“In the mood to start a fight?” she asked.
“I don’t like bullies.”
His response was short and curt so she assumed there was some kind of history between them.
“No. I just know the type,” he added, picking up her curiosity.
“Well. Thanks. We’ll be fine.”
He flashed her a grin. “I know. Go do your thing, priestess.”
She couldn’t help but grin back. Then Parker stepped inside, activated the pressure plate to close the door, and turned to face the others. Marina, the Green Zone chief’s wife, exhaled a long sigh of relief and suspicion that was suddenly stark on her face. What the fuck?
“You look like a woman who’s not sure where she’s safe,” Janice said softly.
Marina never looked at Janice though. She held Parker’s gaze several long seconds before lifting her sleeve to reveal her forearm. The goddess tattoos stretched down her arm. The situation kept getting odder.
“Are you seeking sanctuary?” Parker asked. “You could have gone directly to Rona for that.”
Marina smiled, a brief flash of joy in her eyes. “I would never abandon my mate or my clan.”
“But?” Zola asked.
“We have recently acquired information about a…theft that the Keep will be interested in.”
Parker arched her eyebrows. “You should be going to Roarr or Kaje then. Not me.”
“This is the most secure way to pass along the information. It’s the only place we could be sure there are no recording devices and no way to intercept a non-tech message.” She paused. “Besides, you’re a priestess and Kaje Stian’s mate, right? Rona trusts you. I trust Rona.”
Holy shit, she was not expecting that. She’d figured Rona was feeling her out, or indulging her. Trust? That was an expensive commodity. It made her uncomfortable. She didn’t want it. Or did she? She couldn’t deny she found it damned hard to resist Kaje. Could he be what he promised? Did she want him to? Fuck yes. It wasn’t just the sex either. As much as she tried not to read him, some things were unavoidable. Smart, strong, loyal. There was a lot to admire in Kaje. But was he capable of fidelity to one woman? And she had no business of thinking about that now.
“I am a priestess,” she acknowledged, without confirming a connection with Kaje. “And the rest of my allegiances belong to the Keep.”
Because even though priestesses belonged to the goddess cult they had a home clan. Marina gave her a short nod. “Fair enough.”
“What’s your information?” Parker asked.
“We have a contact among the rebels.”
“What? How?” Janice stepped in and her mind, her authority radiated. Pure assassin. Pissed and so powerful. Parker didn’t blame her. She had hoped coming to Delroi meant no more rebels. No more attempts to catch and contain and use her.
“It’s not like you think, Lady Trace,” Marina said mildly. “Someone approached a family member. We thought we’d check it out. Rebellion doesn’t do us any good. It hurts our clan, frankly.”
“Huh,” Janice said, her tone musing and speculative. “So you have a spy in the rebellion.”
“Yes.”
“Who?” Parker asked. She needed that name. Whoever it was, he would affect her future.
Marina shook her head. “I can’t give you his name. However, I have other information.”
“You want to trade,” Zola said, her voice hard and cold. “That’s what this whole visit has been about.”
“No. We’ll give you what we know, except the informant’s name, and hope that you see that as a show of good faith.”
“We could take it from her mind,” Zola said to Parker.
“That makes us as bad as Tel.”
A heavy sigh in her mind. “Being the good guys sucks.”
Parker might have been worried but she heard an edge of amusement under Zola’s tone.
“What information do you have?” Janice asked.
“We think that the Petra clan and the Bana clan have banded together with Earthling rebels to defeat the Torfas and Traces.”
Parker was pissed. Not that there was rebellion brewing on Delroi. She already knew that. She hated being uninformed and Kaje, given half a chance, wouldn’t tell her shit. But what really pissed her off was her new start was already getting fucked with. She reached out to Kaje.
“You have a problem. A serious one.”
“Parker? What’s wrong, mate?”
“Are you with the Green Zone chief?”
There was a pause in her mind. “No.”
“What’s the theft you’re worried about?” she asked Marina, using her abilities to encourage an answer while also sharing her mind with Kaje.
“I don’t know. But I do have the coordinates.”
“Give them to me,” she said and shared them with Kaje. He was already aware of the location. He had been there. And hadn’t told her a damned thing.
“I didn’t want to drag you into this.”
“I’m into this up to my neck. You trust me or you don’t.”
“That goes both ways, baby.”
She decided to kill him slowly.
“Do you have anything else?” she asked Marina.
“No.” She sighed. “I really wish I did.”
“You and me both, sugar,” she muttered.
“What was stolen?” she asked Kaje.
He hesitated so long she thought he wouldn’t answer. “A cloaking device. I’ll tell you everything when we get home.”
Right. She’d probably have to beat it out of him. She might even enjoy it. His tone was smooth and sultry when he responded.
“Is that right? We’ll see, baby.”
She shivered at the promise in his voice, the images that tumbled from his mind to hers. Before she could figure out how to respond, a feeling of danger came over her. Trying to pinpoint the source, she let her senses expand. They were the only people in the building and the local women were not a threat.
“What is it?” Zola asked softly.
She shook her head, allowing her mind to expand farther, outside the walls. She felt Janice doing the same. Menace, hate, fury. The rebels planning an ambush. But all was quiet, neither Vidar or Sergei had raised an alarm.
“Vidar? What do you see out there?”
“Nothing, but something isn’t right,” he said. “Kaje is on the way. Stay inside until he gets here.”
“Parker?”
“Rebels, and they’re staying out of sight. Kaje is bringing more warriors.”
“The theft Marina mentioned was apparently cloaking technology,” she said to Zola.
“Why is that a big deal? They must have that already. We do to some extent.”
“I don’t know yet.”
But she intended to find out. If she was going to stay on Delroi she needed to be informed and involved. And if she was going to have a relationship with Kaje it had to be about more than great sex.
The sound of gunfire breached the temple walls. Adrenalin surged through her. Finally. Some action. She smiled, was sure it was tight and mean.
“Time to get to work. You three,” she said to Marina, her daughter, and Erika. “Stay here until it calms down.”
Marina stepped forward, expression determined and hard. “I am a priestess. I’m trained.”
She hadn’t shut down her mental connection with Kaje. “Don’t let her leave, Parker. Her clan is not accustomed to this kind of political maneuvering. She may have been trained a priestess, but she’s been here at least twenty years. She isn’t ready for this.”
She agreed with Kaje. She liked Marina, but she didn’t know her and nothing about the other woman made Parker think she could wade into a battle successfully. Marina didn’t see it her way, though. Parker and Janice tried to intercept her as she stalked back to the entrance. They didn’t react fast enough. They didn’t need to because everyone was left gaping at Zola, who somehow crossed a hundred feet of space in the blink of an eye.
“Teleportation isn’t possible,” Janice said, disbelief heavy in her voice. Parker agreed. But if it wasn’t, what the hell had Zola just done?
“It’s not teleporting,” Zola said. “It’s…movement accelerated by my telekinesis.”
Marina recovered first. “We need to get out there,” she said as gun fire filled the air again. She was angry, unsettled. It made Parker question her motives.
“Kaje and Falkor have soldiers coming. No doubt, you’re mate does too.”
“Too late. This is our chance to catch them. The rebels have never dared approach our clan before. To do so now…” She trailed off, but Janice continued for her.
“They’re growing very confident, aren’t they?” Janice said softly.
That really bothered Parker. She turned to Janice. “They have someone in all the clans. Especially in the south.”
It seemed so obvious. Well, it was. They all knew it. But there seemed to be a new level of cooperation and focus now. And if members of Tel were helping the rebels…
“This is bad,” Zola muttered.
Parker had to agree, especially when the building rocked with a nearby explosion.
“Get out of there, Parker. They’re firing at the building and using stealth technology, so we can’t locate them,” Vidar said, frustration raw in his voice.
She’d studied the plans for this temple earlier and led the others deeper inside.
“There are several other exits,” she told them.
“Vidar, is the right side of the building clear?”
“As far as we know. I’ll meet you over there.”
“Can you help me isolate a target?” she asked Janice. The vehicles the rebels were using might be concealed, but hopefully their minds weren’t. She knew she could do it herself, though. She didn’t need any help if she let go. But she’d held back so long. She’d hid her true strength for so long because she was afraid of it. In raw strength she’d never met her equal. No one should have that much power, especially unchecked.
Janice nodded. “I think so. Sergei has narrowed the area down.”
“Let’s do it then,” Parker said, ignoring her misgivings and turning a hard eye on the local women. “Stay with Vidar until we get this under control.”
She could see Marina wanted to argue but she reluctantly agreed. Parker opened the door and stepped into a narrow alley. She signaled the others to wait while she edged closer to the square, closer to the gunfire, and allowed her senses to expand. She reached the entrance and squatted down, drawing her weapon as her eyes and mind searched the area. Vidar moved so quietly she jumped when he spoke from just behind her.
“Anything?” he asked.
“Shit,” she muttered. “Warn me next time.”
“There better not be a next time,” he said harshly.
He was worried about her but she didn’t have time to calm his nerves. Janice and Zola joined them.
“Sergei thinks they’re on the north side of the square right now. Some on the ground and some in the air.”
She still hadn’t really expanded her psychic eye, relying on her normal senses. Other than the intermittent sounds of weapons, it was eerily quiet. What the hell? The stolen tech not only concealed the vehicle—whatever it was—from sight but also sound? Was that possible? But when she let her senses spread out she felt minds she couldn’t see.
“I sense them. I can’t see them, but I know where they are,” she said with a cross of sarcasm and curiosity and not a small bit of fury. “Does this technology protect them from direct fire?”
“I have no idea,” Vidar said.
Janice was quiet a moment. “Falkor doesn’t think so. He wants us to wait until he gets here before we test that theory, though.”
She would have, but she felt a mind brush hers then return to strike. She swayed and struck back, arrowing her power along a narrow thought straight to a mind that felt too damned familiar. Earthling. The same man who had captured her and Kareena. She wanted his blood. She wanted him to suffer as much as she had.
“Kaje?”
“Almost there, baby. Stay out of sight.”
The Tel operative attacked again, but she was ready for him. He couldn’t touch her in terms of raw strength so he’d try to wear her down with repeated strikes. She could end him, but she needed information and he knew it.
“I may not have that option. There’s a Tel spy here.”
Kaje was silent a long moment and when he responded his voice was full of rage and fear. “Do not endanger yourself, woman.”
She had no intention of getting captured or hurt, but she sure as hell wasn’t letting him go and Kaje’s lack of confidence in her bit hard. She closed down the mental connection and pushed him out of her thoughts. That was when she noticed the strain around Janice’s eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
“There’s more than one. They’re attacking me and Sergei too,” she said.
“Zola? You okay?”
She looked worried. “They’re leaving me alone.”
“That can’t be good,” Janice drawled.
“No. It can’t,” Zola agreed. She met Parker’s gaze. “We can’t let them go.”
“We aren’t.”
Hell no. She was ready to be done this crap. She pulled on more of her power, let her senses expand to find the others, and was rocked back on her heels when another explosion thudded through the square. Time slowed to a crawl as she watched the small flyer Kaje and Falkor were in turn into a ball of fire. The enemy telepaths renewed their attack. It was vicious, like razored talons slicing into her skull. But that wasn’t the pain that made her fall to her knees. Agony crushed her chest. Kaje. The bastards had killed Kaje. She forced air into her lungs, staggered to her feet, and full of rage and vengeance, took a step forward. Zola grabbed her wrist.
“Together,” the other woman said. “You get the telepaths and I’ll deflect their fire.”
She saw the assassin in Zola’s eyes, knew she’d buried her fury deep, but Parker couldn’t do the same. Her heart was an open angry wound and she wanted vengeance. She wanted blood. Zola would help her get it. She nodded, merged her mind with Zola’s and then unleashed her power.
She found the telepath first. She couldn’t see where he was but she sensed him. That was enough. She seized his mind, took control of him and forced him to turn on his companions. Once they were dead, she made him turn off the cloaking device and stripped away the last of his mind. Then the other Tel members attacked, both with laser fire and mentally. She was beyond caring, possibly beyond thought. She strolled out into the square, Zola at her side easily countering the weapons’ fire, while Parker seized the closest telepathic mind. She didn’t know if he was friend or enemy and didn’t fucking care. She blasted so much power at him his brain began to leak through his ears. The rest fled in a cloaked shuttle, but she had the feel of their minds. She could track them.
“Parker.” Sergei’s voice was whip hard. “You have to leash your power.”
Hell no. Ignoring the blood trickling from her nose, she turned to Vidar. “I can’t feel Kaje in my mind anymore.”
Who knew that would hurt so fucking bad?
“They put him in a mobile regeneration tank. We’ll take him home to recover.”
She couldn’t have heard him right. She’d seen the explosion. “He’s alive?”
“They both are. They jumped out just before the missile hit.”
She didn’t believe him, but why would he lie? She looked at the people around her, saw fear in the eyes of the Delroi warriors. Of course, they were afraid she’d turn her rage on them. And she was tempted. The green zone was supposed to be safe. Instead it had cost Kaje his life. Janice stepped forward and Parker was surprised that she didn’t see the same rage reflected in her eyes.
“They are alive. Falkor and Kaje.”
“I can’t touch his mind.”
“He’s unconscious. Injured very badly. You have to stay strong for him.”
“I don’t believe you.”
Janice spoke aloud. “I’ll take you to him.”
Could she trust her? Or was it just a trick to get her out of the crowd and eliminate the threat she posed? Parker was still drunk on power. In her present state she couldn’t be defeated, even if Janice and Sergei combined their strength. But she knew it wouldn’t last. She was already draining her reserves, would crash soon, and hard. She’d be vulnerable then. Zola moved to her side, Vidar the other.
“We won’t let anything happen, sister,” he said softly though the challenge was clear to those around them.
“Let’s go then.”
She had to know the truth about Kaje and plot her revenge accordingly. When they reached the shuttle pad, Janice and Sergei peeled off and entered another vehicle.
“Don’t worry,” Vidar said. “They’re taking Falkor to their healer in Saber City. We’re taking Kaje to Jarek.”
Honesty rang in his voice, but she was still suspicious. Despite her misgivings, she followed a Keep warrior into the shuttle and through a door she hadn’t paid attention to on the flight to the Green Zone. Inside the small room was a tall glass fronted box filled with a pale green gooey looking substance. Kaje was in it. She could see his chest rise and fall though with all the wounds on his body she couldn’t image how he’d survived.
“How is he breathing?”
“The gel. You’d have to ask Jarek the specifics. Most warriors avoid those tanks at any cost. Kaje didn’t get to make the choice.”
She heard the revulsion in Vidar’s tone and wondered if Kaje would have chosen death. It didn’t matter now. She sat on the one seat in the room and strapped in, then met the pilot’s gaze.
“Let’s get him home.”
Power infused her voice and he didn’t argue. He banged his fist over his heart in a warrior’s salute.
“Yes, priestess.”
Vidar hesitated a moment before leaving. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.”
She nodded, unable to speak or meet his gaze while she began the arduous task of reigning in her power and rebuilding her shields. As she did, the shuttle lifted into the air and she began to pick up random thoughts. Vidar and Zola were worried about her. The other warriors were awed. They believed she’d been touched by the goddess. How long before that emotion turned to fear and belief into reason to kill her? Finally she shut off all the voices, closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall. One thing had been proved today. She wouldn’t hesitate to kill to protect those she loved. And she definitely loved the man in that tank. The question was what was she going to do about it?
Irresistible (Delroi Prophecy) Page 10
