by Gail Koger
“I’ve never delivered a baby before.”
“I have,” Soulet advised calmly.
I asked hopefully, “A human baby?”
“No, but popping a soft skin from the birthing canal can’t be that difficult.”
A hysterical laugh escaped me. “Right. What possibly could go wrong?”
An engine warning light appeared on the console.
“Oh fuck! This ship is not crashing. Do you hear me?”
Hank winced and held up a placating hand. “Yes, we do.”
Soulet grinned. “We will not crash, little mother. The planet Centra is a good place to hide. Even soft skins can survive there.”
“Be still, my beating heart. But if it’s nothing but jungle or swamp, you’re turning this ship around. Been there. Done that.”
Hank patted my knee. “It’s a water world.”
I bared my fangs at him. “Don’t patronize me.”
He hastily withdrew his hand. “Wouldn’t think of it, ma’am. There are a bunch of islands we can take refuge on. We’ll be safe.”
“Safe? Hello, shit magnet here.” A gasp broke from me as a painful spasm contorted my belly. “I can’t have Thor now. Not with the Tai-Kok horde on our asses.”
Soulet pointed a medical scanner at me. “The baby comes, little mother.”
“Shit.” I sucked in a deep breath and rode out the tearing agony.
“Scared!” Thor cried.
Haki scurried down to my stomach. “You hatching. Eat through egg.”
“NO! Human babies aren’t hatched. No eating.” What happened to my easy delivery in sick bay?
Little emerald eyes peered up at me. “How Thor come out?”
I so did not want to have the birds-and-the-bees talk with him.
Hank petted Haki. “That’s a lesson for another time. You need to keep Thor calm. Can you do that?”
“Me can.” Haki hopped up and down on my belly. “We play.”
“Oh, God.” My abdomen tightened into a contorted ball. I hissed in pain.
“Breathe through it,” Hank coached.
I glared at him. “Don’t talk to me.”
Atmospheric turbulence buffeted the ship. The view screen showed scummy black water whipped into a frenzy by what had to be a class-four typhoon.
“Don’t tell me. It’s hurricane season?”
“It is,” Soulet answered cheerfully.
“Fuck.”
Chapter Three
Steep white cliffs rose out of the crashing onyx waves. With some slick maneuvering, Soulet managed to squeeze her fighter into a massive cavern on the east side of the island.
She gave me a rather frightening smile. “This planet has several million islands. The chances of the Tai-Kok finding us before the Coletti and Askole battle fleet arrive is very slight.”
“Gosh, I feel so much better now.” I took a deep breath and fought down my growing fear. It was never that easy. I knew I was behaving badly, but dammit, I needed Talree. Here. Now. Not a zillion miles away.
Haki scampered wildly from one side of my stomach to the other.
Thor swatted playfully at Haki.
Wonderful. The kids were playing “Tag! You’re it.”
Hank chuckled at Haki’s antics.
The sensation of impending doom was growing stronger and stronger. I knew we were in danger. Fighting back a scream as a nauseating wave of agony twisted my innards, I turned to Soulet. “I want you to cleanse the Drakash from my body.”
Soulet shook her head. “I cannot.”
My temper flared to life, and I shouted, “I need my Siren abilities back. Now!”
“The risk to your little warrior is too great.”
Tears rolled down my cheeks. “God, I’m totally helpless. I can’t protect myself. I can’t protect Thor or Haki.”
“I’ll protect you,” Hank stated firmly.
“I am her protector,” Soulet growled.
Hank narrowed his eyes. “I made a promise to Talree. One I intend to keep.”
Soulet snapped, “I also took an oath.”
Great, the last thing I needed was a brawl breaking out. I screamed bloody blue murder and clutched my stomach. Just like that, I had both my bodyguards’ undivided attention.
A startled Haki scooted up to my nose. “Why scream?”
“An elephant is trying to squeeze its way out of my uterus,” I hissed.
“What elephant?”
Hank plucked Haki off my nose and put him on my head. “Aunt Kaylee is joking.”
“Like hell I am.”
Soulet quickly ran the medical scanner over me. “The baby is positioned correctly in the birth canal.”
A worried frown creasing Hank’s forehead, he asked, “Can we give her anything for the pain?”
I shook my head. “That’s not a good idea yet. Soulet, can you cleanse the Drakash from Hank? We’ll need his ability to teleport.”
Hank perked up. “She can fix me?”
“Yes, but it hurts. A lot,” I answered him.
Hank walked over to Soulet and ordered arrogantly, “Do it.”
Her lips curled in a feral smile. “As you command.”
What a dumb ass. Pissing off an Askole female was never a good idea. Her claws could turn you into sushi within thirty seconds flat.
Soulet stood. She towered over Hank by a good foot. Her tentacles latched on to Hank’s head and neck.
Hank’s face paled dramatically, and he sucked in a shuddering breath. “Sonovabitch.”
Without an ounce of sympathy, I snipped, “Now you know what childbirth feels like.”
Clamping his hands on Soulet’s shoulders, Hank looked her dead in the eye and snapped, “Give it your best shot.”
Oh my God. He did not just say that. “Uh, Hank, this is not really a good time to prove how big your balls are.”
“I can handle it,” Hank insisted.
“The male issued a challenge,” Soulet retorted sweetly.
“Don’t hurt him too badly. We need him.”
“Do we?”
“Yes, we do, unless you suddenly have the ability to teleport,” I added firmly.
“A valid point.” Soulet’s tentacles flexed.
A guttural cry broke from Hank, his eyes glazed over, and he crumpled to the floor.
Haki cried, “Hank killed?”
“No. Soulet, uh, fixed Uncle Hank.”
The baby Tabor shivered. “She fix me?”
“No, you don’t need fixing.” I winced as yet another contraction hit.
Thor announced, “Me want out. Protect you.”
I stroked my bulging stomach. “You are such a brave warrior, but it’s my job to protect you now.”
“Need out.”
“I know, honey, but it’s not time yet.”
A perimeter warning flashed across the tracking screen. Shit! I punched an icon. Well, wasn’t that just dandy. A Tai-Kok battle cruiser hung over Centra like a malevolent spider. Its red hull bristled with weapons. As I watched, a squadron of marauders launched from the ship and spread out. “Houston, we have a problem.”
Soulet stepped over Hank’s body and examined the screen. “Today is a good day to die.”
“Say what?”
“That is the Donkal, the Tai-Kok high commander’s battle cruiser. It is equipped with the new Zenti tracking system. It will not take them long to find us. I will give my life—”
I abruptly cut her off. “No one is dying today. Got it? We run and we hide until Talree comes.”
“They will detect my ship.”
“We leave your ship here and rig it to blow. When the Tai-Kok show up, they get the surprise of their lives.”
Soulet gave a cackling laugh. “You think like an Askole.”
I rubbed my tattoo. “Tihar didn’t give me this because I’m pretty.”
Hank bolted upright. “What happened?”
I quickly gave him the 411. “Are you able to teleport now?”
My
Coletti bodyguard vanished and reappeared a few feet away. “Yes.”
With one tap, I brought up the navigation computer. There were a slew of islands we could hide on. “Will our bio-jammers keep the Tai-Kok from tracking us, Soulet?”
“Unknown.” She pointed to an island several hundred miles to the west. “That one has enough iridium to completely block their scanners.”
“Can you teleport that far with a passenger, Hank?”
“If there’s a problem, I can island hop,” he answered.
The cramp from hell seized my uterus. I doubled over. “Shit, I’m gonna have this baby without Talree.”
I gasped as my mate’s immense psychic power flooded the fighter.
Hank staggered back a step. His stance changed, and a fierce light filled his eyes. Talree’s voice sounded from Hank’s mouth. “No, you will not have the baby alone.”
Soulet pulled her laser pistol and jumped in front of me. “Who are you, and what have you done to the male?”
“I am Talree, Warlord of the Coletti clans. Put your weapon down.”
Dear God, I wasn’t hallucinating. “Talree?”
“Yes, my beloved Teka.”
I threw my arms around him. “It’s about time you got here.”
Talree hugged me gently. “I told you I would come for you.”
“Hijacking Hank’s body wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.”
“There are two auras,” Soulet said incredulously and lowered her laser pistol.
“Talree’s one of a kind,” I replied.
“I am Coletti,” Talree pronounced proudly.
I patted his chest. “Yes, you are. Did you hijack Hank with or without his permission?”
He cocked an imperious eyebrow.
“I was afraid of that. Will your body snatching leave any permanent damage?”
“If I stay in his mind too long, yes.” Talree’s gaze scanned the command console.
“How long is too long?”
“Two hours.”
“Me come out,” Thor declared.
I heard a pop, and a huge amount of fluid gushed from between my legs. “Fuck.”
The love of my life grabbed the medical scanner off the pilot’s chair and pointed it at me. “You’re in labor.”
The granddaddy of all charley horses grabbed my guts. “Gee, ya think?”
Talree mucked about in my head, and the pain vanished.
I let out a sigh of utter relief. “You’re definitely a keeper, my love, but fair warning; with the next baby, I’m chaining you to my side.”
Talree kissed my forehead. “You have my word that the Queen Bitch will suffer for what she has done.”
That was what I liked about the Colettis. When they made a promise, they kept it. “Dying is too easy for her. I want you to fry her powers. I want her demoted from Queen Bitch to a lowly breeder. You know, like the poor souls she forces to lay eggs over and over and over again?”
An evil smile curved Talree’s mouth. “A fitting punishment.”
“You bet your ass it is.”
Thor let out an excited cry. “Daddy!”
Talree joined minds with Thor. “My son, even now your abilities grow. Be strong for your mother. Our enemies are tracking us, and she will need your help to survive.”
“Me protect Momma.”
Over my dead body. Kicking off my boots, I tried to wiggle out of my wet leggings and toppled over backward.
Talree caught me. “I’ve got you.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck. “I really want to kiss you, but you’re seriously freaking me out with this body-snatching thing.”
My Warlord carefully placed me on a chair. “I do what is necessary to keep you and Thor safe.” He knelt and pulled off my leggings. “You are my life.”
“And you are mine.”
A warning flashed across the command console.
Soulet touched an icon. “The marauders are heading our way.”
“Then it’s a good thing we have a plan.” I quickly filled Talree in and pointed to the island.
Talree scooped me up. Poof. There was a fleeting moment of blackness, and we appeared in a small cavern. An eerie green glow came from a phosphorescent canopy of fungus. Translucent yellow leaves fluttered around the entrance. Other than a few soupy pools of water, the cave was empty.
My guy was awesome. Only the most powerful Warlords could pop into a place they had never been to before. A handy talent when it came to raiding your neighbors. I had tried to figure out how he did it, but the best I could come up with was that it was some kind of internal radar. “You’ve got to teach me that little trick.”
“I tried. Once. Never again.” Talree put me on a raised platform of white stone.
“But—”
Talree rudely cut me off. “If I hadn’t taken control of your mind, you would have materialized inside a wall.”
“With a little more practice, I know I could do it.”
“No. Stay put. I’ll be back.” He vanished.
I hated when he did the “me Warlord, you Jane” shit.
The desperate howling of the winds created a mournful melody. Oh yay. The typhoon seemed to be growing in strength.
“Me no like it here!” Haki wailed.
“Me either.”
“We leave now?”
“No, we can’t leave until the battle fleet gets here.”
Talree reappeared, loaded down with a survival kit, a med unit, and weapons. He handed me the laser pistol and placed the rifle within easy reach. Opening the survival kit, Talree pulled out an inflatable mattress and quickly inflated it. Once it was covered with a survival blanket, he sat me on it.
“I need to retrieve Soulet.” Talree teleported out.
“Wait! You forgot my boots.” With my crappy luck, I’d be running around this rocky island barefoot, trying to escape the Tai-Kok. I sagged back against the mattress. I so needed my powers back.
Ten minutes passed. Where were Talree and Soulet? I wanted some damned help delivering Thor. My muscles slowly twisted harder and harder until it became difficult to breathe. Shit! This was not good.
Thor kicked restlessly. “Where Daddy?”
“Good question.” Huffing and puffing, I managed to get off the mattress and staggered over to the entrance.
Hurricane-strength winds battered me as I stepped out of the cavern.
“Wind bad,” Haki said anxiously.
I tucked him under the neck of my tunic. “I won’t let anything hurt you, sweetie. Promise.”
To the east, sheets of flames set the thick purple clouds aglow. Fear skittered up my spine. That wasn’t lightning. It was laser-cannon fire. If the Tai-Kok hurt a hair on Talree’s head, I’d kill every one of those fuckers.
Thor’s little hand anxiously patted my uterus. “Monsters here?”
“Not yet.” But they were too damn close.
Haki peeked out of my shirt. “Monsters where?”
I stroked his head. “It’s okay. Uncle Talree will take care of them.” I hoped.
“Me coming out,” Thor stated.
A burning pressure suddenly built in my vagina. “Yes, you certainly are.”
Haki asked, “We play now?”
“No! Not quite yet.” Sucking in a deep, calming breath, I went back inside. Guess I was doing this alone.
Haki scampered up to my shoulder. “Why you walk funny?”
“’Cause I’ve got a giant bowling ball stuck between my legs.”
Zipping under my tunic, Haki asked, “Where ball?”
I rubbed my aching forehead. Could this day get any worse? Wait! I really didn’t want to know. The burning sensation grew stronger. Climbing back up on the air mattress, I grabbed the med unit and turned it on. Oh yay. My mucous plug was gone, and I had dilated to five centimeters.
When I was a teenager, Mom told me I had great hips for childbirth. Which was the last thing I wanted to hear. So I told her kids were not on my to-do list. The only thin
g I wanted back then was to become a cop.
Mom just rolled her eyes and said I should count my blessings that I had inherited Grandma Helen’s hips and not hers. She had been in labor with me for forty-three hours. My grandmother had popped out my father in four. I could only hope I would be so lucky.
“Man, do I miss being a cop. Life was so much simpler.”
Haki settled on my belly. “What cop?”
I frowned. Haki could understand me when I spoke English too?
“What cop?”
“A cop enforces the laws and arrests people who break them.”
“Warlords enforce laws too?”
I laughed. “No, Warlords break laws and take things that don’t belong to them.”
Haki squeaked in surprise. “You arrest Talree?”
“Uh, no. I wanted to, but he wasn’t in my jurisdiction.”
“What that mean?”
What was up with the twenty questions? “It means I only arrested people on Earth.”
“Earth?”
“My home world.”
Thor joined in. “How Daddy find you?”
“That’s a long story.”
“Tell us story,” Haki and Thor said in unison.
I rechecked the med scanner. I still had two centimeters to go, so what the hell? It would also help take my mind off the battle.
Chapter Four
“Once upon a time, on a world far, far away, there was a cop.”
“You, Momma?”
Telling bedtime stories was gonna be a bitch. “Yes, I was the cop. It was my duty to scan our solar system for the Tai-Kok and Rodan.”
“’Cause you Siren,” Haki exclaimed.
“That’s right, but instead of the Tai-Kok, I found Talree. Your father was so alone, so sad, and so very angry, I had to comfort him.”
“And Daddy grabbed you!” Thor yelled.
I winced. “Yes, he did. He latched on, and no matter how hard I tried to kick your father out of my head, he wouldn’t leave.”
Thor giggled. “You his mate.”
“He thought so, but I didn’t want anything to do with him.”
The always-curious Haki asked, “Why?”
“He was an alien. I was afraid he wanted to eat me like the Tai-Kok and Rodan.”
“Daddy no eat you.”
“No, but your father needed my blood.”
