Just Desserts

by Gail Koger

  I understood the necessity of the bond, but I didn’t like it. They had taken my son’s choice away. Thor could never be an artist or musician. He would follow in his father’s footsteps and become a Warlord.

  Talree placed a jeweled dagger on Thor’s chest. “With this blade, I claim you as my heir.”

  Voss stepped forward “I swear my allegiance to the heir.”

  “I swear my allegiance to the heir,” Wulf proclaimed.

  Hank appeared next to Wulf. “I swear my allegiance to the heir.”

  And on it went until every warrior had sworn his allegiance to our son.

  Haki threw himself on Thor. “Me swear.”

  Datlow, Bey, and their team of warriors dropped from the ceiling. Each swore their allegiance.

  Zarek looked at me and raised an expectant brow. He had to be kidding.

  “Kaylee,” Talree prodded.

  “I swear to protect Thor from all harm.”

  Talree sighed and handed me the ceremonial towel.

  “Momma. Me be Warlord,” Thor called, waving his arms and legs happily.

  “Not quite yet.” I plucked a blood-soaked Haki from Thor’s stomach and rubbed his matted fur with the ceremonial towel. “Both of you are in serious need of a bath.”

  Haki skittered off.

  “Me stay with Daddy,” Thor protested.

  “You’ve had way too much excitement, young man. It’s time for a bath and a nap.”

  “Noooo,” my son wailed.

  “Enough,” Talree snapped. “Warlords do not cry.”

  “For God’s sake, he’s a newborn, not a Warlord.”

  Zarek butted in. “One day he will be Overlord.”

  “But not today.” I wrapped my son in the towel and teleported to our quarters. Zarek. What an ass.

  Talree popped into the room. “I’ll bathe Thor.”

  I studied my mate warily. His jaw was a little too tight. “Don’t you have more important Warlord duties to attend to?”

  He kissed me gently. “Nothing is more important than you and Thor.”

  “I knew there was a reason I hadn’t killed you in your sleep.” I handed him our child.

  “I thought it was the chocolate,” Talree quipped.

  I waggled my eyebrows. “The sex ain’t half bad either.”

  Talree shook his head sadly. “My mate is dissatisfied?”

  Mentally, I stroked his penis, smiling as he trembled. “You know what they say? Practice makes perfect.”

  “It does.”

  “Me hungry,” Thor whined.

  “Of course you are.”

  Talree’s head snapped up. “They’ve found the Queen Mother.”

  “Go. Kill the bitch.”

  “Happily.” Talree placed Thor in my arms.

  “I wish I could come with you. I’ve got a nasty feeling you’re going to need my special talents.”

  “Your place is with our son,” Talree stated firmly and teleported.

  I scowled. He did not just say that. When the Warlord got back, we were having a talk.

  Once Thor had been bathed and fed, I put him in his cradle and rocked him to sleep. Unease fluttered through me. Something was wrong.

  I linked with Talree.

  Kaboom! The earth shook. Chunks of dirt pelted Talree’s helmet. A volley of laser bolts spat from at least a half dozen locations. They zinged wildly around him.

  Something that resembled a monstrous snake erupted from the ground, and slashes of incandescent silver flashed brightly from wormy growths.

  Talree’s pain slammed into me. My brain swirled in shock as I felt him lose consciousness. It took everything I had to fight off the blackness threatening to consume me.

  Thor thrashed fretfully. “Momma?”

  “Shh. Everything is okay, sweetie.” I gave him a mental push to sleep.

  His eyelids closed, and he popped a thumb in his mouth.

  I pushed away the fear clawing at me. Talree wasn’t dead. And he wasn’t dying any time soon. But the Queen Mother would be taking her last breath.

  I tried to link with Zarek. Shit! He was out cold too. So were Voss, Sariel, Tihar, and Wulf. This was bad on so many levels. Who or what had the power to take out the most powerful Warlords in the galaxy? I guess I was about to find out.

  Lothel’s gruff voice broke into my thoughts. “Please stay in your quarters. We have the situation under control.” Lothel was one of Voss’s most trusted warriors and big on following orders.

  “Liar.” I grabbed my weapons belt and fastened it on.

  “You will obey me as you would Talree,” Lothel stated firmly.

  This guy obviously didn’t know me. “I’m going to rescue my family. You get in my way, and I will put you down.”

  “My lady, please. I promised Talree I would keep you safe.”

  “Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” I growled.

  Lothel growled back. “I will lock you in the brig.”

  “You can try.” Scooping Thor out of his cradle, I teleported to sick bay and handed him to Shrek. “Guard him with your life.”

  “Yes, my lady,” he answered with a concerned frown.

  Thor awoke with a jerk and wailed loudly. “Daddy hurt.”

  “I know, sweetie. Momma’s going to kick some alien butt and get him back.”

  “Grandpa too?”

  “I’m going to bring them all home,” I reassured him.

  “Me help.”

  “I need you to stay here and protect Shrek. Can you do that?”

  “Me will.”

  “Prepare for casualties. A lot of them,” I told Shrek, struggling to remain calm.

  Hank stepped out of Soulet’s room. “What’s wrong?”

  “The Queen Mother sprang a nasty little trap, and our guys are in trouble. You in for a recon and rescue mission?”

  “Hell, yeah.”

  “So am I,” Soulet added.

  I looked at Shrek. “Is she cleared to fight?”

  He nodded. “Her armor will protect the fetus.”

  Lothel appeared in sick bay. A pair of handcuffs dangled from his left hand. “My lady, you are forbidden from leaving this ship. Go back to your quarters or I will—”

  One of Soulet’s tentacles reached out and stung Lothel’s neck.

  His eyes rolled back, and down he went.

  “Please tell me you didn’t kill him.”

  Soulet gave an unconcerned shrug and toed Lothel with her boot.

  He groaned.

  “He lives.”

  Yay. Now I didn’t have to worry about Voss killing her. “Could you lock him in the brig before he regains his senses?”

  “It would be my pleasure.” Soulet grabbed Lothel, dumped him over her shoulder, and zoomed off.

  “Askoles are fun in a bucket,” Hank observed drily.

  “That’s one way to describe them.” I reached out mentally to Datlow. Thankfully, he and his warriors were uninjured. “What happened?”

  “The Warlords and Askoles were rendered unconscious by this creature.” He flashed me the image of a long, white, tubular body with wormy growths around its neck. Two eyestalks with yellow orbs surveyed the bodies scattered about it.

  I rubbed my suddenly aching head. “Dammit. How in the hell did that bitch recruit a Gorum?”

  “A silly question, petka. The Colettis have many enemies, and the Queen Mother uses their rage to her benefit,” Bey commented.

  “Fuck. The Gorum has to be one of the renegades Bebo, their king, hunts.” I took a deep breath and asked, “Were you able to rescue my Warlords?” Please, please say yes.

  “The Tai-Kok got to them before we could,” Datlow snapped, mad as hell.

  A surge of overwhelming panic threatened my fragile control. Oh God. The Tai-Kok would take great pleasure in eating my guys piece by piece.

  Hank patted my shoulder. “They’re gonna be okay. We’ll get them back. Our best bet is to contact this Bebo and let him know what’s going on. Maybe he
can tell us how to kill the renegade.”

  “I’ll get his communicator code.”

  “That won’t be necessary,” a tinny voice hissed in my head.

  A golden vortex erupted in the hallway.

  My heart leaped into my throat. Was it the Queen Mother? Why hadn’t my Spidey sense warned me?

  A long, white tentacle whipped out, wrapped around my waist, and yanked me inside the energy field.

  “Kaylee!” Hank shouted in horror, instinctively linking with me.

  I fell down the eye of a tornado. Faster and faster I flew, until everything was a dizzying blur. A scream tore from me.

  An eternity later, I was on the ground, staring up at a Gorum. His tentacles had me wrapped up like a Christmas present.

  “We are coming for you, petka,” Bey reassured me.

  “Hopefully, before he eats me.” I stared the Gorum dead in the orb eyestalk thingy. Was this Bebo, the king, or someone else? “Let me go, or I will kill you.”

  His laughter was like a donkey braying in my head. “Doubtful. Not even the Overlord or his minions have that power.”

  Shit. The jackass was laughing at me. “Overconfident much?”

  “I am Bebo. You are much like Zoey.” A wormy growth stroked my face.

  “Nah, I’m meaner than Zoey. Is there a reason for the snatch and grab?”

  Hank’s relief flooded me. “What does he want?”

  Right on cue, the tentacles released me. “I have need of your talents.”

  “Why didn’t you just ask?” I sat up and looked around. We were high on a rocky ledge. In the valley below, the melted bodies of the Tai-Kok littered the battlefield. Bree’s skunk bombs were lethal.

  My gaze froze on the bloody remains of eight Coletti warriors. An icy chill of terror slithered up my spine, and I jumped to my feet. “Talree!”

  “The Warlords still live.”

  The tight, sick feeling in my gut eased. “What do you want me to do?”

  The mental picture of a winged green centipede formed in my mind. “I need you to get the Hothots inside the base and command them to search for Desh.”

  “Desh, as in the traitor who fed your mate and children to the Tai-Kok? The treacherous worm that took down my guys?”

  Bebo’s rage was overwhelming. “Yes. He has done all of that and more.”

  “I’m more than willing to help you bring him down. What happens when I sic the green centipede thingies on his traitorous ass?”

  “Hothots are deadly to our kind. They will either kill Desh or force him to flee.”

  There was a major flaw with Bebo’s plan. “If he decides to run for it, what’s stopping him from ’porting to another planet?”

  “My warriors have constructed an energy barrier which prevents Desh from doing so.”

  I quickly scanned the area. Yep, there were fourteen more Gorums lurking about. “Does this barrier keep the Queen Mother from creating wormholes?”

  “It does.”

  Yes! I did a mental happy dance. The bitch was trapped. “The second Desh is captured or killed, I want your word you’ll help me free my Warlords and the Askoles.”

  “I am agreeable to those terms.”

  “You got yourself a deal.” I held out my right hand.

  Bebo’s orbs examined my hand curiously. “Is there some significance to this gesture?”

  “On my world, a handshake is how we seal a partnership.”

  A wormy growth lengthened and took my hand. “We are now allies.”

  “You betcha, but I do have a few questions.”

  He released my hand. “Ask.”

  “Is the Hothots’ bite harmful to Colettis or Askoles?”

  “Their bite is unpleasant, but not fatal,” Bebo replied.

  If he was lying to me, God help him.

  Hank and Soulet appeared on the ledge with their weapons leveled at Bebo.

  I held up my hand. “Stand down.”

  Bebo’s eyestalks swiveled around to stare at them. “These are your reinforcements?”

  “Not all of them.”

  Splat! Splat! Splat! Splat! Splat! Splat! Splat! Splat! Splat! A thick layer of webbing encased Bebo.

  “Stop! He’s on our side.”

  Datlow dropped down in front of me. “Perhaps.”

  “Ah. I have heard much about the Tabors. But this will not hold me.” Snap. A sparkling, crackling curtain of energy danced around Bebo. It glowed brighter and brighter until the webbing simply melted away. “Do you still doubt my power or allegiance?”

  “Nope. Not at all.” I prodded Datlow. “We good?”

  “We will fight at his side.”

  “Great. Where are these Hothots?”

  “In a container on my ship.”

  His eyes cold with menace, Hank drawled, “Let’s git her done.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  The image of a badly scarred Desh fixed in my mind, I unleashed the Hothots. The small, winged centipedes obediently entered the ventilation shaft for the underground bunker and began their hunt.

  I used my connection with them to count our enemies. So far, all that remained of the Queen Bitch’s once-mighty army were fourteen Tai-Kok, six Rodan, and about twenty Shani, or snakes, as I liked to call them. Unless she had some warriors hidden away, things were looking up.

  The Hothots emitted a loud buzzing noise, indicating they had located our prey. They flew around a corner, and the breath left my lungs in an involuntary gasp of shock.

  A pair of kicking feet disappeared down Desh’s gaping maw. A man’s head suddenly bulged out from the Gorum’s hide, his mouth frozen in an endless scream.

  Horror roared through me. There were other body parts moving inside the thick mass. I knew the Gorum’s stomach secreted a corrosive acid that turned all living matter into a fuel source.

  Oh God. There was nothing I could do to save the Alliance soldiers.

  Desh dragged an unconscious Wulf out of a cell and started to shove him down his maw.

  A black rage exploded inside me. “Kill him. Kill him. Kill him.”

  The Hothots swarmed Desh, stinging him repeatedly. In a desperate attempt to protect himself, he swung Wulf at the horde.

  “Free the Coletti,” I commanded the Hothots.

  The flying centipedes concentrated their wrath on the tentacles wrapped around Wulf. A strange, rasping hiss sounded from Desh. He dropped Wulf and vanished.

  “He’s making a run for it,” I informed Bebo.

  “We sense him.”

  A Tai-Kok stepped into the hallway, munching on a hand.

  Shrieking like a demented banshee, I teleported into the corridor and hurled a skunk bomb I had liberated from the ship at the Tai-Kok.

  Bang! A cloud of skunk spray enveloped him. Violent seizures immediately shook the monster, and a thick white fluid spewed from his mouth. He fell to the floor and melted into a puddle of goo.

  Hank popped in beside me. “Dammit, Kaylee, are you trying to get yourself killed?”

  “How many of our people have the fucking Tai-Kok eaten?”

  “Too many,” Hank answered.

  “You’re right. Too damn many. I’m going to put them down like the rabid beasts they are.”

  Grabbing my shoulders, Hank gave me a hard shake. “Bury that rage. It’ll only get you killed. We stick to the plan. Got it?”

  My hands balled into fists. “Yes.”

  Wulf moaned.

  I pulled the med kit off my belt and knelt beside him. He was badly injured. I ran the scanner over him. His life signs were in the toilet. “We need to get him to sick bay.”

  “I’ll take him.” Hank hefted Wulf over his shoulder. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

  “Go,” I urged him.

  He vanished.

  I stared down at the bloody hand and reluctantly stepped into the cell. A surrealistic nightmare of death greeted me. Blood coated the walls. Tattered pieces of Alliance uniforms were scattered among the remains. A finger here, an
eyeball there, and a pile of gnawed-on skulls stacked on a metal table.

  Nausea rose in my throat, and I swallowed hard. I had to find Talree before the Tai-Kok ate him.

  Soulet zoomed up with Datlow and Bey clinging to her back. She studied the carnage. “No Askole or Coletti died here.”

  “I know. Just a lot of brave Alliance soldiers.” Tears rolled down my cheeks. I quickly wiped them away. I would grieve later.

  One of Datlow’s legs touched my shoulder. “We will avenge them.”

  “You bet your ass we will.” Unleashing my Siren abilities, I searched the base for any sign of my Warlords or the Askoles. There. Zarek’s mental signature burned brightly with fury. A Tai-Kok had bitten off one of his fingers.

  Hank teleported into the room and froze. His eyes were those of a man staring straight into hell. “Those fucking bastards.”

  “Did you bring the antidote for the Drakash?”

  He patted his med kit. “Enough for everyone.”

  “I found our warriors. Can you sense them too?”

  “Got ’em.” Hank let out a low whistle. “The Overlord is ready to blow.”

  “We do not have time to waste with this idle chitchat,” Bey groused.

  “You’re right. Let’s go kill some monsters.” I pulled my laser pistol.

  “To attack the Queen Mother without our assistance is suicide,” Bebo hissed.

  I bared my fangs. “The Tai-Kok are eating them. If we wait, they die.”

  A harsh voice butted in. “We have Desh, my king.”

  A blinding golden vortex spun violently in the corridor. When it faded, Bebo filled the doorway. His attention was firmly fixed on us. “All of you will come with me.”

  Oh, hell no. I wasn’t Dorothy, and this definitely wasn’t Kansas. I eased back a step. “Thanks, but no thanks. We can teleport ourselves.”

  “It wasn’t a request.”

  In a startling fast move, tentacles shot out, and the next thing I knew, I was straddling the Gorum. Hank and Soulet were thrown on behind me.

  Datlow and Bey quickly jumped on Bebo’s back.

  “Do not fall off,” Bebo instructed, and the vortex consumed us.

  “Shit-t-t-t-t!” Around and around we flew. I squinted. Was that Toto? Or a Tabor?

  The tornado abruptly spat us out in large holding cell.

  My battered Warlords and the Askoles were chained to a gore-covered wall. Their expressions varied from astonishment to relief to fury.