The door opened suddenly, making her blink with the rush of light. “Now.” Xairn’s voice was a harsh whisper.
“Now what?” Deep was the first to recover. Unbuckling himself from the safety harness, he crouched close to hear what the Scourge warrior was saying.
“The AllFather is distracted—the pain from your cutting has filled him to completion. He is satisfied for the first time in weeks—torpid. We must act before he becomes alert again. And most especially before the dravik bursts.”
“Dravik?” Kat frowned as she fumbled to unbuckle her harness. “Is that the weird blood-bubble thing he’s in?”
Xairn nodded tersely. “Yes. Come, we need to get Lauren and run for the front entrance of the Complex at once. Here.” He passed Deep and Lock the weapons he’d taken from them earlier. “Watch what you shoot—if you burst the dravik none of us will get out of here alive. Now hurry.”
“Wait,” Lock said. “What about the guards?”
“They’re slow and stupid—they do only what the AllFather tells them,” Xairn said rapidly. “But they’re also extremely strong so don’t let them get too close. They aren’t intelligent enough to be trusted with projectile weapons but the AllFather has armed them with kusaxs.”
“What’s a kusax?” Kat asked, finally getting free of her harness.
“A Scourge knife,” Lock answered in a low voice. “The blade is made of the tainted black metal found only here on their home planet. It’s said that even a scratch from one it will poison your soul.”
“Great,” Kat muttered. “Like my soul wasn’t messed up enough already.” She was trying to joke but in fact, the strange feeling of having had something vitally important amputated continued to grow. She couldn’t stop reaching out, feeling for Deep, expecting to pick up his emotions. But every time she tried she felt nothing…nothing…
Then Lock wrapped an arm firmly around her waist and they were leaving the confines of the silver drum. “She’s yours now,” she heard Deep telling the light twin. “Take care of her. Leave the guards to me.”
“Brother—” Lock began but Deep gave him a look fierce enough to shut him up.
“Just do it,” he ordered. “And don’t call me that anymore—it no longer applies.”
Lock nodded. “Very well.” He pulled Kat closer to him. “Stay with me, my lady. I will shield you with my life if necessary.”
“I know you will.” There was a lump in Kat’s throat as they exited the interior of the psychic-knife. She kept feeling like she had lost something important—something irreplaceable which was now gone forever.
The first thing she noticed when they stepped out was how silent everything was. The spidery shadow of the AllFather, within the glistening bloody bubble, was still—almost frozen. The three huge guards that surrounded him were silent too, reminding Kat of robots that had been switched off or monstrous toys whose batteries had run down.
What’s going on with them? Kat wondered, staring at the silent tableau in the viewing gallery. She remembered Xairn saying something about the AllFather being satiated with pain… Our pain, she realized suddenly. That’s why that damn psychic-knife hurts so much. It’s not just meant to cut bonds—it generates the maximum amount of agony. Pain is what that sick bastard feeds on. Looking at the skeletal figure slumped within the slimy bubble, she knew she must be right. After everything we just went through, he must have sucked down so much hurt he can barely move—like a spider full of flies. He looks like somebody who just finished an entire Thanksgiving dinner all by himself, turkey and all!
Obviously the AllFather’s torpor had spread to his attendants. Even the Alpha guard who was holding Lauren seemed to have loosened his grip and was simply standing behind her with his huge hands resting on her shoulders.
Lauren seemed to have sensed the change too. She was tense—her eyes wide, obviously poised for something. A signal? A word? Kat moved a little back from Lock, ready to reach for her and try to drag her away from the monstrous solider guarding her. Then Xairn said, “Now!” and everything happened at once.
Chapter Thirty-four
“Lauren, to me!” Xairn shouted.
She sprang forward, obeying his command at once. The huge hands that had been resting on her shoulders snapped shut—an instant too late.
“Quickly!” Xairn grabbed her hand. “Before they awaken.”
“Too late for that, my ssson.” The shape within the bloody black and red bubble moved as the AllFather came to life. “Alpha! The girl—get the girl!” he commanded, the dravik expanding with the force of his anger.