Ethon (The Other Worlds Series Book 2)

by M. L. Greye

  She licked dry lips. Somehow all the moisture in her mouth had disappeared. “From you, Talik, I always assume the worst. I just wanted to hear your plot in your own words.”

  A knock sounded at the door. Talik answered without turning. “Come in.”

  The door opened and a short, bald man dressed in a white coat that went to his knees swept in, followed closely by the giraffe man. It was the giraffe that made Tiara suddenly anxious. He was carrying a tray with several pointed edged utensils on it. Tiara had a strong feeling that those were meant for her.

  “Welcome, doctor,” Talik greeted.

  The giraffe set the tray on the desk by the computer as the bald man bowed to Talik and asked in Eveon, “Shall we begin, my king?”

  “Yes, I believe so.” Talik nodded.

  All at once, the giraffe man yanked Tiara’s right arm forward, exposing her skin to the doctor. “Release me!” She cried, struggling against the strong arms that held her.

  Her plea was ignored, of course. The doctor buried a syringe into her arm, but instead of discharging a fluid into her, he pulled blood out of her. Tiara stared, trying not to cringe from the pain. “What are you doing?”

  “We need a blood sample,” the doctor told her.

  “For what?” She blinked.

  He didn’t answer. He removed the syringe that was now filled with her blood, and the giraffe freed her. Tiara covered her small injury with her other hand as the doctor turned to some of the odd instruments on the desk. Tiara whirled to Talik. “What was that about?”

  Before Talik had the chance to answer, something shot into the back of her neck, through her skin and into what felt like her brain. Tiara stumbled forward, dizzy from the new searing pain inside her skull. Her eyesight went black then returned a second later as a jumble of blurred images. Tiara could feel herself shaking. What had just happened to her? Fear and panic swept through her. Whatever had just been injected into her was now causing her entire body to tingle.

  “The Bead is now connected, sire,” the doctor informed them from somewhere nearby. Tiara heard the clicking of keys on a keyboard. “I am inspecting her blood as we speak.”

  Tiara still had yet to regain her vision, but she didn’t doubt Talik was grinning. In his mind he’d just successfully implanted his device inside of the heir to the Other Worlds. Even though Tiara was terrified with the fact that she was now subject to his will, she couldn’t help but feel a little gratified that Talik had been thwarted in his enslavement of Olinia.

  “Excellent,” Talik replied. “Now, make her gray.”

  “Make me what?” She blurted, blinking rapidly so as to regain her full sight.

  “We need to certify that the Bead is in working order,” Talik smirked.

  “Sire,” the doctor’s voice shook slightly, as if he were afraid of what he was about to say.

  Talik’s fuzzy figure whirled. “What is it?”

  “It’s her blood.”

  Now Tiara turned, even though all she could do was make out the outline of the bald man’s shiny head and white coat. Talik growled, showing his irritation. “What of it?”

  “I don’t think she’s a W-”

  Just then, Aeorin joined them, cutting off the doctor mid-sentence. Tiara squinted at the form just to be sure, but there was no mistaking her. Apparently Talik was surprised to see his wife.

  “What are you doing here?” He demanded.

  “My liege.” Aeorin dropped into a deep curtsy. She’d changed into an Other World gown of a combination of orange, yellow, and red since Tiara had last seen her outside Olinia’s house. The dress reminded Tiara of a blazing fire.

  “Forgive me,” she pleaded, “but I have urgent news. Lord Dagon and the Lantz Legann have escaped. Lyam and Evvot are dead.”

  Tiara thought that for a brief moment Talik would transform into his animal form and strike Aeorin from the fury in his eyes. “You have lost them,” he hissed.

  “Sire!” This time the giraffe spoke. He was pointing at the televisions. “Look! How can the princess be in two places at once?”

  : : : : :

  It had been months since Olinia was last in any sort of mortal peril, as far as she knew. To be back in a situation that could possibly cost her her life if things went sour felt a little odd. Thanks to Hillary, Olinia and Will’s entry into the DS labs had been fairly easy. Now true, being inside Hillary’s head the entire time was a huge advantage. It allowed Olinia to be constantly updated by any activity within the labs. Also, Hillary served as a pretty decent navigation system for the building.

  Really, the tricky part of the rescue was turning out to be avoiding security cameras. Even though Hillary could tell the video feed to stay frozen on one image while Olinia and Will passed through, permitting them to go unseen, it would bring up a red flag to the security system. Hillary evidently wasn’t gifted enough quite yet to be completely stealth within the DS system, at least not when dealing with the tampering of security recordings.

  “Where to now?” Will’s lips moved, but Olinia didn’t hear his voice. Her ears had music blasting into them.

  Since the labs were filled with people, Olinia thought it best for her to block their inner babble with music. This way, she could focus on Hillary rather than everyone else. However, this also meant that she needed Will to listen for approaching footsteps on his own.

  At the moment, both Olinia and Will had their backs to one of the many white hallway walls. What was it with these people and the color white? Around the corner from Olinia and Will, there was an option of heading left or right. Hillary had already told Olinia to go left.

  Taking hold of Will’s hand again, Olinia led the way, just as she had for the past twenty minutes – ever since they’d entered the labs. Not being able to communicate verbally with Will was a little awkward, but it was a better alternative to Olinia getting distracted every five seconds by one person or another.

  For being not that large of a building, the labs were surprisingly full of twists and turns. It definitely lacked an open concept. As far as Olinia could see, the structure was a labyrinth with the interior decorator of a horrific psychiatric ward.

  Stop! Stop! Stop! Hillary shrieked inside Olinia’s head as Will jerked her backward to a halt.

  They had just rounded another corner, but Olinia had missed the incredibly tall man at the end of the hallway, parked in front of one of the doors that lined it. If Will and Hillary hadn’t interfered, the man would have seen her. Luckily, Will glimpsed the danger in time to yank Olinia out of the man’s sight.

  Olinia could feel Hillary’s relief. That was too close. You have got to pay attention.

  Sorry, Olinia replied. Is there another camera down this hallway? Is that how you saw him?

  No. He’s in front of Tiara’s cell. I saw him through her room’s camera. Hillary paused. The hallway should be safe now. It’ll take you to Archrin and Sazx.

  Perfect.

  Olinia glanced up at Will. He was panting slightly against her back. “Sorry,” she mouthed and began forward again.

  Hillary directed her down a few more hallways before they arrived in front of Archrin’s cell door. A keypad was placed to the right of the doorknob in the wall.

  What’s the code? Olinia asked.

  No need, came her answer. Give me a second, and I’ll open it for you.

  Deciding to take the risk of the overload of thoughts, Olinia pulled out one of her earbuds. She was instantly greeted with a jumble of internal voices. Wincing, she whispered to Will, “Hillary’s going to unlock it for us.”

  Just then, the door clicked open and Hillary’s voice was in Olinia’s head again. You’re welcome. The easy part is over now. DS will figure out you’re there in about thirty seconds. Maybe less.

  Once again, Olinia missed her gift of invisibility. As Will swung the door outward, Olinia noticed Archrin stand up from the floor of his white box.

  “Princess?”

  She smiled. “Hi, Archrin.”r />
  He didn’t return her smile. Where’s Tiara?

  “With a very tall man,” she answered his mind.

  “Olinia,” Will grabbed her arm, “we’ve got to keep moving.”

  Archrin joined them in the hallway. Olinia was about to put her earbud back into her ear when Archrin whirled.

  “What’s wrong?” Will frowned.

  “Someone must have smelled the High Royalty in Olinia,” he replied and thought simultaneously.

  “High Royalty has a scent?” Olinia blurted. “Why wasn’t I told of this?”

  Will’s eyebrows lowered. “Why do you think someone smelled her?”

  Archrin nodded once at Olinia. “It’s in your blood. Even Tiara has a tiny bit of it. That’s why they didn’t reject her completely.”

  “What does it smell like?” Olinia blinked.

  “It’s a lot like a room full of silver,” he told her.

  Will grunted. He felt like rolling his eyes. “Not really important right now. Why do you think someone smelled her?”

  Archrin turned. “Because at least six Velvitors are headed this way.”

  “Great.” Will took hold of Olinia’s hand again. “Let’s try not to meet up them. Where do we go to get Sazx?”

  “That way.” She hesitated a moment then pointed down the hall – the same direction the Velvitors were coming from.

  “Of course.”

  “You get Sazx, and I’ll find Tiara,” Archrin said.

  Olinia pulled a face. “By yourself?”

  “Aye.” He smiled slightly. “Remember, these people are my breed.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure you’ll be fine.” Will pulled Olinia forward.

  : : : : :

  “How is that possible?” Aeorin exclaimed. “Your twin is male.”

  Tiara watched, her eyesight finally restored, as Archrin left his prison with Olinia and a blond man she assumed was Will. The camera didn’t catch his face, though, so she could only guess.

  “Answer me!” Aeorin shouted.

  Her voice seemed to wake the room from its daze. Talik barked out an order to bring the intruders to him. The giraffe man disappeared. Aeorin, who had risen from the floor earlier, was now a shade that matched her colorful dress. She was most likely furious that she’d been duped and that this too would reflect poorly on her in the eyes of Talik.

  Well, why give up the charade now when I’m so committed? Tiara winced. She acknowledged that she was most likely encouraging her own death, when she said, “I guess the rescue plan didn’t work.”

  “Rescue?” Aeorin repeated.

  She nodded. “That’s my decoy. She was going to slip into my room to replace me, but it looks like she found Archrin’s by mistake.” It wasn’t really that great of a lie, but it was the only one she could come up with at the moment.

  Aeorin looked stunned. “How did she even get in here?”

  The doctor had ceased his work – frozen in place. He looked to Talik for further instructions. Talik glared at Tiara before motioning for Aeorin to come closer. “Keep the princess company while I deal with the decoy.”

  Aeorin drew a short sword from somewhere within her gown. “With pleasure.”

  Tiara watched as Talik turned to the door, feeling a desperate need to stall his attack on Olinia. As Aeorin neared her, Tiara took a quick step backwards into the televisions. Tiara had to get out of this room, but if she made a run for the door, she knew Aeorin’s blade would stop her. It would be rather unfortunate if Aeorin actually were to injure her right now. Tiara had survived the Kendren brothers only to be tossed around by the spoiled lunatic of Relivaynt? It was practically ironic. She wondered if Aeorin was any good with her weapon.

  Tiara ran her tongue along the back of her teeth, observing that the doctor had slinked out of the room unnoticed. Talik was already calling out the door for reinforcements. He’d soon send them on to Olinia. Tiara moaned. She would have to resort to taunting Aeorin.

  “By the bright colors you have on, I see you’re no longer grieving your father,” Tiara said in Saerdian. If Tiara were really to aggravate Aeorin, she needed to do it in her own tongue.

  The Relivaynt blinked and replied in Saerdian, “I believe I mourned for a sufficient time.”

  “So you actually mourned him?” Tiara grunted. “I had no idea that five seconds was ‘a sufficient time,’ as you put it.”

  Aeorin’s eyes narrowed. “It was sufficient.”

  “No remorse at all for what you’ve done.” Tiara’s eyebrows rose. “Now, that is amazing.”

  “Excuse me?” Aeorin blurted.

  Tiara feigned surprise. “What? You honestly thought I didn’t know about the deal you made with Talik over the corpse of your dead father?”

  Aeorin gawked. “No one else was there.”

  “Wrong,” Tiara shot back. “As a Wend, I can do a great many things that a Saerd like yourself cannot. I was there, Aeorin. I saw how you sold yourself to the half-animal that murdered the man who raised you.”

  It had worked. Tiara saw the rage in Aeorin’s eyes. She would forget all about keeping Olinia safe for Talik. Tiara braced herself for Aeorin’s next course of action, feeling that it would most likely involve the sword.

  Then, suddenly Aeorin released a battle shriek that Tiara didn’t realize she had in her, and dove forward. Tiara managed to drop to the floor just as the sword plunged into the television where she’d just been standing with a loud crack. Before Aeorin had the chance to recover, Tiara threw herself into Aeorin’s knees, thankful that for once she was not the one in a dress. Aeorin toppled backward with Tiara on top. Quickly untangling herself from Aeorin’s mass of fabric and limbs, Tiara jumped to her feet. She’d meant to run for the door, but was yanked back by her hair.

  She cried out, startled and in pain, as Talik sneered down at her. Aeorin’s sword was in his hand. He must have retrieved it while Tiara was on the floor with Aeorin.

  “Feisty wench,” he muttered.

  Tiara suddenly felt ill. Her body trembled as the nausea welled up inside of her. It was absolutely the most inopportune time for this. Talik must have mistaken the change in her for terror because he laughed.

  “Do not worry. I will not harm your pretty face, at least not yet.” He caressed her cheek with the thumb of the hand that gripped a chunk of her hair.

  If Tiara hadn’t already been sick, she would have become so now. She clenched her jaw, attempting to calm the upheaval in her stomach. “You have got to be joking.”

  She was complaining more to herself than to Talik. She knew what was coming, and desperately needed Talik to release her. She had no desire to bring him along with her. But the big question was how to get him to let go?

  “I do not joke,” Talik replied. He sounded mildly bewildered.

  An idea struck her on how to free herself. It wouldn’t be pleasant, but it seemed like her only option at the moment. Tiara moaned and slackened her jaw. “I wasn’t talking to you,” she retorted.

  Her churning stomach hurled again, and for once Tiara didn’t fight it. Even though she knew there wouldn’t be much to come out, Tiara aimed for Talik’s chest. The reek of vomit filled her nostrils as she retched down Talik’s front. He soared backward at Craele speed with a string of curses, liberating Tiara’s hair in the process.

  Across the room, Aeorin pressed herself against the wall, one hand covering her mouth, watching with a disgusted look on her face. Tiara hastily wiped her own mouth on the back of her hand. Before Talik had the chance to come at her again though, Tiara snapped her fingers, willingly giving herself up to her Globing.

  : : : : :

  It took about two minutes for Olinia and Will to have their path blocked by the six Velvitors Archrin had warned them about. There were four men and two women. All had varying shades of skin, hair, and height. Olinia couldn’t help but stare. This was her first personal encounter with Velvitors. Never had she seen a group of people less human than those in front of her. She’d naïvely ass
umed Velvitor Craeles to be similar to Archrin. They weren’t.

  Even though each face contained one violet eye, there really was no other resemblance between them. A rainbow of color stood before Olinia. One man actually appeared to have pink skin, making Olinia wonder if he became a flamingo. Although it wasn’t common among Craeles, she knew that some could transform into birds.

  “Stay behind me,” Will breathed, inching her back with one hand.

  Olinia still had one earbud out, dangling around her neck. “There’s no need to whisper since they can hear you anyway. They’re Craeles, remember?”

  “Idiot Ethon. So oblivious to our ways,” a woman with orange-tinted skin and a scratchy voice muttered in Eveon.

  Will snorted and shot back in Eveon, “Twenty bucks says I’ve seen more of the Other Worlds than you have.”

  A few of the group growled in response, but the orange woman had an opposite reaction. She grinned, revealing sharp, pointed teeth. “I’ve always enjoyed playing with my food.”

  “Food?” Olinia repeated, eyes wide. These Velvitors were definitely different than Archrin. She didn’t have to read minds to know that they wanted to devour her and Will.

  What’s going on? Hillary’s voice rang inside Olinia’s head.

  Olinia had forgotten about her guide. Just a short delay. We’ve met some new friends.

  You know what they’re thinking so talk your way out of the situation and move on.

  They’re not really that sort of friends, Olinia replied. I think we’re going to have to take them out first.

  As in kill them? Hillary was stunned. Are you even armed?

  Will is.

  With that little sword you found in the comic book store? She blurted. Are you being serious?

  Olinia smiled. According to Will, it’s better than nothing.

  “Kill him,” the orange woman barked, breaking into Olinia’s conversation. “We only need the decoy.”

  “Decoy?” Olinia furrowed her eyebrows.

  Just then, a surge of energy burst through Olinia in what she’d imagined an electric shock to feel like. She cried out in surprise as the Velvitors began to shift forms. With a start, she realized she was experiencing a fraction of what the Velvitors were as they transformed.