Lorinda nodded.
“You invited us to tea,” Bria said. “Why are you treating us this way?”
“Because Ilar’s sons cannot produce any more heirs for the leadership position.” Tenar moved to sit in a large wingback chair covered in some animal hide. “I was always meant to rule. Ilar stole that from me. Then he stole the only woman I ever loved.” Lorinda inhaled sharply, but said nothing. “He needs to feel pain and then he needs to die. His sons, while good boys, must also go—except Wulf. He’s mine, isn’t he, Lorinda? Wulf is my son and heir.”
The man was bat-shit crazy.
Lorinda’s indignant gasp underlined just how delusional Tenar was. Her mother-kin fisted her hands on her lap. Her face, formerly pale, now blazed with anger. As the older woman moved to rise from the sofa, Bria grabbed her arm and held Lorinda back.
Tenar’s guards had raised their weapons and had Lorinda in their sights.
“I was a virgin when I mated with Ilar.” Lorinda snarled. “You are a liar. A traitor to our people. A murderer of innocent unborn children. And a defiler of our environment.”
Tenar’s eyes gleamed with a crazy light. “Ah, Lorinda, I am all of those things and more. And it was you who made me.”
Lorinda moaned and Bria hugged her mother-kin to her side and muttered under her breath, “He made himself. Don’t let him get to you.”
Mel snorted loudly. “Well, Bria, the crazy old coot just proved all your deductions were true.”
Tenar turned his demented, wrath-filled eyes away from the woman he professed to love and looked at Bria, then Mel. “Explain yourself, Melina.”
“Bria figured out you are behind the rebellion, the damage to the Prime women’s immune systems which in turn caused the lower birth rate, and the purveyor of misinformation about the gemat-gemate bond.”
Tenar grunted and bowed his head at Bria. “Very intelligent, aren’t you?”
Bria bowed her head. “And you are a sick fuck.” The man’s foul presence created a bad taste in her mouth. A soothing, minty sensation replaced the funk. Iolyn was with her, caring for her, providing what she needed to get through the ordeal.
Tenar waved his guards back as they moved in Bria’s direction. “Most likely.”
“You set out to destroy the Prime race because you wanted what your brother had,” Bria accused.
“Yes, I did. And I did a very good job, don’t you think?” Tenar laughed.
Bria didn’t answer, instead, stalling for time, she asked, “Joining the Galactic Alliance and Mel’s appearance were the catalysts to accelerate your revenge, weren’t they?”
Tenar clapped. “Very good, Doctor. Too bad I have to get rid of you.” He looked at Lorinda. “I would have treated you like a queen. Those boys should have been mine.”
“You, apayebo.” Lorinda spat out the word.
Bria squeezed Lorinda’s arm and her mother-kin quieted. “So, are you going to kill us?”
“No, no, never.” He rose from his chair and gestured toward the doorway in a come-hither motion. “Come in, gentlemen, and meet the merchandise.” He turned back to the three women. “I’ve sold you to these men. It’s very expensive running a rebellion, you know. Melina and Lorinda, they plan to use you most cruelly before selling you to a brothel on Mars. As for you, Brianna, one of them has chased clear across the galaxy to find you. He wants to keep you and use you in unspeakable ways, I’m sure.”
Tenar smiled, his expression twisted and lascivious.
“Jotak!” Bria inhaled sharply as the large Dornian entered with five other Dornians and another group of men. Two of the latter group looked familiar. For Iolyn’s benefit, Bria looked and pointed. “Holtsclaw and Joelo are the men who tried to kidnap me on Oz Space Port.”
They’re dead men. Iolyn’s mental voice sounded as if he were chewing on titanium rivets.
“Yes…” Tenar replied. “They’re mercenaries in my employ. I knew if you started digging into the fertility issues on my planet, you’d find a cure. I couldn’t have you ruin my revenge, now could I?”
As Bria was about to ask Tenar to explain how he’d compromised the Prime women’s immune systems, she was cut off—
“There are supposed to be four women.” The merc leader, a rough-looking hominid, probably from Umbraxi solar system, stepped toward Tenar and snarled, “Where is the tall fair-hair you showed us? She would bring lots of money. Much more than these dark-hairs.”
“Yes, well, you’ll have to wait.” Tenar looked at his personal guards, who shook their heads. “My people are searching the mountains for her.”
“Then we wait. We aren’t leaving without the fair-hair,” the Umbraxian merc said, obviously the leader of the motley gang.
Jotak turned to glare at the merc leader. “I want to leave now. We can’t take the chance that a rescue might succeed. I must get Brianna away from here.”
“Dornian scum,” spat the mercenary. “My ship. My rules. We stay.”
Bria, there are caves under the house. They’re accessed through the basement.
Bria squeezed Lorinda’s hand and muttered “get ready to run.” She looked at Mel, who nodded and had a slight twist to her lips and a gleam in her eye. Wulf must’ve fed her the same information.
Their men weren’t close enough and the emotions in the room were getting ugly. Fast. If a fight broke out between the mercs and Jotak and his Dornian friends, the women had to get the hell out of there—or take the risk of getting killed in the crossfire.
Weapons. She needed a way to defend herself—and the others. She searched the room for some nice sharp blades she could grab on the way out and saw several in a display case against the far wall. Tenar really wasn’t all that smart. For good measure, she slipped a jewel-encrusted ceremonial knife from a side table into her pocket. Really not that smart.
Mel watched the arguing men closely. She stiffened, shot Bria a piercing glance, and mouthed, “Ready?”
Bria nodded and showed Mel the knife she’d acquired.
Mel lifted her hand and revealed a short battle-blade slid up her sleeve. Her sister-kin must have had it strapped to her leg under her dressy go-to-tea slacks.
The argument had escalated, and the war of words only needed a small spark to have it explode into a conflagration.
Iolyn’s tension had escalated about the same time Mel’s had. His “be ready” whispered through her mind.
A man in the uniform of Tenar’s private guards appeared at the open doorway. His eyes filled with fear. “Elder, the Alliance Military is at the front gate. Your brother is demanding to speak with his gemate and his daughter-kin.”
Jotak roared. “See? We should’ve left as soon as the women were taken.” Then he shoved the merc leader.
Crap. Jotak was certifiable, poking a stick at a wild beast.
The merc leader charged Jotak and grabbed him by the throat. The two began to fight. The other mercs rushed the Dornians.
Tenar got out of the fighting men’s way and moved toward Bria, Mel, and Lorinda, his guards at his side. But Tenar and his men got caught up in the melee.
Bria, get out of there.
“Now,” Mel yelled and threw a glass globe at the head of the guard on Tenar’s left. The man staggered and clasped his head.
Bria threw the fancy knife at the guard on Tenar’s right, and the finely honed knick-knack lodged in his throat. Blood spurted with each rapid beat of his heart.
At the same time Bria had thrown the knife, she pulled Lorinda off the couch and urged her toward a side doorway which looked to lead to a back hallway.
As Bria hurried after Lorinda, she grabbed the knives she’d spotted earlier, stuffing them in her pockets, and grabbed a mid-length, ancient battle-blade off the wall by the door. Lorinda gathered likely weapons also, muttering under her breath, “Thank the One, Ilar taught me how to knife fight.”
Mel snickered at Lorinda’s words as she joined the two, and they exited into the hallway. “You two are bloodthirsty. I think you ha
ve more knives than there are bad guys.”
“You should talk.” Bria sniffed. Mel had just as many weapons as she had. “By the way, nice throw with the tchotchke.”
Mel grinned as if she were having a grand time. Her sister-kin was nuts.
“Children, are we going out or down?” Lorinda interrupted their byplay.
“Down to the escape tunnels,” Mel said. “Do you know the way?”
“Yes. When Tenar, the bak, courted me. He gave me a tour.” Lorinda’s smile was venomous. “Probably the only thing I’ll ever be grateful to him for. Go left at the next hallway.”
“Is anyone following us?” Bria asked as she jogged to keep up with Mel while at the same time keeping Lorinda between them. She didn’t want to slow down to look back.
“Not yet,” Mel said. “They’re fighting—but that won’t last long enough.”
Lorinda shoved open a door and descended steps illuminated by lights along the stairwell. “Diew.” She panted as she took the steps faster than Bria thought was safe for the older woman. “He did all this because I marked with Ilar. I can’t believe it. I told the bak I loved Ilar. I loved Ilar even before we marked.”
“And so, Tenar plotted and planned.” Bria caught at Lorinda’s blouse as the older woman stumbled. “Careful, mother-kin…He punished Ilar for stealing you away by striking at the people Ilar was raised to protect. And Tenar’s machinations helped tip the Prime people close to extinction.”
“Damn good revenge,” Mel said. “But crazy.”
“Ilar suspected a conspiracy, but couldn’t prove anything,” Lorinda gasped out and placed a hand on the wall as she quickly descended the stairs.
“So, he shoved the joinder with the Alliance down the Elder Council’s throats and forced the traitor’s hand.” Mel hummed her approval. “My gemat’s father is one smart man.”
Bria’s heart pounded, and she gasped raggedly. The pace Mel set was wicked, but in Bria’s head a clock counted down at light speed as she sensed evil was in hot pursuit.
Lorinda, who looked exhausted, muttered “right” and “left” as they ran through narrow hallways, always heading downward.
Finally, they stopped at a closed door. All three of them took the time to catch their breath and listen for the sounds of pursuit. The men chasing them weren’t close enough to hear yet, but she and Mel exchanged worried looks. Impending danger hung thickly in the air.
“Are my sons getting closer?” Lorinda asked.
“Yes.” Bria’s breath hitched. “They just exited a dark pit of hell, Iolyn’s words, and are launching small boats to get across some rapids to get to the waterfall. Does that sound right?”
“From what I recall, yes,” Lorinda sighed out the word and leaned against the wall as if her legs could no longer hold her upright. “That’s where I’m taking us. To the cave behind the waterfall. Beyond that door is a natural cave which leads to several man-made tunnels, one of which will connect to a natural tunnel that ends in the cave behind the waterfall.”
“Okay.” Mel opened a door, stopped, and held up a hand to halt them. “No lights, dammit. Somewhere, Tenar has to have some lanterns.”
They backtracked and began searching along the lower level corridor.
“I found some,” Lorinda called from one of the small rooms they’d passed. “Watch…”
Lorinda’s words were cut off.
“Come back, girls, or I’ll kill her.” Tenar’s voice echoed off the stone walls of the narrow hallway. Then he yelled, “You, stupid bitch…you bit me!”
Good for Lorinda. Bria looked at Mel and lifted one of her many knives, then mimed throwing. Mel nodded.
“He’s alone.” Lorinda screamed, then uttered a cry of such pain that Bria felt it to her bones.
Something fierce rose inside Bria, powered from the deep well of her battle-mate energy. Bria growled. She ran back and skidded to a halt. Tenar had his arm around Lorinda’s throat. She tore at his forearm with her nails. Her eyes bulged.
“Tenar,” Mel yelled as she came abreast of Bria.
The big Prime sneered. “You come any closer, I’ll break her neck.”
Bria had a shot. Not an easy one, but it might be enough of a distraction for him to let Lorinda go so Mel could get in and finish him off. Tenar was a head taller than Lorinda, plus he’d shifted her head to the side in preparation to break her neck.
Mel looked at Bria and nodded, then moved to attract Tenar’s attention. “Tenar, let Lorinda go.”
Bria tuned out Mel and Tenar’s exchange, took a deep breath, and focused on her target—Tenar’s thick neck. With Iolyn’s silent encouragement, she raised her arm, and with both her and her warrior-gemat’s strength behind it, she threw. The point entered Tenar’s throat and slid through his neck like a hot knife through butter.
As Tenar grabbed the blade and staggered back. The gargling sounds he made had her stomach clenching. He expelled a whistling sigh…and then nothing.
Lorinda had fallen to the ground. Her hands were at her throat. Her harsh, wheezing breaths were painful to hear.
Mel went to Tenar. Bria ran to help Lorinda.
The older woman gasped for every breath, a look of panic in her eyes.
“Just take slow, small breaths, mother-kin.” Bria gently massaged Lorinda’s abused throat muscles as she checked to see if the trachea was intact. “There you go. You don’t look so blue anymore.”
Lorinda lifted a trembling hand and patted Bria’s arm and whispered through her abused throat, “Thank you for my life, darling girl.”
Mel knelt next to them and used the edge of her tunic to wipe the tears and blood off Lorinda’s cheek. “He’s dead.” She looked at Bria. “You okay?
Bria nodded. Or she’d be okay once her knees stopped shaking, her stomach calmed down, and she could forget the garbled death sounds Tenar had made. She’d never get comfortable with taking a life, battle-mate or not. The aftermath was a killer.
It was necessary. A phantasmal touch soothed her shoulders and neck while a small spurt of masculine-feeling energy reinforced her knees and calmed her stomach. The sounds, well, there was nothing he could do to erase that memory. I’ll work on that later, peata. In our bed.
Mel examined her closely as if she could read Bria’s mind, then shook her head. “No, you’re not…but you will be. Also, remind me to never, ever, piss you off when you have something sharp in your hand.” Then she added, “I just let Wulf know his mother’s fine, Tenar is dead, and we’re safe in the basement.”
“Yes, I just received instructions to stay the hell put. They’re gonna blow the front gate and take out all the unfriendlies. Iolyn doesn’t want me to get my butt blown up before he has a chance to spank it.” Bria gasped then turned red as she looked at her mother-kin. “Oh, Lorinda…”
Lorinda winked. Her voice still husky and strained, she said, “Ilar…the same. Lovely, isn’t it?…Alpha-male posturing when…”
“When they’d sooner stab themselves in the heart than hurt us,” Mel finished. She patted Lorinda’s shoulder. “Rest your voice. Just breathe.”
The three of them smiled at one another, but the smiles quickly died away as they heard a voice echo down the hallway. “Those bitches have to be down here somewhere, Jotak. We’ll find them. The old cook said there was an escape tunnel. We sure can’t go out the front. The whole damn Alliance Military stationed in this area looks to be out there.”
Bria, Mel, and Lorinda didn’t linger. They picked up the two lanterns Lorinda had found and ran quickly and quietly for the cave beyond the door.
Iolyn…Jotak…his friends…after us. Going into the tunnels.
We’ve turned back. We’re close to the waterfall. We’ll find you. Just stay open to me. Do not engage them.
Not my plan. Hurry.
We are.
Chapter 23
Lorinda led the way into the cave.
“Stop a second, mother-kin,” Mel said. “Bria and I need to see if we can jam th
e door from this side. Slow them down a bit.”
Lorinda nodded, her face an eerie mask in the light from the lantern.
Bria waved the lantern she held around and didn’t see anything they could shove in front of the door. “How, Mel?”
Mel held up a laser pistol. “I took it off Tenar.”
“Why not set up an ambush and shoot them?” Bria waved that off. “Forget that. My brain is not working on all synapses.” Laser pistols couldn’t kill Dornians. Cutting off their heads would work, but most people didn’t hold still and allow themselves to be decapitated. A sharp knife to the frontal lobe would work, but was also tricky since the target would be moving. God, she was getting bloodthirsty. Jotak scared the crap out of her. “What are you going to do?”
“I think, using the laser pistol, I can weld the battle-blade I picked up to keep the door from opening.”
“Won’t they blast through it?” Bria watched Mel heat the iron of the ancient weapon and then affix it across the metal door and frame like a permanent lock.
“Eventually.” Mel looked at Bria and winked. “But we could hook up with our men by then.”
Bria nodded. Hurry, Iolyn.
I am.
The two joined Lorinda, and they moved forward. They were about one hundred meters from the doorway when the sound of loud thuds reached their ears.
“Is there anywhere to hide up ahead?” Mel asked Lorinda.
“No.”
They’d come to a spot where three tunnels branched off from the cave.
Lorinda added, “This was only meant as an escape route to the river and then to the ocean. The Caradoc ancestors didn’t build any safe rooms.”
“Which one do we take?” Mel asked.
Lorinda held up the lantern and swept it from one tunnel to the next and then the last. “The One save me, I can’t remember.” Tears sounded in her voice and Bria rubbed her back. “I do know not all go to the cave behind the waterfall.”
A loud boom then a crash echoed down the tunnel. Angry men’s voices rode the underground air currents.
Air currents!
“There’s air movement, Mel,” Bria said. “They blew the door, and I can feel a slight breeze moving over me from behind. It’s moving toward the far right tunnel.”
Prime Imperative (The Prime Chronicles Book 3) Page 27
