by Gail Koger
Quinn circled me. “How much stronger does it make you?”
“Strong enough to take down a Coletti warlord.”
“Does Zarek know?”
“He never asked.”
“And Lysis never told him.” Quinn rubbed a hand over his face and studied me for a long moment. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Your mistake, because I won’t hesitate to hurt you.”
Quinn lunged at me.
Goddess, was he fast! I ducked under his outstretched arms, wheeled around, and Quinn was gone.
My berserker senses flared. Here he came again. I stepped to the left, ducked his swing, and drove an elbow into his stomach.
Quinn swept my legs out from under me, knocking me to the floor.
Before he could pounce on me, a red stun beam struck Quinn in the back. A look of shock on his face, he crumpled to the deck, twitching violently.
Mami walked over with Quinn’s pistol in her right hand. “No one keeps me from Lysis.”
“Must really suck getting shot with your own pistol, huh? If you’re wondering how my mother got ahold of it, I’ll let you in on a little family secret. My father taught us the art of lockpicking. It does come in handy.” I squatted down next to Quinn. “Neither of us is quite as helpless as we appear.”
“Neither am I.” Quinn yanked me on top of him and rolled, pinning me down. “My battle suit dissipates the effects of the stun beam. Gotcha.”
“That’s my line.” My mother lifted one of the tubes on her necklace and blew. The dart hit Quinn in the back of the neck.
With a growl of rage, Quinn yanked out the dart. “You cheated,” he rasped and slumped on top of me.
Clio’s mouth grew wider and wider, exposing her serrated teeth. “Can I eat him?”
“No! Auntie Detja and Uncle Zarek would be very angry,” I said firmly as I tried to get the huge warlord off me. “Mami, could you give me a hand?”
My mother rolled Quinn off me. “Let’s go get Lysis.”
The tranquilizer should knock Quinn out for the next eight hours. That gave us plenty of time to reach Qeeturah. I didn’t want to be anywhere near him when he woke up. Wonder if the Talon came equipped with chains?
Chapter Eight
With Quinn’s Coletti healing abilities, neither Mami or me wanted to risk him waking up early and running amok. Using my berserker strength, I managed to drag the three hundred pounds of unconscious warlord into the holding cell.
Wiping the sweat off my forehead, I found chains and shackles in the small armory and bound him. I smiled as I admired my handiwork. There was no way Quinn was getting loose. Too bad I couldn’t get his communications bracelet off. It was melded to his skin. To make sure Quinn couldn’t escape, I hacked the control pad for the cell’s energy barrier and changed the passcode.
Using Papa’s override program on Mami’s communication bracelet, I unlocked the ship’s command console. While I familiarized myself with the Talon, Mami focused her attention on trying to find Papa’s life signs.
Clio crawled over the floor, cramming any bits of puked up Tai-Kok she could find into her mouth.
The long-range scanner showed Nilus’s spacecraft was still on Qeeturah. Huh, there were only five life-forms left, and all of them were in the ship. What had happened to his warriors? Had a sandstorm hit? Or had the million or so var bugs sucked them dry? Ick.
The comm link blinked. Someone was hailing us. Whoever it was expected Quinn to answer and that wasn’t going to happen. I killed the link.
The comm link blinked again.
I severed the link.
The comm link light turned red and blinked frantically.
Maybe it was Detja, or Goddess forbid, the Overlord.
Mami absentmindedly reached over to tap the link.
“No! Don’t!”
She gave me a puzzled look as she pushed the icon. “Why not? It could be Detja.”
Zarek appeared on the view screen.
Or not.
Mami took one look at him and keeled over.
Drekk.
Clio patted her face. “Geema? Geema?”
The Overlord’s predatory gaze surveyed the command center, pausing for a moment on my mother and Clio before settling on me. “Where’s Quinn?”
“He’s, ah, tied up right now.”
Zarek arched his eyebrows in incredulous disbelief. “Tied up?”
Tentacles sprouting from her toddler body, Clio climbed up on the console. “Who you?”
“I’m Zarek, Overlord of the Coletti clans, and you are?”
I pulled Clio onto my lap. “Her name is Clio. I rescued her from the Tai-Kok on Jandjviles.”
“The Tai-Kok just let you walk in and take a baby Katanic shapeshifter—a rare delicacy that is highly sought after?” The note of skepticism in Zarek’s voice made me want to smack him.
“Not exactly.” I pulled the thermite grenade out of my pocket and placed it on the top of the console. “A couple of these in a warehouse full of explosives, and kablooey. No more slaver stronghold.”
“And their prisoners?”
“I released them, they ran off, and Quinn showed up.”
“Where is Quinn?” Something terrifying flickered in Zarek’s eyes. “Is he dead, or did you leave him on Jandjviles?”
“Quinn is alive and well and on this ship.”
Clio’s tentacles waved wildly. “Him mad ’cause I spit on him.”
Zarek’s lips twitched. “Spit?”
“Puked,” I inserted.
“I see, and what happened after that?” Zarek settled back in his chair with lazy menace.
“I wanted to return to Qeeturah to look for my father, and Quinn insisted on taking us to Tanith. So, I challenged him to hand-to-hand combat. He lost.”
An unholy smile lit Zarek’s handsome features. “You inherited your father’s berserker powers.”
“You could say that.” And then some.
“And Quinn simply decided to take a nap after his defeat?”
Who knew the Overlord could be so snarky? “There might have been a tranquilizer dart involved.”
“You didn’t defeat me,” Quinn rumbled from behind me.
Drekk. He was awake, and how in the nine hells had he gotten loose? I looked over my shoulder at the very angry warlord who practically bristled with weapons. “Planning on going to war?”
“With the two of you on my ship, I plan on being armed at all times.” Quinn snagged my thermite grenade and stuffed it in a pocket.
“Hey! That’s mine. I stole it fair and square.”
“It’s mine now. Unless you think you can take it from me?”
One look at the merciless line of Quinn’s mouth, and I shrugged. “Keep it. I can always get more.”
“You’re gonna be a handful.” Quinn picked me up and dumped me on the copilot’s chair. “My lord, with your permission, I will return to Qeeturah and search for Lysis.”
“You have my consent.” There was a note of satisfaction in Zarek’s voice.
I stared at Quinn in surprise. “What made you change your mind?”
“You didn’t defeat me, but technically, you did keep the grenade from me.”
“True, and we only cheated a little.”
“You cheated a lot, but you did it out of concern for your father. Believe me, I do understand the need to protect family members.” Quinn turned his head and glared at my mother, who was raising the blowgun to her mouth. “I wouldn’t. I’m your only chance of finding Lysis.”
Mami lowered the gun.
Quinn held out his hand. “Give me the necklace. Now! Or do you want to spend more time in the holding cell?”
Tears running down Mami’s face, she removed the necklace and handed it to him. “Please find my Lysis. Please.”
“We will find him, Eleni, but the next time you shoot me in the back, I won’t be so forgiving.”
M
ami’s eyes rolled back and down she went.
The berserker in me raised its ugly head. A tingling sensation grew in my eyes, and I bared my teeth in a snarl. “Frighten my mother again, and you’ll answer to me.”
“The glowy-eyed thing is new,” Quinn responded with an amused smile.
“The more they glow, the stronger I get.”
“Good to know,” Zarek said.
I gave myself a mental head smack. My temper was getting the best of me.
Clio wailed, “Me hungry.”
“I know you are, sweetie.” I looked at Quinn. “Do you have anything to eat?”
“Only space rations.”
Detja popped in next to Zarek. “I’m sending Adan to you. He will care for the child.”
I queried, “Does this Adan know anything about baby shapeshifters?” Clio was under my protection now.
“He’s a Katanic shapeshifter and my adopted father,” Detja answered.
I gaped at her. That Adan! He was the stuff of nightmares. “Is that a good idea?”
Every ounce the ice queen, Detja queried, “Do you doubt me?”
“No, my lady.”
“You’re not as stupid as you look,” Quinn muttered sarcastically.
I gave him the stink eye.
A brilliant orange glow popped into existence and spun rapidly. I shielded my eyes. “What in the nine hells is that?”
“Adan is opening a teleportation portal,” Zarek answered.
The spinning light accelerated until a vortex formed. Bolts of green lightning crackled wildly around the growing opening.
A huge, heaving silky black mass rolled out.
Clio bounced up and down in my lap. “Momma.”
“Not Momma.” I tightened my grip as an enormous mouth edged with hundreds of serrated teeth appeared in the mass. A long tongue held out a chunk of raw meat to Clio.
Squeaking happily, she grabbed it and stuffed it in her maw.
Adan’s two burning yellow eyes stared at me. “Where is her mother?”
“I found Clio on the loading ramp of a Tai-Kok slaughter ship. She said the Tai-Kok had taken her mother inside and were hurting her. More security forces showed up before we could check the ship. I’m not sure if—” I broke off and bit my lip as Clio smiled up at me. How could anyone hurt someone so adorable?
“I scanned the area and couldn’t sense another Katanic,” Quinn added. “The enforcers were notified of the situation.”
When had Quinn had the time to notify everyone?
“Are the Tai-Kok still on Jandjviles?” The rage in Adan’s voice was terrifying.
“They were there five hours ago.” I flashed Adan a mental image of the slaughter ship. “It wasn’t badly damaged in the blast, and it’s possible they fled.”
“They won’t leave with an empty cargo hold,” Quinn interjected.
Zarek nodded. “Once the security forces round up the escaped prisoners, the auction will begin.”
“No. It will not.” Dozens of long ropy tentacles shot from Adan’s body; one snagged Clio and dumped her in Quinn’s lap.
Alarm flashed across Quinn’s face, and he gingerly held the baby out from him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“What is necessary.” Adan’s tentacles abruptly wrapped around me and pinned me against his slimy hide. “You will accompany me.”
“Wait! What?” Adan was suddenly in my mind, going through my memories of the slavers’ outpost. “Get out of my head!”
Quinn jumped to his feet with a roar. “No! You’re not taking Xenia.”
Clio wailed in fright and clamped her tentacles around his arms.
“I must. She is my witness,” Adan responded.
I struggled desperately to break Adan’s grip. “Witness to what?”
“Vengeance.”
“No, Adan. They’ll kill you,” Detja cried.
An incandescent orange light formed around us.
“No!” I kicked Adan as hard as I could. “Let go of me.”
The light spun faster and faster and faster until it became a vortex. Slurppp! We were sucked inside. It was like going from zero to warp drive in ten seconds flat. The horrific, twisting funnel of energy rocketed us across a weird black void.
“Holy Goddess. Don’t drop me! Don’t drop me!”
Adan’s tentacles tightened painfully. “Be quiet. I need to attract the Executioners’ attention.”
“Are you nuts?”
“I’ve been told I’m quite mad.”
A hysterical laugh escaped me. “Why in the nine hells would you want to draw the Executioners’ notice? Detja said they have a death warrant on you.”
“Females and children are precious to us. I cannot allow the mother’s murder to go unpunished. If you hadn’t stepped in, the Tai-Kok would have slaughtered her child too.”
Strange shapes emerged out of the blackness. The shapes turned into dark, wraithlike creatures.
“Uh, are those creepy things the Executioners?”
“Yes. They are our law givers.”
“So, Executioners are like enforcers?”
“They are much more than that,” Adan replied.
What do you need them for?”
“To help me destroy every living thing on Jandjviles,” Adan answered.
“Whoa! What about the slaves? You can’t kill them too. They’ve done nothing to deserve death.”
“You are very much like Detja.”
“We are blood relatives. I want your promise you won’t harm any of the slaves.”
“You have my word.”
I gestured to the Executioners who were dangerously close. “What about them?”
“I make no promises.”
“What!” I ducked one of the Executioner’s flailing tentacles. “They act like they want to eat me.”
“They do.”
Quinn’s mind touched mine. “Have you been harmed?”
I could feel his concern and impotent fury. “Not yet.” I showed Quinn the Executioners following us. “But they want to gobble me up.”
“Protect Xenia with your life, Adan. If she dies, you die.” Quinn’s words were filled with a quiet, deadly rage.
“I will do all I can to protect your mate.”
Mate? The idea of belonging to Quinn was both horrifying and fascinating. “I’m not his mate.”
Adan countered, “Are you sure of that?”
The violent rotating walls abruptly began to collapse. I gulped. “Is that supposed to happen?”
“We are arriving. Prepare yourself for battle.”
“Wait! Wouldn’t it be smarter to sneak onto the base and do a little recon?”
“Katanic males do not sneak.”
Typical male logic.
The vortex spat us out on the tarmac of the badly damaged spaceport. Bolts of lightning danced and pulsed over the wreckage.
I shuddered as the world spun wildly around me. It was hard to breathe, I couldn’t feel my face, and I was covered in goopy green slime.
Adan shook me. “Fight, little female.”
Fight? I could barely stand. My legs buckled, and I painfully hit the tarmac. “Dizzy. Need a second.”
“Get up, Xenia. Now!” Quinn snarled; his power penetrated me like an electric shock. Adrenaline rushed through me, and I shot to my feet. Drekk! There were Tai-Kok warriors everywhere. Adan was so dead.
Quacking like a demented duck, a Tai-Kok seized me. I slipped out of his grip like a greased Kaleo pig. No matter how many times he grabbed me, he couldn’t hang on to me.
“Unbelievable,” Quinn groused in my head. “Instead of playing slip and slide, how about you kick his ass?”
“Yes, my lord. Right away, my lord.” I fell to the ground, rolled on my back, and kicked the Tai-Kok warrior in the nuts.
The warrior doubled over, and I drove my boot into his nasty face. A satisfied smile curved my mouth
as his teeth made a cracking noise and he toppled over.
Another Tai-Kok lunged for me. I dodged his metal talons.
One of Adan’s tentacles encircled the Tai-Kok warrior’s neck and snapped it like a twig.
“I need his weapons!” I yelled.
Adan’s busy tentacles yanked the sword out of the dead Tai-Kok warrior’s scabbard before hurling him at a hairy slaver. Smack! They went down in a tangle of arms and legs.
Boom! A dazzling green ball shot toward me.
Which idiot had fired the stun net? In my mind’s eye, I saw where it would hit me and quickly ducked behind a fat security guard. Five seconds later, the net deployed. It wrapped around the guard, and he crashed to the ground, jerking convulsively.
“Xenia!” Adan tossed the sword to me.
I caught it and noticed the all-powerful Executioners, aka the riot squad, had arrived in a dazzling display of pyrotechnics. Slashes of incandescent green shot from the vortexes, disintegrating anything they touched.
A terrified scream had me spinning around. A Tai-Kok with spikes embedded in his skull was ripping the clothing off a struggling human female.
A fierce rage bubbled up in me. The sick freak had to be one of my uncle’s special friends. I prayed to the Goddess they had eaten Dolon. I beheaded the monster.
The sobbing female grabbed the Tai-Kok warrior’s laser pistol. “Die, you motherfucker.” She blasted him. The body disintegrated into a million fireflies.
He was already dead, but I could understand where she was coming from. I said in English, “My name is Xenia. What’s yours?”
“DeeDee.” Her hand was shaking so badly she could barely hold the pistol.
“I need you to free the other prisoners and stay far away from the Katanic shapeshifters. Can you do that?”
She nodded. “But I want to kill those fucking Tai-Kok.”
“Any one of them comes near you, feel free, but no shooting the Katanic. Laser fire doesn’t hurt them. It only makes them angry.”
“Sure. Okay. Good.” DeeDee hurried toward the cells.
I took a quick look around. The shapeshifters were taking multiple laser hits and fighting off a horde of Tai-Kok. Adan’s arrogance had landed us in a heap of trouble.
Quinn grumbled, “Trouble doesn’t come close to describing this mess. Even with your berserker abilities there are too many enemy warriors for you to handle. I can augment your power. We need to merge.”
