She had never seen him look so savage and shivered involuntarily.
“FOLLOW THEM. I want to know when they leave. If you lossse them—you will anssswer to me. They mussst not get a messsssage off their ssship.”
Chapter 11
WITHOUT FURTHER delay, Vadyn ordered an immediate departure. Their determined press through the teeming crowds progressed faster than when they had landed, almost as if the milling dignitaries wanted them gone as badly as they wanted to leave. But no one argued with the grim-faced warriors who shouldered their way belligerently through the crushed masses.
Cayla, after remaining silent throughout the Council ordeal, now strode forward listlessly. The huge spaceport had lost its attraction. The Council’s decision had destroyed any hope of retribution for her parents’ deaths. Vadyn had been deadly and fierce, but he had failed to convince them of the Xeetag’s treachery. And her mind still spun with the news of her pregnancy. Imagine that! He had all but roared the news at her when she kept pressuring him about hiding something. As badly as he wanted an heir to show the damned Elders, he should have been a whole lot happier. Shouldn’t he? And how did he know before she did?
I know your body far better than you. His distant thought invaded Cayla’s grumblings as they boarded for takeoff. Sarcasm was lost on the warlord when he was distracted. Too bad he hadn’t remained that way instead of deliberately impregnating her. Aaargh! She jumped at his growl then realized that only she had heard it.
Vadyn’s attention returned to the command controls of their Cobra, hurt still evident in his frowning gaze. They were past Dara V’s orbit, finally reaching the relative safety of open space. All view ports open. The area remained clear of traffic. Only brilliant stars revolved against velvet blackness that spread in all directions. Cayla lifted her chin. He didn’t scare her with his narrowed, hard yellow look. Well, he didn’t. She swallowed and looked at the window, but she still felt the weight of his gaze. When she looked back, she wrinkled her nose, making a face at him.
The warlord blinked then after a moment, he relaxed with a chuckle. My baby’s having a baby. She strode over and went to slap him, but he grabbed her wrist, laughing harder. The amused sound was unusual for their normally staid leader, especially in these last days, but the lieutenants suddenly became very busy at the Cobra’s controls. She’d get no help from them. Not that she would ask. Without being told, she now realized why the warriors had treated her differently on the way back to the ship. They had acted with new reverence, a pulling back as if in acknowledgement of her higher rank.
Vadyn suddenly jerked her down to his lap and kissed her thoroughly, slowly with a tongue invasion of her mouth. She fought him at first, but her half-hearted struggles were no match for his massive strength. Unfair. Sudden tears threatened her. Vadyn’s mind chuckles abruptly died, and he sent her a serious thought. I’m sorry if I frightened you in Council. She shivered in his arms, and he drew her closer. She truly didn’t know what to think. How could she have this child? Did she even want one? Oh, damn it! Why now? Perhaps their time of adjustment had passed, but she wasn’t ready for this. Did she really love Vadyn and his savage alienisms after all?
Suddenly, he shot forward in his chair, staring over her shoulder and peering intently at the starboard viewport. She twisted in his arms and followed his troubled gaze. What is it? She felt alarm snake through her. Whatever it was, it was bad.
There. Vadyn pointed a talon at a strange fuzziness that distorted the serenity of space. It blurred the brilliance of the surrounding stars. What caused that odd wavering in the stars’ background? He rechecked his instrument panel just as an ugly thought materialized. “Come about! Full power to engines!” he yelled. But he was too late.
They appeared from all sides. Deadly black Xeetag fighters popped into view, filling the available space around the Kasar ship. And without warning, their cannons fired. The Cobra rocked. Without a break, the Xeetag repeated their blasts. Sealed seams cracked under the stress of uneven pressure. Power snapped and crackled. Systems shorted out.
Discordant alarms rang as Cayla sprang to her feet and took her seat at the com’s console. “Communications are offline!” Her fingers jumped over the controls. Her heart choked her throat as she fought to establish a link to Kasara. Failed. Tried again. Failed. She kept trying.
Another cannon blast tore through the small ship. Circuitry continued to spark in irritated yellow snaps. More of their controls died.
Repeatedly, the Xeetag’s aim never failed to hit their target while Vadyn’s calm command took over the smoky chaos. Precise orders flew. He fought against losing his rigid control to his warrior fighting haze. Even as his teeth extended and his claws lengthened, his mind remained clear and cool without vache. Cayla’s pride in him grew. Outnumbered, he drove the Cobra into a weaving pattern. The ship strained to evade the deadly fighters—and failed. They stuck like glue.
Cayla’s orders for return fire came directly from Vadyn’s mind. Her accuracy joined his in combating the overwhelming odds. Their little fighter, though outnumbered and outgunned, still responded to their desperation. Suddenly, a cargo airlock breached with a loss of pressure. Warning lights blinked red. Alarms blared.
“We’re being boarded, el’kota!” Tyrei’s anxious shout announced the reptiles’ arrival just before the vile creatures shoved their way onto the small bridge. The Kasar jumped to their feet and held their short swords at ready. The warriors ringed Cayla in the middle. Quarters were too close for lasers, but they were well trained in sword fighting.
THE XEETAG waded in for the kill. They had their orders straight from Slavortay’s mind. “Remember, foolsss, no killing. You kill. You die.
“Now, get them for Turathoom!”
IN A RUSH, the Xeetag charged. Pandemonium reigned until Vadyn’s clear orders penetrated the noise. “Swords. To me!” His lieutenants, at his shout, drew back around him from the churning mass of green. He knew they would protect Cayla. With her between them and his back, Vadyn began an orderly, hand-to-hand battle. Only the ringing clang of battered swords and smothered, growled oaths broke the stillness. He neatly disemboweled a Xeetag from neck to groin. Behind him, Cayla retched. He reached out to her with his thought and tried to strengthen her. Horror reached him through their link. A lizard’s blue-gray steaming entrails dragged across her gown and left bloody smears behind as it fell over at her feet.
The smell of defecation and gore choked her. This was just like the visions she had glimpsed in Vadyn’s memories. He had to be this savage to win against these odds. But there was no time for this new insight.
Cayla stumbled and slipped in her struggle to follow in his wake. This was the reason for his brutal memories. This struggle for life and death, for the preservation of loved ones against all enemies. She realized what a fool she had been for all her fears. She couldn’t lose him; she’d give her own life for his! The short sword she clutched in her hand was nearly useless, but she intended to offer Vadyn’s back any protection she could. Suddenly, she feared for him though grateful for his savage warrior nature. Cayla. He sent a soothing thought of peace and love. Her eyes met his and saw the resignation there. Both realized their situation. There were too many Xeetag.
Vadyn! she called, knowing if she lost him—and with that thought came the realization that she loved him, truly loved him, more than life itself. Dear gods, she hoped that her knowledge hadn’t come too late. But she dared not distract him now with this confession of love. She watched in horror as the ruthless, hissing Xeetag pushed the smaller organized Kasar force relentlessly back until they had no retreat. Tight against a bulkhead, all swung bloody sword slashes. But in the confined bridge area, Vadyn’s seasoned warriors were no match for the thickly advancing Xeetag. They were not easily taken. Only the sheer number of their enemies won out. She realized that that was how they had overpowered her parents. Their blind disregard
of their own troops. Death obviously meant little to them.
All too soon, the fighting was over. Many Xeetag, wounded and dying, littered the bridge. It was obvious that they were ordered to take the Kasar alive. By sacrifice, they had overwhelmed Vadyn’s little band but not without cost. The remaining mute reptiles stripped the warriors of weapons. Without a word or readable thought, Vadyn had taken her puny sword and pushed her back. With only a cursory look, the lizards ignored her. As her heart pounded in her throat, she moved with the rest as they moved. All seemed an awful nightmare without sound, for not a whimper of noise came from the Xeetag. Quickly separating Vadyn from the rest, they shoved him forward, forcing him away at laser point. Struggling between two of the lizard-men, the warlord caught the eye of the bloodied but still standing Tyrei. “Remember, protect her!” he shouted, before the nearest Xeetag rapped his temple with a weapon. The sharp pain echoed in her mind, making her cry aloud. Tyrei slipped in front of her, but not before she saw Vadyn loll in the Xeetag’s grip. The shared pain and the sight of his defeat left her trembling legs too weak to support her. Even Tyrei’s strong grip on her arms, holding her up, barely registered. Her link to Vadyn took over all functions, although the connection blinked in and out much as an eye opening and closing. She pieced Vadyn’s broken message together.
Listen to Tyrei—go with him—do what he says—get away. I will find you. Vadyn’s thought, hazy and garbled, came through to her along with the sharp redness of his pain. I love you—our child safe. The link darkened. She struggled to retain the bright thread, sending all her love that she had never acknowledged to him. Did he hear? Did he know? She fought, held in Tyrei’s strong grip. He struggled with her, trying to keep her quiet while the two massive Xeetag dragged Vadyn away. The warlord draped limply as a rag between their towering shoulders. The remaining Xeetags’ cold unblinking stares never wavered as they motioned with pointed laser rifles for the group to move forward. A sharp jab between Tyrei’s shoulders made Cayla move to keep them all from being punished for her delay. Her legs obeyed in numb jerks, one foot in front of the other, as her mind spun with questions about what she should do. His link was there, but she felt lost. Without Vadyn’s strong leadership, what would the Kasar expect of her?
In her whole lifetime, she had never been responsible for anyone, had never led anything. As ly’teal, the leadership of the Kasar now fell to her. And, that burden seemed too much to bear. The thought of losing Vadyn after just discovering how much she loved him nearly rendered her senseless. But she refused to cry. Kasar warriors never cried. Oh, but how she longed to.
SLAVORTAY SHIVERED despite the tower’s heat.
The queen’s chambers trembled with another seismic shake. Turathoom stomped about and waited for the dust to settle before she continued her tirade. “Hasss the other ssship been found? If you’ve lossst it, you will die thisss time.” Her malevolent glare burned red whirls of anger.
He knew he must not fail again. “Our fighter isss closssing in on them even asss we ssspeak. Do you want them alive?”
Her flat jaws snapped together so near his arm that Slavortay jumped with a smothered cough. She cackled a laugh. “No. Kill them. We have what we need now. Go away.” She started to turn then she whirled her heavy body back to face him quicker than he thought possible. She lowered her voice, and her big flat head jutted in his direction. The false sweetness in her words was chilling. “Ssslavortay? No missstakesss thisss time.” The motion of her claws curled against her throat left no doubt of the consequences of failure. He would die if the other Kasar ship got away. The one-man Vyper had left Kasara just days before the Council met on Dara V. Whom it carried they didn’t know, but if the queen said destroy it, they would destroy it. Her threat left no doubt in Slavortay’s mind. He made hasty preparations to leave Dalhum, taking a cruiser filled with troops. He would deal with Kasara’s little fighter. The queen would deal with these others. And if he failed to return, some other less fortunate male would be chosen to fertilize her eggs.
DAYS AFTER THEIR capture, held in the small stone cell, her four bloodied and injured Kasar guards still surrounded her, protecting her. Cayla couldn’t believe their dedication. They had lent her their warmth, circling her close to their body heat for the entire journey to their prison. Now they again lent their support. Humbled by their devotion to Vadyn’s last order, she vowed not to be the cause of any further injuries to them. But she missed Vadyn’s strength, and she needed his courage. Their link didn’t allow for that kind of flow. In truth, all she felt through their weakened connection was horror and pain. They tortured him. And she became violently sick, vomiting repeatedly from the shared connection. The days flowed together like a bad dream. And still the nightmare continued.
She knew the Xeetag tortured Vadyn for Kasara’s new landing codes. They had erected a new web after her parents’ deaths. When the first of his punishment began, she screamed, but in fear for her lieutenants’ safety, she quickly learned to silence her pain. But today, she couldn’t contain the low groan that escaped her lips. Vadyn was hurting so badly he couldn’t shield her at all from his pain. She pinched her lips together, but a low wail still escaped. At the sound, the Xeetag guard outside their cell swiveled his flat head. He watched her through his unblinking reptile eyes. Tyrei drew her closer against his chest and whispered urgently, “You mustn’t draw their attention, ly’teal. They will know you are connected to the el’kota, and they will use you against him. Here, swallow your pain. Bite this.” He shoved his empty knife scabbard between her teeth. The tang of old leather and salt from Tyrei’s sweat mixed with the taste of her tears. She nearly gagged again. Tyrei smoothed her hair from her forehead. “Hold onto me, ly’teal.” He held her gently as if she were a fragile treasure. He obviously meant well, but she hated the vile taste of his scabbard.
But, when Vadyn’s next pain came, she bit the leather hard enough to forever carry the marks. Tyrei spoke the truth. She mustn’t let the Xeetag see her connection to Vadyn. She couldn’t put her mate in further danger nor draw attention to the lieutenants. The Kasar guards were hers to protect now, even if she felt too inadequate for the job. Most of all, she should be doing something to rescue Vadyn and escape this hell. She tried to focus on other things as she fought the pain. If she didn’t close her mind to him, she would go nuts. Her newly discovered love and admiration nearly choked her with unlimited regrets—such wasted time. His next pain nearly bowed her over again. Think on something else! Her unborn child—Kasara—her warriors—her brother—Tallas. By the stars! She jerked upright. The Xeetag might also have attacked Tallas and Sean on their way to Earth. Quickly, she prayed for their safety and then fervently prayed for Kasara’s own. When Vadyn’s next pain came, she ground her teeth into the leather, clenching her fists in promise. She made a vow. Somehow, she would escape this prison, kill those murderous Xeetag bastards, and rescue her love. Another pain swept over her, but she felt Vadyn’s strong presence trying vainly to shield her. She blinked back tears. He should be saving his strength for himself. Guilt swept through her. She knew he was giving too much in protecting her. Despite his blocking, she felt every blow, every jab, and every bone-cracking break. They branded her soul, but she welcomed the pain. Pain meant he still lived. There was still a chance to save him. She wanted that chance now. Now, damn it! Her tears died unshed. Kasara’s warriors didn’t cry.
She licked at the bitter taste of Tyrei’s leather knife sheath and swallowed against a dry throat. Cradled in the big Kasar’s arms, she finally erected a thick mind barrier that protected herself and their child from Vadyn’s torment. She had to cut herself off from him or succumb to madness. Would he ever forgive her? She worried herself into exhausted sleep with only one thought. Where there is life, there is hope. But, for how long?
Chapter 12
DEEP IN THE molten bowels of Dalhum, massive tectonic plates shifted and groaned.
Shock waves r
ippled.
Magma churned.
Pressure built.
A shudder passed through the Xeetag world.
Tyrei stumbled on the trembling prison ground. What was causing that? His big feet scrambled for footing on the hard-packed dirt floor. Cayla was dimly aware that the lieutenant dabbed at the corner of her mouth with a rag torn from her gown. She recognized the rag’s color, but perhaps, the cloth was red from other things than its cloth dye. That thought made her ill again. She retched weakly.
For the past few days, the quakes had come more frequently, building in intensity. As did her sickness. She had lost track of the time they had spent here. Tyrei carefully turned his extended claws aside, avoiding cutting her. His lips, pulled back in a silent snarl, exposed his fangs, but he held her again while she retched over his arm with dry heaves. His massive hands, better suited for battle with their talons, carefully held her hair out of the way. She felt sorry for him for pulling another turn at her care. All the lieutenants were treating her with the utmost gentle reverence. And all she wanted was to scream at them to stop coddling her and rescue her mate. Damn this weakness! She had to get them out of this cell! Tyrei gently blotted her lips again. When would all this stop? She knocked his hands away. How long had they been here?
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