
I let loose with my rear claws and did a frantic slashing dance. The shadowcat screamed with agony when I started to rip into it, and I got a good dozen rips with each limb before it figured out that it could dislodge me by rolling on its back.
I released my claws and jumped free before the larger cat could crush me under its weight. My movement almost landed me on the creature’s belly, but that would have allowed my opponent to hook me with its front claws while it ripped me to shreds, so I just paced away from the dark monster.
The shadowcat finished its roll and came to its feet carefully. I could tell its back was seriously wounded from my attack, but the monster’s eyes didn’t indicate any pain. The red eyes were just filled with hate, and we circled each other for a few moments.
Its tongue touched the ground and then twisted in the air like a sentient slug. Then the pink thing rolled back into the monster’s mouth and the cat’s muscles tensed. I guessed it would leap at me, and I coiled my own legs to jump out of the way.
We both leapt at the same time, and I heard the monster’s jaws snap on empty air. I pivoted as soon as my paws touched the ground and jumped toward where I thought the creature would have landed. My guess had been correct, and I plowed into the shadowcat’s shoulder. The neck of the thing was impossibly large, but I opened my jaws as wide as I could and sank my teeth into its throat.
The black beast let out a growl of rage that vibrated through my teeth and shook my tail. It tried to roll, but I stretched out my tiger body as long as I could so it couldn’t gain any leverage. Then the shadow cat reached out with its left claw and ripped the blades across my stomach. I felt my blood and intestines pour out of the wound, but the pain did not come.
I squeezed my jaws harder and tasted the creature’s hate pouring forth from its blood. It tasted like death. Like rancid meat left out in the sun for so long that even the flies didn’t want it.
I squeezed my jaws tighter.
The monster made another slash with its claws, and I felt part of my front right shoulder cut loose. Hot blood poured out of my body, and the agony from both cuts finally pierced my mind.
I clenched my jaws again, and the creature’s growl of anger turned into a whimper. Then I felt my teeth crush its bone, and the monster’s body sagged.
We collapsed together, and the pain overwhelmed my senses. I was dying, but I didn’t care. I’d killed the monster. It would do no more murdering now. Perhaps I was too late to save the many that had been in these cages, but there would be no more victims.
I heard a whisper and opened my eyes. There was a woman standing ten meters from me, and I pulled my mouth off the shadowcat so I could get a better look at her. She was beautiful. As beautiful as Eve, but while my friend’s hair was a dark shade of obsidian, this woman’s hair was a platinum blonde. She wore a black lace dress that was more of an idea than an actual garment. It didn’t really conceal her nipples or the slit of her entrance between her legs.
Her eyes also glowed red.
She held her hand out toward me, and I realized that I was no longer a tiger. My arms were human, and I pushed them against the corpse of the shadow monster so that I could stand. I stepped toward her, and she was standing closer to me now.
“Who are--” I started to ask, but she opened her mouth to speak.
“Eye yah. Eye yah. Eyyy,” she whispered, and her outstretched hand caressed my cheek.
“Are you--” I started to ask, but the woman’s other hand had come up to trace the shape of my mouth.
Then she pulled me toward her, and our lips met.
The kiss filled all of my senses. Her mouth was warm, gentle, and soft. Our tongues met and danced together, and she tasted of the sweetest honey. Or maybe it was fruit.
Or maybe it was life.
My hands circled her waist, and I pulled her almost naked body against mine. She let out a moan the filled my lungs and made my legs shake with desire. Her hands were at the back of my head, and my hands were cupping her firm ass. I was drunk off her, and I never wanted to stop drinking.
But then our lips parted, and we both sighed with our own desires.
“Eye yahhh, eye yahh. Yah?” she raised a blonde eyebrow, and I saw she had black feathered wings. Each feather was laced with strands of silver that matched the color of her hair.
“Adam?” I heard Eve’s voice, and I turned to look at the strange woman I held in my arms.
“Adam?” I heard Eve call again.
The woman in my arms rubbed her fingers across my cheek again, and she opened her mouth to speak.
“Adam?”
“What? Where?” I asked as my eyes opened. I was clutching a pillow to my chest, and I recognized the ceiling of my quarters.
“You were growling in your sleep,” Eve said, and I turned to face the woman.
“I had a dream. Or maybe it was a nightmare.” I said.
“Oh?” she asked as she leaned toward me. She was still wearing her gray and black striped unitard suit. Had I just dreamed of Eve? I remembered her eyes in my dream.
“Yeah. I’m… I think there was a black cat in it,” I said as I tried to remember. “And a woman.”
“A cat? A woman? What were they doing?” she asked.
“Uhh. I think I fought the cat. How long have I been asleep?” I asked as I gestured to the IV taped to my arm. I saw pieces of my armor on the floor of my room, and my suit had been peeled from my arms and chest so that it hung around my waist.
“Twenty Earth hours. What did the cat look like? What about the woman?” Eve asked.
“The cat was black. I think. The woman… Damn. I don’t remember. I think it was you.” I knew there was a woman. I recalled kissing her passionately, but I couldn’t remember anything about her besides the red eyes and amazing beauty. It had probably been Eve. “I’m forgetting already. Just a dream. Probably not that important.”
“Dreams are important. They are messages from our souls,” the dark woman said with a smile, and I
realized she was probably reading my mind and knew that I’d dreamt of her.
“Maybe, or maybe I was just really damn tired. I feel fine now. Thanks for saving us,” I said as I sat up and reached the IV needle in my arm.
“Of course, I will always come to you. As you will always protect me.” Eve reached to my arm and helped me pull the needle out. “Even in your dreams, you can call on me for whatever you need.”
“What if I need you as--”
“Shhh,” she interrupted me. “I want the same as you. There will be time for it when our crew is established.”
“That’s some motivation for hiring some people.” I chuckled. Then I looked at the empty bags hanging from the stand near my bed. “I think we are going to need more saline drip bags. I seem to use one or two of these every day.”
“There are plenty in the medical bay, do not worry.”
“What is the status outside of the ship? How are Jatal and his army? What of Alloprize?” I asked.
“Jatal lost ten men during the escape from the carrier. We have captured a handful of the Alloprize soldiers. They are in the brig, and Jatal is questioning them. We’ve also taken three of their land vehicles. Each of the trucks contains explosives for blowing tunnels and extra ammo we can use.”
“That is good news. What is our location?” I asked as I stood. My boots were still on, but all of my armor was clean. I wondered if Z and Eve and thrown me in the shower while my clothes were on.
“We are landed on the opposite side of the moon from the majority of Alloprize’s forces. They have told us that they are going to shell the main tunnels where the Children of Rah are hiding unless we surrender to them,” Eve explained.
“They are grasping at straws. They can’t continue with a siege if they don’t have their fleet support,” I said as I pulled my suit up over my arms.
“I believe the situation might be more complicated. We should speak to Jatal and Z,” Eve said as she helped me attach the armor to the upper part of my shoulders. Her touch brought a shiver of pleasure down my spine, and I felt my body warm.
“Do you read my thoughts all the time?” I asked as her fingers linger on my shoulder.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Perhaps I should not but, I feel as though your thoughts are sometimes my own. It is not fair to you, my Adam.”
“Not fair?”
“I have my own thoughts, but you do not. I am sorry.”
“I don’t mind. You know what I think of you?”
“Yes,” she whispered, and her red eyes seemed to twinkle.
“Maybe that is why you keep reading my thoughts?” I asked with a chuckle.
“Perhaps it is.” Her mouth matched my smile, and she let out a long sigh. “I made a promise.”
“A promise?” I asked as my hands reached for hers.
“When I was alone in the tube. Well, I was not alone. I had my agony, my hate, and my despair. Much as you did, Adam.”
“Yeah,” I sighed.
“We fill each other’s empty places. I want you as you want me. It would be so easy for us to fly Persephone anywhere in the universe. We are both powerful, and we could take what we wanted from whomever we want, just as these governments and corporations do. We could not care about helping others, and spend our days and nights wrapped around each other as we traveled endless light years.”
“Yeah,” I pulled her toward me and I wished that I didn’t have the armor attached to my skin tight suit so I could feel her body against mine.
“But that isn’t the promise I made. You know that. We must help people. We should have died hundreds of times, and we might die tomorrow. If we don’t help people, who will?”
“There are others,” I said, but the words rang hollow in my room.
“You don’t believe that. There are others, but we are the smallest of stars. You will help because you are a good man, with honor that will inspire others. Look at Z, she lived the life of a data thief, but now she is helping to free an entire moon. This is what you can do for the galaxy.”
“I don’t think I am as important as you seem to believe I am,” I said with a chuckle.
“You are to me, and you are to Z. We would both be dead without you,” Eve whispered, and I felt her fingers massage the back of my neck.
“I can say the same about the both of you,” I said.
“We are a family. Let us finish our work with Jatal and his people. Then we shall return to Wayne for our payment and take vengeance on Cynthia. Afterwards, we shall find a crew for Persephone.”
“Okay, we do have a lot of work ahead of us,” I said as I released the beautiful woman from my arms.
She didn’t move away from me, and her fingers ran across my cheek in a way that felt familiar. “There will be a time for rest, and then I will want to act upon the thoughts you have up here.” Eve grinned as her fingers traced a line up to my skull.
“That’s a good enough reward for me.” I laughed. “Let’s go meet with Jatal and Z.”
The ebony-haired beauty followed me out of my room, and we walked to the bridge. Z was sitting in the pilot’s seat, and she smiled at me when she saw me.
“Hey, Captain. How ya feeling?” the blonde woman asked.
“Good. Can you get Jatal up here?”
“You got it,” Z said as she pressed a few buttons on the terminal in front of her and asked Jatal to report to the bridge.
It took a minute for the blue-eyed man to reach the bridge. He looked rested, and his purple cloak was cleaner than I remembered.
“Adam, good to see you. We were worried about your health.” He reached his hand out to me, and I grasped it firmly.
“I’m fine. Thanks for your concern. Let’s plan our next step,” I said as we turned to the map. “Is this our location?” I asked my friends as I pointed on the map.
“Aye, and here is the main Alloprize force,” Z said as she gestured over the map. The image zoomed out and then zoomed back in over a satellite image of a large camp. Each vehicle was highlighted in red, and I saw that Persephone listed 83 on the side of the projection.
“How are you getting this image?” I asked.
“One of the soldiers we captured had a map unit. I was going to hack it, but Eve was able to tell me the passwords,” Z said as she smiled at the dark-haired woman. “Then I just pulled it into the map. Bam. We’ve got the same eyes that Alloprize has. Of course, they might figure it out soon and cut the signal.”
“They still have ten missile launchers,” Jatal said as he pointed to the units on the map. “It will be dangerous to approach head on.”
“I agree,” I said as I thought through the scenario. The counter to missiles in space was the same as in the atmosphere. We needed a crew to man the drones and guns before we sent Persephone against a bunch of missiles. Especially military grade warheads.
“Here are the main tunnels for my people,” Jatal said as he pointed at a spot on the map about a kilometer to the south of the perimeter of Alloprizes’s camp. “This is the side tunnel where we first met you.” He pointed to the east about half a kilometer. “They found out about this cave when you landed, but they don’t know how far our anthill goes. They are shelling here.” Jatal pointed a bit south of the cave. “And here.” He pointed really close to the main tunnel. “The issue is they’ve closed off the escape route here. My people are trapped, and we only have a week’s worth of water and almost no food stored in this location. We really needed that shipment from Wayne.”
“They don’t know exactly where your people are, but they are getting close,” I summarized.
“Yes. You have already helped us so much. I feel terrible about ask--”
“We were the ones who brought the enemy to your gate,” I said.
“You didn’t know. I believe that. This isn’t your war. I can understand if you want to blast off. We can--”
“We’ll help you. Whatever you need, my friend.” I smiled at him, and the man let out a thankful sigh.
&
nbsp; “Thank you again. If we can win this, I will give you whatever rhodium we can recover. We don’t have much that wasn’t in those crates, but hopefully, we can get most of it back from Alloprize.”
“Don’t worry about it. We’ll take whatever payment you can give us,” I said.
“There are almost a thousand armed fuckers in that camp and some serious hardware. There are only thirty of us, a trio of fighter craft, two shuttles, a handful of drones, and a ship that can’t get within a hundred kilometers. How in the hell are we going to stop them?” Z asked.
I stared at the map for a few moments and chewed on Z’s question. Well, it wasn’t really her question. I’d been thinking about it since Eve woke me and gave me a summary of the situation. We couldn’t fight because we were grossly outmatched. We couldn’t escape because Jatal’s people were trapped in the tunnels.
And the clock was ticking.
Chapter 16
We spent an hour throwing various ideas at each other while we looked over the map. None of them made a lot of sense, and I finally called for a break. Jatal had gone down to the hold to speak with his men, and Z had gotten the three of us glasses of water.
“Fuck, I’m getting hungry again. I kind of want to tear into the crate of food Cynthia gave us.”
“Shit, I forgot about that. You sure it is food?” I asked.
“Yeah. I opened it up as soon as we got you back into your room. Used a scanner to make sure there was nothing transmitting a signal. She probably wanted her men to stock our pantry with the stuff so she could take her first pleasure cruise as soon as they put bullets in our heads.”
“The exact opposite will happen as soon as we return.” Eve’s voice normally didn’t contain much emotion, but these words were filled with anger.
“Good,” Z said as she raised her water glass to toast the red-eyed woman.
“Eve, will you tell me about your powers?” I asked the vampire.
“My powers?” Her eyes met mine.
Space Witch: A Paranormal Space Opera Adventure (Star Justice Book 2) Page 15
