"Behave, Kamerone,” she whispered, knowing he would be able to hear her with his acute hearing.
He cocked his head slightly and growled low in his throat.
"Please,” she amended.
Slowly the talons shrank, disappearing into the tips of his fingers and the fangs withdrew. The heated red glare was the last thing to vanish but in its place was a frigid look that told Kahmal Cree was in no mood to be told what to do. She tensed as he came toward her, his face hard.
"The pillow stays,” he said when he reached the bars. His voice was deadly quiet and all the more lethal for it.
"I'll see to it,” she agreed.
"The blanket, as well."
Kahmal nodded. She was close enough to the bars for him to shoot out a hand to grab her but she stayed where she was, extending the Triso to him.
He shook his head and pressed up against the bars. “You do it,” he ordered.
The women watching this spectacle held their breath as the Reaper reached through the bars and put one arm around the Major, drawing her up to him so that only the bars separated their bodies. She could feel the heat of his body wafting over her.
"Is this necessary?” Kahmal asked through clenched teeth as she watched the vein in his neck pumping furiously.
"Aye, wench,” he snarled, rubbing against her. “It is."
She injected the vac-syringe's payload into his neck and was amazed that he didn't even flinch. He was completely in charge of his body and the strength in his arms as he pulled her to him was like steel.
He took the beaker of Sustenance from her with his free hand and stepped back, releasing her. “Now see to my bloodkin,” he said, dismissing her.
Kahmal watched him go back to the center of the cage, drop down on the blanket, and tip the beaker to his lips. She winced as she heard him slurping the blood and turned away, heading for the Titaness, her fingernails digging into the palms of her hand.
"What the hell was that all about?” Deon asked Sern.
Sern shook her head. “I don't think I want to know but if it was his intention to get the attention of every woman watching, he did."
* * * *
From the vid-com screen in her office, LeJong Kym had watched the action at the cage unfolding. She was smiling. Her Reaper hadn't lost his edge. She called out to her secretary.
"Shei-Ling have Lieutenants Chanz and Aegean escort Captain Cree to my office within the hour."
Shei-Ling put a hand to her mouth. “The Prime?” she repeated, eyes like saucers.
"There's no need to be worried. He'll come peacefully,” Kym told her. “He'll do nothing to compromise his bloodkin's safety."
Bowing, Shei-Ling started away but the Auxiliary Prophetess called out to her.
"And make sure no one pilfers his pillow and blanket while he's gone. If it's not there when he returns, there will be hell to pay. He is not a forgiving man."
* * * *
Kahmal was livid by the time she had passed through the security measures in the Titaness. Not at the strict procedures that insured the prisoners kept there could not escape but by the male show of power Cree had enforced upon her at the cage. She had barely glanced at Sern who had followed her into the Titaness.
"Why are you here, Cirolia?” Kahmal demanded.
"He sent me,” Sern said with a helpless shrug.
Kahmal stopped and turned to glare down at her subordinate. “Why?” she questioned. “Doesn't he trust me to report truthfully back to him?"
"It's not that,” Sern answered. “He can't contact the other Reapers because of the lead lining the walls of the prison. He wanted me to use my gift to speak to them for him, to order them to cooperate fully with you."
Somewhat mollified by the explanation, Kahmal continued walking though her gut was roiling with anger. “Underhanded bastard,” Kahmal snapped. “I could have broken his neck out there this morning."
"I think I know why he did what he did,” Sern said and nearly bumped into the Major as Kahmal stopped and spun around.
"And that reason is?” Kahmal prompted.
"He wanted to show the women watching him that he would not harm those who helped him but those who opposed him, who tried to hurt him, would suffer the consequences.” Sern shrugged again. “I think it worked. The women were looking at him with respect."
"Bastard,” Kahmal named him again, but she said it with a sigh. “He'll be the death of me yet."
The Amazeen arrived at the elevator that would take them down into the underground area where the Reapers were being held.
"I've always heard Reapers are claustrophobic,” Sern said. “This must be hell for them."
Kahmal grunted. She, too, was claustrophobic and the journey down beneath the ground set her teeth on edge. She could feel the sweat gathering in her palms as the oppressive weight of the phobia struck out at her.
The solitary confinement cells were seven feet by seven feet, twenty feet high, and because they were located fifty feet below ground, had no windows. Embedded in the stainless steel wall were two horizontal iron beams upon which was welded a solid sheet of metal six feet long by four feet wide. Serving as the Reaper's bed, the metal sheet bore neither padding nor covers. In one corner of the cell was a four-inch wide waste removal hole. In another corner was a shower head that came on once a week for ten minutes, the waste from the shower flowing away into a small grate in the center of the bare concrete floor. A wire-encased light recessed into the center of the ceiling was never extinguished and likewise the small grate in the center of the cell door was never closed. Beneath the grate was a pass-through for the Reaper's daily dose of Triso, his Sustenance, and the single meal he was given at midday. On the Reaper's side of the pass-through, electronic sensors containing high voltage stuns had been placed to keep him from thrusting his hand through the slot. Embedded in the ceiling was a vid-com camera that watched every move the prisoner made.
Taegin Kullen, son of Symthian and the eldest among the Reapers became aware of the psychic female the moment she came onto the pod level. Through the small slot in the door of their cells, he was able to communicate with his bloodkin despite the heavy liner of lead that coated the outside wall of their cells. He sensed her presence.
"Do you feel that?" Rylan Cree, the second oldest, inquired.
"Break off!" Taegin commanded. If their jailers were aware they could converse with each other, they'd find a way to stop it and their isolation would become far worse.
Sern reached out to put a hand to Kahmal's arm, halting her in mid-stride. She shook her head when the Major would have questioned her. Listening closely, she did not hear the two voices that had spoken but she knew the Reapers were aware of her.
"I have been sent by the Prime Reaper," she sent out to them but only silence met her subliminal transmission. She met Kahmal's gaze. “They are suspicious of me."
"And rightly so,” Kahmal said.
Continuing on to the master control room where several guards sat before a bank of vid-coms that looked into each Reaper cell, the Major reached into the pocket of her uniform coat and produced the authorization signed by the Militaire for her to question the Reapers. She handed the paperwork to the Chief Guard whose duty it was to monitor the prisoners.
"I don't know what you expect to glean from them, Major,” the Chief Guard said. “They were questioned at length when they were arrested but none of them gave us any information at all. They know their execution day draws near so they'll be even less likely to answer your questions."
Sern was standing off to one side, searching the vid-com screens for the man who had ordered his Reapers to silence. She could pluck no stray thoughts from the Reapers who were staring into the vid-com cameras with unblinking eyes.
"Who is the leader among them?” Kahmal asked.
"That would be Taegin Kullen,” the Chief Guard answered and pointed to the vid-com screen on the far left. “He is the senior among them."
Kahmal and Sern walked
over to the monitor that showed a scowling face glaring back at them.
"Captain Kullen,” Kahmal said, “I am Major Akkadia Kahmal of the Amazeen Elite Strike Force. The woman beside me is my second-in-command, Lt. Cirolla Sern."
The Reaper said nothing, only continued to stare into the camera, a muscle working in his lean jaw.
"It was our mission to go after the Prime Reaper Kamerone Cree and to return him to Rysalia Prime for execution. We fulfilled our mission and have returned with Cree who is imprisoned in the cage where your bloodsire met his fate."
Sern felt the weight of Taegin Kullen's fury sweep over her as he invaded her mind, searching for the truth of Kahmal's words. She staggered beneath the onslaught, reaching out to grab Kahmal for support. Instantly, she used that portion of her mind that was not under attack to call out to him, begging for his forbearance.
"We are here to free you and your kin," Sern sent to him, but his anger nearly drove her to her knees and she slapped her hands to her head with the pain of his assault.
"What ails your lieutenant?” the Chief Guard asked, her hand going to the laser weapon at her waist.
"She has a disorder of the central nervous system. I fear she is about to convulse and lose consciousness. Quickly, help me to lay her down on the floor!” Kahmal shouted.
The Chief Guard frowned, but she did as Kahmal ordered. Sern was jerking about with the invasion of her mind, her eyes rolling back in her head.
"Here!” one of the guards said, handing Kahmal her belt. At the Major's confused look, the woman said it was to keep the lieutenant from swallowing her tongue.
Kahmal's face turned red, but she took the belt and forced Sern's jaw open, wedging the belt between the young woman's lips.
"There is nothing wrong with you, bitch!"
The words thundered in Sern's mind. She felt the hold on her mind lessen, and she stopped shuddering, her eyes fluttering open to stare up at Kahmal with shock. She had not expected the Reapers to assail her and had been unprepared.
Kahmal shifted her attention from Sern's pale face to the smirk that was registering on Taegin Kullen's. The Reaper was standing in the center of his cell—his arms crossed over his bare chest—and staring steadily at the vid-com camera.
"We are not your enemies," Sern sent to him. She heard a distinct snort in her mind.
"All women are our enemies," Kullen snarled.
"He said to remind you he is still in charge and that I am his voice in this place."
There came another snort of derision.
"Is she all right now?” the Chief Guard inquired.
Kahmal was helping Sern sit up. “I fear seeing these beasts brought on her disorder,” the Major said. “I should not have brought her with me."
"Aye, well, anyone seeing them for the first time has a strange reaction to them,” the Chief Guard replied. “It's good they will be meeting the Gatherer soon."
"That isn't going to happen," Sern said as Kahmal helped her to her feet.
"Is that so?" Taegin threw at her.
"You will find out, now won't you, you arrogant prick?” Sern said and shut down her mind as tight as she knew how.
Kahmal watched Kullen's face turn as hard as flint. Whatever Sern had said to him infuriated him for his amber eyes flared and he uncrossed his arms, his fists clenching and unclenching at his side.
"Please, get me out of here, Major,” Sern said. “I am not well."
It was obvious to Kahmal that the Reaper was trying to send sublims to Sern, but she was keeping him locked out of her mind. The strain of such an undertaking was obvious on her face and she did, indeed, look unwell.
"I will be back to interrogate the Reapers in a few minutes,” Kahmal said, casting Kullen an amused look.
"Don't do us any favors!” Kullen shouted.
When the women were beyond Kullen's ability to sense them, he let out a howl of rage.
"Who was that?" Ghrian Tohre demanded. "Could she truly have been sent by the Prime?"
"Of course not!" Kullen snapped. "It is a trap!"
"Why would it be, Kullen?" Eachan Gehdrin asked.
"To get us to tell them where Sajin and Khiershon are," Kullen reminded them.
"But we don't know where they are," Toryn Belial stated.
"We can't tell what we don't know," Killian Kiel spoke up.
"I sensed something about the woman ... , “ Comyn Coure began then his voice faded.
Kullen flung himself down on his uncomfortable bunk. He had heard no word from Rylan's twin, Braiden Cree, or from the other sons of the Prime, Corydon, and Kaelan, the youngest of the Cree's bloodsons.
"What say you bloodsons of the Prime?" Kullen demanded.
It was Corydon who answered for his bloodbrothers. "The woman was speaking the truth. She was sent from our bloodsire."
"I do not agree!" Kullen spat.
"If you had been a less arrogant prick as she named you," Rylan Cree joined in, "you would have recognized her as his emissary."
"She lies!" Kullen snarled.
"Did you catch the scent, Rylan?" Braiden Cree asked his twin.
"Aye, I caught it," Rylan answered.
"So did I," young Kaelan admitted.
"The question is did Kullen catch it?" Corydon asked. "That was the first thing I noticed."
"Aye, the scent!" Coure said. "That was what I detected about the woman! She had the Prime's scent on her!"
Kullen had, indeed, caught the scent of Reaper coming through the slot. The smell was all over one of the women. It was not a scent he recognized from among the other cadets he'd met over the years. He would know their blood scent seeping through their pores—just as he would be able to find them wherever they went through their exchanges of blood with him during training. What he had experienced was an aroma of powerful, dominant blood and there was only one man to whom such a scent could belong for there was only one of the seven original Reapers still alive.
"It could be a trap," Kullen defended his judgment.
"Listen to the Amazeen Major when she returns," Rylan advised his bloodkin. "If she has the psychic one with her, I will question her. I will know if what she says is true or false."
"I will question her," Kullen snapped.
"No," Corydon stated. “You will keep out of it."
"I doubt she will pay you any notice after the way you treated her anyway," Rylan added.
The other Reapers agreed Kullen was to take a back seat to Rylan in the questioning of the one known as Sern. Although he was chaffing at the bit not to be in charge, Kullen agreed to the plan by keeping silent the rest of the morning. He pouted—if a Reaper could be said to pout—listening to his bloodkin speculating about the woman supposedly sent by the Prime. He didn't trust her and if it was the last thing he did, he was going to make her pay for calling him a prick.
* * * *
Sern sat down on the rim of the Reflecting Pool of Alel's Force that had been re-christened the Reflecting Pool of Women's Empowerment. Unknowingly, she sat in the exact same place where once Kamerone Cree had sat as he contemplated the punishment the Court of Military Justice had handed down to him. She did not see Cree watching her, a bemused smile on his chiseled lips, but she could feel his light scan of her mind and was annoyed.
"Get the hell out of my head, Reaper!” she snarled beneath her breath. “I've had enough Reaper shit for one day!"
Kahmal stood beside Sern, looking over her head toward the cage in the plaza. It was too far away to see Cree's expression but she got the sense that he was laughing. “What happened in there?” she asked Sern.
"Kullen is an arrogant, self-important son-of-a-jackal!" Sern charged.
"Son of a wolf, actually," Cree corrected her but Sern ignored him.
"Kullen hurt me,” Sern complained.
"Oh,” Kahmal said. She took a seat next to Sern. “I take it he didn't believe we were there to help."
"That man can fry for all I care,” Sern said. “Cree or no Cree!�
� She reached up to rub at the pain that was still lingering in her head.
"I'll punish him for hurting you, wench," Cree sent to her in a soft voice.
"You'd better!” Sern said aloud and Kahmal knew she was conversing with the Prime Reaper.
"Count on it."
Somewhat mollified, Sern relaxed, staring down into the still waters of the pool. “When are you going back in there, Kahmal?” she asked.
"Whenever you feel up to it."
Her shoulders slumping, Sern let out a long breath. “Might as well be now and get it over with but if that bastard attacks me again, I..."
"He'd better not," Cree warned in a voice that made Sern shudder. "Tell him he will answer to me for his stupidity and remind him I spread my scent on Kahmal so he would know I am here."
Feeling more secure, Sern got up, dusted off the seat of her uniform slacks, and fell into step beside Kahmal. Now that she knew what might be thrown at her from Taegin Kullen, she was better prepared to meet the man's attack. This time, he might find himself on the receiving end of a mind-fuck, she thought, a tight grin on her pretty face.
* * * *
Rylan listened intently to the questions the Amazeen Major was asking Taegin but another part of his mind was on the one called Sern. The younger woman had sealed her thoughts carefully against any casual scan and even a deeper one came up against a blank gray wall that the Reaper was surprised to find could not be scaled. He tried several times to get past her security blocks but could not. At last, he gave in, hanging his head, knowing she would now come to him.
"You give up too easily, Reaper."
Rylan's lips twitched. “It was not my intent to invade, wench, but to ask entrance."
"Unlike your conceited bloodcousin," Sern grumbled.
"Kullen can be a bit pigheaded," Rylan admitted.
Sern made no comment to his assessment of his kin. She waited for him to speak his mind.
"I am Rylan, bloodson of Kamerone. Kullen sensed his presence. How is the Prime?" he asked.
Wind Demon Triology: Book II: Evil Wind Page 15