Fredrico’s face went stark white. His hand convulsed on his friend’s side. “No, Veknor.”
“He is so near.” The Overlord inhaled with obvious enjoyment, like a hound scenting a meat roast. “So very near. So very perfect.”
Veknor lifted his head and looked at Fredrico. Rani saw the greyness around his mouth, the drawn look of pain on his face. He was dying. Fredrico’s dearest friend, the space pirate who was so much a mystery to her, was dying.
Dying because he’d helped her. He’d helped Fredrico.
She’d caused all this. Her gaze flicked down to Fredrico’s face and she saw the agony in his eyes, the wet sheen, the tightness of his lips, the pain and torment of knowing what The Overlord meant to do to his friend... his friend, as close to him as his brother.
“Veknor,” she whispered. “Veknor, don’t...”
Those dark eyes looked hazily at her. “I must.”
Fredrico swallowed hard, but not one word passed his lips.
“Fredrico!” Rani grabbed his hand at her waist and squeezed. “Fredrico, you can’t let him do this.”
“He has no choice in this,” Veknor panted, more blood spilling from his mouth.
“Veknor, no.” She heard her own voice break. When had she started to care about the ebony space pirate? Or Fredrico, with his pained eyes and tightly pressed lips? “This is my fault. It’s I who should do this, not you.”
“No!” Fredrico barked it out harshly, his gaze lifting to bore into her eyes. “Now be quiet.”
“You can’t let him - ”
“Be quiet!” His words lashed out, making her flinch, and she tried to step back, only to feel his fingers dig painfully into her side. “Be still,” Fredrico continued, his teeth clenched. “Stay very, very still.”
His gaze was locked with hers and she felt something intangible pass between them.
::Listen to him. You must listen. Everything you know, everything you have learned, is in the hands of Veknor at this very second. The very future rests with him. Listen to Fredrico. Listen!::
Shaken, she looked at Veknor, meeting his dark-eyed gaze, and slowly she nodded.
“Your loyalty to Fredrico and Veknor, and their loyalty to you, ties you together,” the Overlord stated in low voice that still rumbled threateningly. “Veknor’s loyalty to me will tie all three of you to me. There is power in numbers, and that power is mine.” Reaching out, he touched one massive finger to Veknor’s head, while with his other hand he negligently swatted Fredrico and Rani aside.
Stumbling sideways, Rani was knocked to the ground, Fredrico landing atop her. She registered the now freezing ground beneath her and the heat of Fredrico’s body above her. But it wasn’t comforting, not when she looked up into ruthless blue eyes that burned with a combination of fury and sadness.
Fredrico swung up off her, his hand catching hold of her upper arm to drag her upright. In one savage movement he pulled her around to face the spectacle playing out before them. “You need to watch,” he said harshly. “Veknor is my friend, my brother in all but blood. Your choice brought us to this. The least you can do is watch.”
Rani wished to God she couldn’t see a thing, but there was no dragging her gaze from Veknor and The Overlord.
Veknor stood stretched upright, his boot tips barely touching the ground. Arms down by his side, his head arched back under The Overlord’s finger.
The darkness around them got denser, and power permeated the air. Dark power, darker than her own and Fredrico’s, darker than Veknor’s. Dark as only a Dark Mystic’s power could be, and it was filling the air.
The Overlord simply watched Veknor, his mouth moving as he spoke words too hushed for her to hear. But she heard the sounds of something slipping around the darkness, a slither of the unseen, a faint roar.
“Open,” The Overlord coaxed. “Open to my power, Veknor.”
Slowly, so slowly, Veknor obeyed, his mouth opening, his dark eyes shining in the dull light.
“Accept it,” The Overlord said, and then he roared, “all of it!”
Tipping his head back, The Overlord opened his mouth, and the power source came out in a stream of red and black, hot and fiery and pure evil. It poured from his mouth and in a sharp, torching arrow, it forced its way into Veknor’s mouth, stretching it wide, making his throat swell and writhe as though something living were forcing itself down his throat.
And it was. Living, pure evil was pouring down his throat, and Rani could almost feel the heat scorching through her own airways, down her trachea, curling around her heart. Invading every cell and tunnelling into her mind. Falling to her knees, she held her head in both hands as she felt the fiery fingers of evil seep into her brain, power surging, knowledge spreading, horror and -
Nothing. There was nothing. Gasping, she braced one hand on the ground and looked around to see Fredrico on his knees near her, his blue eyes shining with unshed tears as he watched his friend so helplessly. She felt his pain, his sadness, his utter desolation at losing the one person who meant so much to him.
As he lost him to pure evil.
Instinctively she reached out to him, touching his shoulder, all the time expecting his rejection. Instead, his own hand came up to cover hers, pressing her palm against his shoulder, squeezing her hand until it pained, but not once did she protest or pull away.
The sole cause of this whole catastrophe, the least she could do was give him comfort in any way he needed.
Triumphant screams echoed in the cavern, roaring filled the air as The Overlord took his finger from Veknor’s head and watched him lift into the air. Higher and higher Veknor rose and then he started turning slowly. Black smoke engulfed him, red flashes searing through it, and he spun faster and faster until he was just a blur of red and black.
His scream shattered the air, pealing out above even the roars, and The Overlord tipped his head back and laughed in pure enjoyment.
“Oh, God,” Fredrico whispered. “Veknor.”
Demons spilled from the darkness, Ethmor at Rani’s back with Dreden beside it. They looked adoringly up at the blur, their tusks gleaming, saliva dripping from their jagged teeth.
The red flashed and the blur of darkness slowed enough to show it was a robe shot through with red. A hooded robe. It lowered until the figure within stood upright before The Overlord.
The hood hid Veknor’s face, only his hands sh K hio wowing from the robe sleeves. He inclined his head to The Overlord.
“Veknor,” The Overlord said and he swung one hand out to the demons waiting in the darkness. “Behold, my Dark Mystic. Behold, your new master.”
The roaring shattered the deathly quietness. Frozen in spot, Rani watched as one by one the demons roared their approval and fell to one knee, their heads bowed as they paid homage to their new master.
Veknor didn’t move or speak. His hooded head inclined and then turned in the direction of Fredrico and Rani. She felt his gaze like a razor scouring down her back, and she didn’t know whether to scream, cry or swear, so she fell back on her usual reaction. “Shit. Shit, shit, shit!”
The Overlord laughed, and a clap of thunder shook the air. The world went grey, tilted, and then she found herself kneeling on the cold stones of what had once been Phemar’s stone, cavernous room. Blinking, she looked around to find Fredrico getting shakily to his feet and she pushed upright quickly, her abrupt movement making her head swim.
A steadying hand on her arm had her gaze jerking up, and she found herself looking into the shadowed depths of Veknor’s hood. She couldn’t make out his features, the unnatural darkness of the hood making it impossible, but she did catch the brief twin flashes of red that betrayed his eyes.
It made her go cold.
It made her glad that she was so numb from the shocks of the last several hours that she didn’t fall down and bawl like a baby. Numbness had its uses.
Veknor released her and moved to stand before Fredrico. They looked at each other, Fredrico’s face so grim.
“No matter what,” Fredrico said quietly, his voice steady, “I’ll always be your friend, Veknor.”
There was silence for several seconds before Veknor nodded slightly and moved back. Where he’d stood was a single drop of red blood.
Did being a dark mystic now mean he’d rot as Phemar had done? God, Rani hoped not.
“Very nice.” The Overlord leaned his milky white hands on the head of his sceptre while he sat in his throne and watched him. The monster was back to being his normal, small, alien self. “What a lesson we have all learned. I am well pleased.”
“I don’t understand,” Rani said hoarsely, and cleared her throat. “Why do you need a dark mystic when you’re so powerful?”
“Yours is not to question but to accept.” The Overlord studied her and Fredrico while Veknor moved to stand slightly behind his throne. “Much has changed here. Fredrico, you have a tie to this warrior. The development of that tie will be most interesting to see. Your powers combined are awesome. I shall have to handle it carefully, for how much power there is, is not yet ascertained. But it will mean well for me. Rani.” His gaze swept her coolly, though his eyes held a nasty gleam. “You have seen things you never thought you’d see.”
“Hell,” she managed.
“Hell?” He laughed. “That was nowhere near Hell. Hell is worse. Satan rules Hell, and I am nowhere near as good, or shall we say bad, as that. What you saw was just a little, shall we say, taste? But it has had an effect on you, all that power.”
“My fingertips still hurt, if that’s what you mean.” Her reeling thoughts took
refuge in sarcasm.
“Oh, more than that, Reeka. Your eyes have been opened to what Keneugereally lies outside this room. You’ll be able to see the real faces of those who dwell here. My little gift to you.”
Fredrico’s sharpened gaze swung between Rani and The Overlord. “Does she really need to see?”
“Yes.” The Overlord flicked his fingers in boredom. “Go now. I need to spend time with my dark mystic.”
A muscle clenched in Fredrico’s jaw but he turned without a word and walked to the door, crowding Rani so that she had either to go ahead of him or fight to stay.
Relieved at being able to leave the loathsome presence of The Overlord and the sad change of Veknor, she allowed herself to be herded out. Once the door closed behind them, she turned around to face Fredrico. “I’m so sorry.”
His cold gaze didn’t reveal his thoughts, and his voice was harsh. “Concentrate on what is to come, for I warn you now, it’s going to be unpleasant.”
Chapter 9
Bounty Hunters’ Ship
Abra listened with half an ear as Sabra swore and cursed over the viscomm. To say that his young friend, who was almost like a daughter to him, was not pleased was putting it mildly. To say that he wasn’t worried was perfectly true. So he let her blow off steam and thought about Ceri, wondering where she was and what she was doing.
“I can’t believe you actually let her walk!” Sabra shoved back out of view and immediately came back into view again, slamming her hands on the desk. “How could you?”
“Huh,” he said. Ceri was probably well into the Outlaw Sector now.
“You know I needed to talk to her!”
“Hmm.” How far in she was made him a little concerned.
“I want to know where the cave is that she was frozen in!”
“Yep.” He had no doubt Ceri could hold her own against the scum that walked the Outlaw Sector.
“I want to know what happened to her sister!”
“Sure.” But she was alone and searching for a warrior who was in all likelihood long dead.
“Are you listening to me?”
“Uh-huh.” How long would Ceri go on looking before she finally gave up?
“I know that look on your face, Abra! You’re not listening to me!”
“Hmm.” Would she eventually return to the Lawful Sector? Would Ceri come home?
“Damn it, Abra!”
“Yep.” When would Ceri come home? And why did he care?
“Abra!”
Sabra’s bellow finally caught his attention and he raised his brows at her. “What?”
Those cobalt eyes practically spat fire. “You let her go!”
“She’s not an outlaw so I don’t have the authority to keep her.”
“She’s wanted for questioning by the Security!”
“Does Reya know that?” He didn’t bother to hide his amusement.
“Reya knows I’m interested in what happened to Ceri.” Sabra’s lips tightened.
“But does she know Security is interested?”
“She knows we need to know what happened.”
Abra laughed outright.
“Damn it, Abra! This could be a Security concern! And you stuffed me up!”
“Sabra, you and I both know I have no interest in what Security or anyone else thinks. If it’s in my best interest to keep Ceri, I’d have done so, but it wasn’t, and I didn’t.”
“Why, you - ”
“She didn’t have a bounty on her head, she wanted to go, and in my opinion she had a right to leave as a free woman. She is free, isn’t she?” he added slyly.
Sabra fumed.
“And don’t give me lip, girl.” Abra pointed at her. “I helped raise you. Don’t make me come and give you a lesson in respecting your elders.”
Her reply was a rude gesture.
“You must have learned that from some of your more dubious friends.”
“I learned that from you.”
Abra grinned widely. “At least you remember something useful.”
“Damn it, Abra! How can I do my job if you won’t help me?”
“Now you know very well I’ll help you any way I can, but when it comes to anything outside personal life, and you’re not going to be directly affected, then, honey child, ol’ Abra does what he pleases.”
“You are such an arse!”
“Keep giving me lip and I’ll have a little chat with Cam about him allowing you to get out of hand.”
Sabra’s look was dirty. “No one keeps me in hand, as you well know.”
“Spoken like a woman who learned from the best.” Abra winked. “Now be a good little security officer and leave us bounty hunters to do our work. Night, sweetie, I’ll see you soon.” He flicked the viscomm off, ignoring her swearing, and laughed.
Sabra would never change. Loyal to a fault, stubborn, and unafraid of anyone. She made him proud. And knowing her as well as he did, Abra had no doubt she’d get her temper under control fast and try to find another way of tracking down Ceri. Sabra didn’t waste time on things that couldn’t be changed.
Leaning back in the chair, he contemplated the viscomm. What had surprised him was Reya’s response to his news that he’d taken Ceri to the outskirts of the Outlaw Settlement and let her go. She’d looked thoughtful for several seconds, her cold eyes giving nothing of her thoughts away, and then she’d thanked him for looking after Ceri and had simply turned off the viscomm.
You had to admire that cold-hearted bitch. She never wasted words or actions.
Looking out through the space shield, he wondered again where Ceri was and what she was doing. If nothing else, he hoped she was safe.
~ * ~
The Accelis
She felt the anguish of her sister, felt the pull of their bonds, and Ceri tried to awaken but each Sken antime she was lulled back under into sleep by the deep, soothing, male voices. Tendrils of nothingness wove around her, so many entities that touched her and stroked her, pushing the fear and worry away, allowing her to float out on a tide of peace.
But deep inside a little spark remained aware that something wasn’t right.
~*~
Witches
“The balance has shifted.” Beulah looked up at the moon riding high in the sky, seeing the orange streak that flared through it briefly before vanishing. “It has been done.”
~ * ~<
br />
Learta moved to the porthole and looked out at the moon. She saw the orange streak and felt the pull. Deep inside her a spark flared and she knew what had to be done.
Moving across to the big bed, she touched the shoulder of her husband.
Ever vigilant even in sleep, Cormac immediately awoke. “Learta?”
“We need to go home,” she said softly.
“Aw, shit.”
“Cormac…”
With a sigh, her ex-bounty hunter husband put his arm around her and drew her down beside him. Brushing his lips across her brow, he whispered, “As long as you remember I’m only going because I love you.”
She smiled.
~ * ~
Inner Sanctum of the Outlaw Sector
Overlord’s Fortress
Rani stared at the first person she met. She knew her, had seen the serving woman many times since she’d come to the Overlord’s fortress, but this woman looked the same yet somehow different.
A vicious demeanour overlaid the pleasant face. Over the blue eyes glowed red eyes, from the smiling mouth lolled a flickering tongue that slapped at the air, and her small white teeth were now sharp with fangs. A spirit face spread over the original. Rani could see both, the normal face and the spirit face.
“What the hell?” Startled, she took a step back.
The serving woman stared at her. “Miss?”
Behind her came one of the guards and his features, already brutal, were twisted with malignance. The spirit face was harsher, the eyes glittering with cruelty, his straight torso overlaid with twistedness.
Rani was certain she’d finally gone mad. Her gaze shifted to a child who ran along the hallway, laughing. Over top of the child lay a gruesome beast that snarled and snapped at everything around it.
“Your gift,” Fredrico said from behind her, “is to truly see who lives here. You see past their normal appearance to what truly resides inside these people. You see who and what they really are.”
“I don’t understand.” She glanced down the corridor, hearing the now familiar screams. “They aren’t really people?”
“Oh, they are.” Fredrico’s voice was bitter. “But you’re seeing below the surface now. You’re seeing their souls.”
Shattered Soul Page 26
