Alien General's Beloved (Brion Brides 6)(49)

Worgen's own grin returned at last and he answered by assuming a battle stance.

"Her?" he asked. "She is on the Abysmal."

Only seconds after thinking that Worgen was about to hand the victory to him by losing his temper, Corden growled in unrestrained fury.

"If you hurt her—" he began, but the mad general cut him off.

"She is fine, for now," he said. "Waiting for me in my bedroom. This is what I was talking about, boy. True victory. You don't simply kill your enemies. You break them to pieces before they die so others will never even try. And you will draw your last breath, knowing that I will fuck your gesha's wet pussy after I hang your corpse on the wall for her to see."

All his life, Corden had relied on his mind to show him the path to victory. Almost always, it entailed a well-crafted plan that he executed without a fault. In that moment, listening to Worgen defile everything he held dear, his mind and body were in accord.

Kill, they said. Kill him.

Corden let the rage consume him, the red curtain of anger falling before his eyes. He charged, striking a blow right at Worgen's chest. The mad general dodged a reckless move like that easily.

In his heart, Corden knew he was playing into Worgen's hand with his anger. The other general was nowhere near as stupid as Corden wanted to believe he was. He'd told Lana that himself—that Worgen always had a plan behind those black eyes of his.

Thinking of Lana didn't help him, though. It brought up images of his gesha in Worgen's bed, helpless and alone without him.

The rage was unfamiliar to him at first. It had been a long time since Corden let his emotions get the better of him, but no Brion could listen to his gesha being mocked like that. That was what Worgen had counted on, of course, but Corden found himself not caring.

Instead, he dug deep, into the violent, bloodthirsty core of his Brion soul. The rage was there, waiting, ready to take over. Corden seized it, letting it flow through his body, but staying in control, using it.

Like the eye of a storm.

Worgen had managed to cut a deep gash across Corden's thigh while he was still overwhelmed by his fury, but Corden pounced back. He jumped out of the other spear's way, twisting in air as he did, landing in a battle stance of his own.

Worgen was right on his tail, mid-air, with his spear ready to pierce Corden's heart. He blocked the blow, knocking Worgen out of the air. The other general rolled on the ground, almost meeting his end when Corden's blade struck the ground inches where his head had just been.

The mad general jumped to his feet, a disappointed fury in his eyes. If he thought Corden owed him an easy victory, he was dead wrong. They traded blows faster than the eye could see, the long blades of the spears cutting into flesh and bone, marring the ground red beneath their feet.#p#分页标题#e#

It was not as easy as I thought it would be, he thought, not for either of us.

Worgen had a century of experience on Corden, but he was better, Corden knew that after long minutes. And there flashed the look of fear in Worgen's eyes, the man who thought victory was being the last man standing. Corden knew it was not.

Victory was fighting tooth and nail for a triumph of your own, a prize that you carved out of life with your own two hands. And it had to be won for the right reasons, not for the victory itself. Brions didn't hate their enemies, didn't look down upon them. On the contrary, the more difficult they were to beat, the more they respected them.

Corden was willing to make an exception for the mad general. He deserved nothing like that. Respect was wasted on him.

Worgen was getting slower now, but his every move still posed undeniable danger. Corden knew he had to concentrate to win, but it was within his reach. All he had to do was remember that no opponent was beaten until they lay on the ground. The mad general was desperate, but a quick blow to Corden's shoulder that nearly dislodged it showed he wasn't out of the fight yet.

The end came, but not how he'd thought it would.

Alarm bells began to sound all over the Flora. A confused voice spoke over the intercomm.

"There... there is another Brion ship here. Captain Cormac, could you come to the bridge? Commander Yarel?"

In the fraction of a second where the Claw's arrival had caught his attention, Worgen took his only chance. The blow he delivered was at an awkward angle for Corden to catch and it knocked him on the ground. He was up instantly, spear at the ready, but the other general was no longer there. He'd disappeared, like into thin air.

The fury raged within Corden. He couldn't believe Worgen had run again, but after all, he'd said he would, hadn't he? If he couldn't achieve victory on his own, he'd let the Abysmal handle it.

Corden ran, pushing his righteous anger aside. Everything was a matter of time now. The only good that had come of the whole mess was that back in the hangar, he hadn't seen the shuttle of the originals. Which meant his three warriors had left like he'd told them to. Corden had to trust them to have succeeded in their duty or he'd die very soon, never reaching Lana.

The name of his gesha hurt. He'd sworn he wouldn't let any harm come to her, but Worgen had very possibly made a liar out of him.

He reached the landing bay, only to find Worgen's fighter was gone as well. So the general was back on the Abysmal. Behind him, the Torons gathered, furious and determined.

"Board!" Corden bellowed over the bay, watching as the beasts climbed into the shuttles and fighters that the originals had left behind.

Everything teetered on the edge of a knife. Outside, the Abysmal turned toward the Flora and the Claw moved between them. The legend was facing the executioner.





CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Corden



The world held its breath.

The fleet around the Abysmal most certainly did. Corden had boarded his fighter and taken his impromptu flotilla out of the Flora. In the shadow of the Claw raising its shields, they emerged from the carrier and headed toward the enemy flagship.

The general observed the standoff with a thudding heart, knowing that his every action might bring Worgen's wrath down on Lana. He had no choice but to take his chances. They had come too far, revealed their hand, and now he and Worgen were playing for the win.

The shuttles and fighters with the Torons were dutifully following him, letting Corden take the lead. Their flight routes were awkward and clumsy, the Toron claws not used to the controls of Brion ships, but they were handling them well enough. It was a small victory on its own that they were even able to fly. Corden had ordered his three recruits to open the ships with their genetic codes before leaving.

His new warriors were on the Abysmal now, since Corden didn't see any sign of their own vessel being destroyed. Whether the three had succeeded in securing the control room that monitored fighters was another question. One that would be answered soon.

The situation was on the verge of escalating to another massacre and Corden hoped his warship would handle it while he rescued Lana. And dealt with Worgen once and for all. He wouldn't let the mad general escape him a third time.

He had just found himself thinking that it was too quiet, when suddenly the Abysmal opened fire. The Claw took the barrage full-on, but the shields held. Corden scanned for damage and found to his relief that the Abysmal's weaponry at least wasn't beyond his own ship's capabilities.#p#分页标题#e#

He ached to test the Claw against the Abysmal, but the fleet still stood in the way. Ever since the Abysmal started firing, they had been almost paralyzed, not daring to move one step out of the line-up they were in. Any uncoordinated route might have meant getting caught in the crossfire.

The Claw didn't fire back, remaining staunchly between the other warship and the Flora, which had been keeping a bit farther away due to its size. His fighter's scanners were receiving signals of the carrier's warp drive firing up in preparation of a jump.

In the next second, the Abysmal broadcast a message to every ship nearby.

"Flora, if you jump out of the system, we will destroy the fleet."

Corden waited along with everyone else, the forced inactivity of their slow approach eating him up inside. They had to be careful not to get in front of the Abysmal's guns, which blessedly had yet to target them. So far, Worgen seemed to think they were clone units, returning to the flagship.

The Flora didn't jump, but the warp drive remained active.

It was going to be close. Corden knew that Worgen needed the fleet for cover, from the Claw, and anything else that might confront him. But he didn't doubt for a second that the mad general would carry out his promise if the precious carrier slipped away from him. All the Abysmal had to do was jump, and then find another hostage.

They were slowly but surely nearing the landing bays of the legendary ship. Corden felt no fear, only a passive anticipation. His own possible death meant nothing to him compared to the danger Lana was in. His gesha was the only thing on his mind, the light of his life that he wanted back no matter the cost.

If Worgen had thought he gained an advantage by kidnapping Lana, he'd made a huge mistake. From the beginning, Corden had thought that his enemy severely misunderstood the bond.

Putting Lana in danger didn't make Corden weak, nor did it hinder him. It freed him, wiped every doubt and every reservation from his body.

No man would stand between him and Lana, not even a living legend.

He turned his eyes to the monitors in front of him, judging the distance to the bays. The moment of truth had arrived for him and the flotilla following on his trail. They were close enough for the Abysmal to scan them and see what they were.