The filthy lizards had him cornered at the three-way intersection. He was behind a blind of rocks and had all he could do to keep the Antareans from rushing him. So far, he’d managed, but the pseudo-reptiles would soon either get reinforcements or make a suicide run to kill him.
Rising to sit back on her calves, she peered over the wall. The Antareans were fully engaged in their attack on Wulf. Their rears were not covered. She grinned. Major mistake on their parts.
Standing, she dropped the rock on the pressure plate the enemy had somehow managed not to trip. A noise must have given her position away since the enemy laser fire hit just about head level, missing her left ear by mere millimeters and hitting the cave wall. Shards of rock from the near miss struck her cheek as she dropped behind the rock wall before their aim could become more accurate. She swiped at the blood on her face, then smiled. Her rock had done the trick. A groaning, grinding of rock over metal plates indicated that the ancient trap had been engaged. The subsequent cries of horror from the two Antareans in the endangered hallway were music to her ears. Two of the enemy were now lizard-shish-kebobs.
Silence fell over the battle zone. The other four Antareans must have stopped firing in shock—or horror—at what had happened to their comrades.
“Wulf! Go!”
“I’m on it, lubha.”
The dart pistol twanged loudly in the preternatural silence after the trap’s triggering.
The sounds of return laser fire told Mel that Wulf had not gotten all of them.
“Dammit.” Mel peered through the slit. Wulf had killed only one of the remaining four.
“Language, lubha . I can handle them. You stay hidden.”
“Just shut up, Wulf. Be ready for my move.” An answering angry growl rumbled through her mind. “Stop growling—and wait for my signal. Be mad at me later.” An exasperated male snort had her smiling. Shuffling back the way she’d come, she took another side hallway that would bring her in behind two of the remaining enemy.
If she had another dart gun, it would be easy to take them out from above, but she didn’t. Timing would be everything. It would have to be explosives—or her jumping them and slitting their throats.
“No jumping from six meters and slitting throats. Try the explosives. ”
“You could be hurt from the resulting explosion.”
“Don’t worry about me.”
As if that would happen. She’d assess Wulf’s chances of surviving an explosion versus her taking out the enemy with a knife when she got into position.
The echoing sounds of laser fire pinged off the solid rock ceiling of the catacombs.
Dust rained down, making the air hazy and hard to breathe. She coughed. Damn, she wished she’d thought to grab a rebreather. Too late now.
She coughed again, then choked as she tried to keep from coughing. The sound would give her away, spoiling her surprise. She halted and took a sip from the water bottle in her pack, then rinsed and spit the grittiness from her mouth. That helped enough to stop the cough reflex—temporarily. She needed to get in position and get this over with, so she could cough all she wanted.
Monitoring Wulf’s physical welfare constantly, she reviewed the layout and the relative positions of the enemy and her man. While he had a great defensive position, any move he made to escape the results of an explosion in the close quarters would either kill or wound him seriously.
Neither was an acceptable option.
Jump and knife, it was.
She’d only have one chance at each of the two Antareans in the one tunnel. Surprise only went so far with Antareans. After their initial shock at having a woman drop on them, they would follow their instinct to kill. And they had it all over on her as to size and strength. She could not beat them two-on-one.
Wulf would have to take out the third guy. She would have her hands full.
“Wulf?”
A low angry growl was her answer. She laughed silently. He’d read her mind and did not like the plan. At least he was predictable. She must be perverse that his angry, grouchy, mad-at-her-risking-her-life growls made her hot.
“Hot, eh? I’ll remember that.”
“You do that.”
Even though he didn’t like her plan since it involved a high degree of risk for her, he was experienced enough in close-quarters battle to know that she had the better chance of taking out the two as he handled the other—with the least risk to both of them.
“Let me know when you’re ready, battle-mate. I’ll back you up with the two as soon as I dispatch mine.”
* * * *
Wulf lay down a barrage of laser fire with one hand as he waited for the closest of the enemy to give him a target for the poison dart from the gun in his other. His gemate was due for a lecture—and a spanking. Then he would growl and make her hot. He snorted with amusement. So, she liked his growls. Well, she was in for a lot of them since she seemed to tick him off at regular intervals.
By Balcon’s balls, she made him happy. She was the perfect mate for him. Feisty.
Intelligent. Fearless. He decided he wouldn’t want her any other way. He couldn’t even remember why he’d thought he needed a meek, stay-in-her-place gentle woman like most of the women on Cejuru Prime. Not that he still wouldn’t worry and lecture, he would; it was in his nature to be protective of his mate. It was a good thing she seemed to thrive on the arguments—and he knew he would love the making up.
Mind on the job, Wulf. I’m in position.
I’m ready whenever you are.
Wulf felt the moment she went over the barrier wall. As she leapt onto the back of one of the Antareans, screaming a blood-curdling battle yell she must’ve learned from one of her Volusian officers, Wulf leaned around the protective rock wall and shot the throat of the Antarean who had him pinned down. He was on the run as his mark dropped, writhing on the ground in his final death throes. Passing the downed enemy, Wulf held onto the dart gun and dropped his laser. With his free hand, he grabbed his knife and slit the dying apayebo’s throat for good measure.
Now, to Melina.
Her shout of pain froze the very marrow of his bones. Horror swept through him as blinding pain hit his mate and communicated to him before she shut him out with her infernal mental walls.
In the few seconds it took him to dispatch his Antarean, Melina had managed to slit the throat of the raider whom she’d jumped. But, as he went down, bleeding out from the severed artery, he’d flung her into the rock wall behind them. She’d hit hard and was now on the ground, shaken, injured.
Wulf sensed nothing from Melina. He let loose with a Prime battle cry. The last Antarean had almost reached her when Wulf shot him with the dart gun. The fast-acting poison dropped the filthy lizard instantly, a look of agony in his acid yellow eyes.
Holstering the dart gun, Wulf wiped the bloody knife on the last Antarean he’d killed and then sheathed it in the scabbard on his belt. He knelt over Melina, gently checking her for broken bones. She groaned and muttered something. He let out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. Now he sensed a low level of mental connection seeping through her mental shields. She was conscious enough to keep the majority of her pain and thoughts from him. No brain damage, then. If there had been, she wouldn’t have been able to keep him out. She was protecting him again.
“Melina, love. Open up. I need to assess your health through our connection. I can handle the pain, lubha. Let me in, please.”
“Well, I’m glad one of us can handle the pain.”
She dropped her shields. Her anguish throbbed through him, making him gasp.
“Happy now?”
He didn’t know whether to laugh, cry or growl. She might be injured, but her indomitable spirit was still healthy.
“Growl, please. Maybe the endorphins from the resulting lust will make me feel better.”
“Melina, what am I going to do with you?” Carefully, he lifted her into his arms, cradling her against his chest.
“Find me a soft regen bed?”
Wulf chuckled and kissed her forehead, breathing in her unique scent. “That’s the plan.”
Walking back to where he’d tossed his laser pistol, he held her against him with one arm as he dipped to pick up the weapon and reholster it. Then he followed the tunnel that led to the plateau. He wanted Melina within the safety of his star cruiser. With any luck the landing parties from the Leonidas and Galanti were already on the ground. He’d been making his way back to let Melina know help had arrived and was in orbit when the Antareans cornered him.
“Wulf?” Melina touched his jaw with a stroke of a finger. “Antarean just around the corner. Just one.”
Wulf drew the dart gun as he carefully lowered her to the ground, leaning her against the wall. He didn’t doubt she was correct. Female battle-mates were reputed to taste, smell and feel the enemy well before their men. Peering around the corner, he saw the back of one Antarean as it peered down another hallway. Wulf took the shot. The Antarean fell, his gasp of shock trailing off into a death rattle.
Wulf reloaded the dart gun and kept it at hand as he went back for Melina. His mate safely cuddled against his chest once more, he approached the plateau entrance to the catacombs. The sound of rock fall, then feet thudding on the packed dirt floor alerted him that they were not alone. He brought the dart gun up, ready for whomever entered the catacombs.