by Gail Koger
“Yes, sir.” I hurriedly did a multiple link with Jaylan, Wulf, Lothel, and Hothar. “Akeem’s a traitor, and we’re going to be under attack in about thirty seconds.
Jaylan’s fury roiled across my mind. “Are the Battle Commander and the Overlord aware of this?”
“They’re turning Akeem’s mind to mush as we speak.”
“Battle stations,” Jaylan snapped. A second later, alarms wailed.
Bloodcurdling battle cries echoed through the ship as Akeem’s men teleported onboard and the fight began.
My radar screamed a warning. All the weapons decorating Voss’s walls were right handy. I grabbed a laser pistol and hid it behind my back.
A second later, an enormous warrior in a red battle suit appeared, carrying a big-ass sword in one hand.
“Looking for me?”
Baring his fangs in an evil smile, he answered, “I am to bring Akeem your head.”
“Life is full of disappointments.” Whipping out the pistol, I shot him.
He glowed a fiery red, and his ashes rained down on the floor.
Another warrior popped in.
I shot him too. “Shields up,” I commanded the computer. Nothing happened. Crap, Voss hadn’t programmed me into his voice-recognition software.
Yet another warrior teleported in, and I blasted him.
Unless I wanted to get sliced and diced, staying here wasn’t an option. I hit an icon, and as the door slid open, I took a quick peek.
Chaos reigned in the corridor. Wulf, Lothel, and Hothar desperately fought off a dozen red-suited warriors.
They were moving so fast it was difficult to get a clear shot. Drawing on Voss’s tremendous weapons skills, I started shooting and did a little happy dance as I evened the odds considerably. “Ha! You ain’t taking over this ship.”
“Females do not engage the enemy in battle. Go back inside and get those shields up, Zoey,” Voss roared in my head.
“Already tried that, dickhead, and the stupid computer won’t respond to me,” I snapped, shooting down another one of Akeem’s warriors. “And your warriors are a bit outnumbered.”
“Run and hide,” Voss snarled furiously.
“Like hell I will. I’m not a fucking coward,” I snarled back.
“You will obey me.”
“I won’t leave them to die.”
Bellowing his fury, a badly bleeding warrior slammed his sword into my stomach. The force of the blow hurled me back against the wall with a loud thud. Everything spun wildly around me. The next thing I knew, I was facedown on the cold metal floor, struggling to breathe and trying to find the strength to get up before I lost my head.
With an ear-shattering roar, Lothel jumped in front of me and chopped off my attacker’s head. I flinched as hot blood sprayed over me.
Voss’s terrifying battle cry echoed throughout the ship.
In my mind’s eye, I could see the Battle Commander hacking his way through Akeem’s warriors. He was relentless, ruthless, and utterly without mercy.
“Zoey!” Hothar dropped down beside me, a laser pistol held ready in one hand.
“It’s…’kay. Armor,” I managed to gasp.
With the eyes of death itself, Zarek appeared in the corridor, and what was left of Akeem’s warriors suddenly crumpled lifelessly to the deck.
“About time,” I whispered.
The Overlord’s head jerked around, and his cold, soulless gaze fell on me.
Crap! He had heard me.
Muscles rippling with power, Zarek strode over to me and bared his fangs in a truly scary smile. “It is fitting a female brought down Akeem.”
“The Battle Commander’s mate is worthy of warrior status,” Wulf announced.
“Without this tiny female’s help, the battle would have been lost,” Lothel added, wiping blood out of his eyes.
“Zoey saved our lives,” Hothar included proudly.
“You have won their loyalty, little one. Not an easy feat.”
“Protected…my…family,” I croaked.
“As you should.” A harsh laugh broke from the Overlord as he used his sword to expose my armor. “I should have known you were the one who ordered the Askole armor.”
A slender warrior with a medic symbol on his gray battle suit appeared. “You summoned me, my lord?”
“Tend to the Battle Commander’s mate, Zye.”
The medic knelt beside me and ran a scanner over my body. “She has four broken ribs, some internal bleeding, and severe bruising to the abdomen. I need to take her to sick bay and put her in a regen tube.”
Zye pressed a pressure injector against my neck, and within seconds, my breathing eased and the pain faded away.
Voss popped in, his sword dripping blood, fangs bared in a vicious snarl, and something terrible glittering in his merciless eyes. “The warbird is secure, and we now command Akeem’s ship, my lord.”
A dangerous smile pulled at Zarek’s mouth. “Excellent. Now I can give Akeem my full attention.” Poof. He vanished.
Part of me wanted to watch as the Overlord tore Akeem’s mind apart. I wanted Akeem to feel the helplessness and terror as he realized he was going to die most horribly and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Would it bring the children back? No, but their deaths would be avenged.
The Battle Commander lifted me. “I will no longer tolerate your disobedience.”
His fury seared through my head. I had scared the hell out of him, and he didn’t like that feeling one little bit.
Gently stroking Voss’s mind, I said, “I watched Paul die, and there was nothing I could do to prevent it. I felt my mother dying, and I was too far away to help her. I failed to stop the Tai-Kok from slaughtering all those children, but your men I could save. I will not run from my enemy.”
“You could have been killed.”
“It’s a chance I’m willing to take.”
“This foolishness ends now.”
“You can wrap me in bubble wrap and lock me away at the breeder’s compound, but trouble always finds me.”
There was a disorienting moment of inky blackness, and we were standing in sick bay. Voss placed me, still fully clothed, in a glass regen tube polka-dotted with sensors. “How you have survived this long is a mystery.”
“I’m a damned good Siren.”
He picked up a pressure injector and pressed it against his arm. “You have had no formal training.”
A valid point. “How many times have I saved your butt, sweetness?”
Voss bared his fangs at me. “You take far too many risks.”
“Those bastards have taken everything from me, and I’m not adding you and your men to that list.”
“It is my duty to protect you,” Voss growled in exasperation.
Testosterone was the bane of my life. “Golly gee, now I get it. You’re embarrassed at what the other warlords will think when they find out an itty-bitty female saved your ungrateful ass.”
“You go too far.” He jabbed the pressure injector against my neck and triggered it.
Ouch! “The truth hurts, doesn’t it?”
“Taming you is going to be more difficult than I thought.”
“I’m not a critter to be tamed. I’m your partner, and forget the jewelry and flowers. Those might work on the thousands of women you’ve boinked, but I’m not that easy.”
Amusement lit his eyes. “Jealous?”
“Some.”
Voss leaned down into the open regen tube, and his lips caressed mine in a gentle kiss. “You have no need. I am yours for the next thousand years.”
“Sweet talk won’t change my mind.”
The hard edges of his mouth softened in a smile. “It was worth a shot.”
“I want to be treated as an equal.”
“A tiny female equal to a Battle Commander?”
“Yep.”
“When you can hold your own against me in hand-to-hand combat, then I will consider it, sugar tits.”
I rolled my eyes
. “That will never happen.”
“Exactly.”
“That’s not fair. You’re three times my size.”
He pressed a kiss to my forehead and touched a button. The tube slid shut. “We’ll talk about your desire for equality after you’ve healed.”
We sure as hell would. I stared owlishly at my boots. No drafty gowns in this hospital. Sleep dragged me down into its inky depths.
Chapter Thirteen
What seemed like only a few seconds later, I was roughly yanked out of the regen tube and tossed over a bony shoulder. Who? Hothar?
Alarm swirled through my sleep-fogged mind. Definitely not Hothar. A homicidal fury radiated from the person carrying me. He was plotting to murder someone. Shit! Me?
I tried to link with Voss and groaned. Fuck a duck! That terrible black void was back. My kidnapper had doused me with Drakash. Which explained my inability to think clearly, move, or blast the shit out of the killer’s mind.
A disorienting blackness engulfed me as my captor teleported, and the sick bay vanished. Where was he taking me? Through my wildly tangled hair, all I could see was a metal floor and a wall.
My captor lifted me off his shoulder and dumped me in what I recognized as the copilot’s chair in a lightning-fast Talon fighter. He roughly strapped me in.
Panic bubbled up in me. If he managed to launch, would Jaylan blow him and me into itty-bitty pieces? And if he did make his escape, how long would it take Voss to realize I was gone?
Shifting slightly, I got a good look at my captor and gaped in disbelief. It was Zye. A homicidal medic? Wasn’t that an oxymoron? Why in the world would the medic want to harm me? Today was the first time we had met.
I gave myself a mental head smack. He wanted someone dead all right, and I was the bait. Gee, I wonder who it could be? My honey bunny or Zarek the merciless?
The roar of engines grew, and I was suddenly slammed back against my seat as we launched from Voss’s warbird.
Shit! Shit! Shit! Not good. Frantically I scrolled through Voss’s memories. There had to be something I could use. There. The big guy had been in a similar situation when the Alliance hunters had captured him. He had tapped into the tiny tentacle of power Zarek had left in his head and managed to contact the Overlord by drawing on his captor’s energy.
A feral smile curled my mouth. I just needed the ass to touch me. Feigning a seizure, I jerked spasmodically in my chair.
“Balock’s balls,” Zye spat. Clamping a hand on my shoulder, he ran a scanner over me. He didn’t want me dying too soon. He planned on making Voss, the terror of the universe, watch as I was eaten piece by piece. Didn’t that sound like fun?
Drawing heavily on Zye’s energy, I focused on the tentacle of power Zarek had left as a tracking device, followed it back to his mind, and screeched, “Help! Kidnapped by Zye.”
Zye staggered back a step, shook his head as if to clear it, then hauled off and punched me hard in the face.
Stars exploded in my vision. I heard a deep-throated growl before everything faded to black.
“Wake up! Wake up!”
Why was someone shaking me like a rag doll?
“What did you do? Wake up!”
I forced my eyes open and flinched at the rage etched into Zye’s face.
“What did you do?”
“Timid mouse,” Zarek commanded as he started efficiently cleansing the Drakash from my mind.
I obediently broke into hysterical sobs. “Please don’t hurt me. Please!”
Zye grabbed a handful of my hair and yanked my head back. “What did you do?”
“Nothing. How could I? I can’t feel my body, and my mind’s all muzzy,” I squeaked, adding in a bit of ditzy, airheaded bimbo into my act.
He gave my hair a vicious pull. “I felt you link with someone.”
Wailing like a frightened child, I cried, “Who? How? What did you do to me? Why can’t I feel my body?”
With a scowl, Zye released my hair. “I drugged you.”
“Why?”
“To make them pay.”
“For what?”
“They destroyed one of the greatest minds of this millennium,” Zye hissed. “Akeem would have restored the Coletti Empire to its greatness.”
“Oh, he worked for Malik?”
His hands balled into fists. “No! Malik answered to him.”
I found that a bit hard to believe.
“Tread carefully,” Zarek warned.
“Zye is a few bricks short of a full load.”
“Indeed.”
Keeping my tone fearful, I asked Zye, “What will you do now?”
“I’m going to destroy him.”
“Malik?”
“No, you stupid petka, Zarek.”
Widening my eyes in astonishment, I gushed, “You’re strong enough to defeat Zarek in hand-to-hand combat?”
The Overlord’s chuckle sounded in my mind.
Zye puffed out his chest. “I could defeat him easily.”
“Really?” I would pay good money to see that fight. “Have you challenged him yet?”
“No need. He’ll soon be dead.”
“How?”
“I poisoned his wine.”
“Um… Would that be the wine Akeem brought into the meeting chamber?”
An evil smile curved Zye’s mouth. “One sip, and Zarek dies in agony.”
This guy was living in la-la land. Everyone on the ship knew that hadn’t worked. To my utter relief, I could finally feel my hands and legs again. Keeping up my helpless act, I cringed away from him. “The Overlord knew it was toxic. He never drank it.”
“That’s not possible. You are lying.” Zye’s open palm smacked me across the face.
The room danced around me, and pain radiated from my cheek. “It’s true. You saw him in the hallway. He looked pretty healthy to me,” I whined fearfully.
He smacked me again. “I poisoned all his wine.”
Dammit! The jerk had split my newly healed lip. Enough was enough. My temper roared to life. I was gonna kick the crap out of him.
“Easy, little one,” Zarek said, blocking my attempts to move. “You’re not strong enough to defeat him, and we need to know where he is taking you. Which you can’t learn if you’re unconscious.”
True. I spat out a mouthful of blood and stuttered, “But…but…I heard Voss talking about the wine. They knew. That’s why Zarek made Akeem drink it.”
Zye’s face paled, and he dropped into the pilot’s chair. “That’s not possible.”
“It’s true, and the Battle Commander slaughtered every one of Akeem’s warriors.”
His stunned gaze focused on me. “All of them?”
“Yes,” I whispered fearfully.
He sat there for a moment, then started laughing.
I hadn’t expected that response. “Is he losing it?”
“His brain waves are unstable.”
“Wonderful.”
“None of it matters. Nothing can stop Malik from unleashing the Destroyer of Worlds,” Zye announced gleefully.
Zarek’s rage hammered my mind. “He found it.”
I gave Zye a weak smile. “Is that some kind of new ship?”
“It’s an ancient weapon that the Bootan used to destroy their enemies. Now we will use it to destroy ours.”
“Why hasn’t Malik used it already?”
“It’s in Gorum territory. Once the Tai-Kok have eaten all the worms, we’ll claim it.”
“Wow, what a brilliant plan.” That explained why Bebo had been sold out.
Zye preened. “The Tai-Kok have already dined on the king of the Gorum and his pregnant mate. They made him watch as they pulled his unborn children from her womb and ate them one by one.”
Nausea rose in my throat. “Oh dear God. They have no idea what they have done.”
“None,” Zarek snapped. “Children are precious to the Gorum. Bebo will not stop until every Tai-Kok has been exterminated.”
“I’ll b
e glad to help him wipe that vermin out.”
“It does present the perfect opportunity to negotiate an alliance with Bebo,” Zarek said thoughtfully.
The medic from hell taunted, “You feel sorry for the monsters?”
“No child deserves that fate.”
An evil laugh broke from him. “It’s your fate as well.”
I cowered in my seat, wondering when he would realize I could move. “What are you talking about? What are you going to do with me?”
“I’m going to feed you to the Gorum, you stupid petka.”
Sobbing hysterically, I pleaded with him, “Please don’t do that. Do you really think Voss or the Overlord will care? They won’t. They won’t.”
“You’re the Battle Commander’s mate,” Zye snapped in disgust.
“I’m nothing to him but a source of blood, sex, and children. I can be easily replaced. Please. I’ll…I’ll do anything you want, but don’t feed me to them, please.”
“You’re lying. Your bloodlines make you a highly prized mate.”
“I’m not a Siren. I’m nothing special. Voss was so mad when he found out. I’m nothing like…nothing like the rest of my family.”
Zye scanned my mind, and with Zarek’s help, I appeared to be a low-level psychic. “I was told you were a Siren.”
To my utter relief, the paralysis was rapidly leaving my body. I wailed pathetically, “My father…the general told everyone that. He wanted to be posted…be posted to Central Command.”
He waved his hand dismissively. “It matters not. It will be a blow to the Battle Commander’s pride to have his mate stolen and her death broadcast across the galaxy.”
“No. No. No. Please don’t do that,” I whimpered.
“Be quiet, or I’ll give you more Drakash,” Zye threatened.
“Yes, my lord.” Huddling in the chair, I studied the control console. “We’re heading toward Joroco.”
“Which explains Akeem’s eagerness to keep us far away from the planet,” Zarek growled.
“Is this Destroyer of Worlds as bad as it sounds?”
Voss’s familiar presence flooded my mind. “The Bootan destroyed ten solar systems before the weapon was captured by the Gorum and hidden.”
