“Jazin, they have me,” Star whispered brokenly.
*.*.*
Jazin’s harsh cry of fury echoed through the level. The sound so loud and painful that the warriors in the area paused for a moment and bowed their head. The moment Star’s voice activated his comlink, Jar had boosted the reception. He could do it coming it but not going out. The sound of his mate’s tortured voice tore through Jazin’s tightly held control. He gripped the laser sword he had retrieved from his living quarters. The two crewmen had been taken to the training room. He had ordered it cleared of everything. When he got done with the men, the room would be coated in their blood.
The men were on their knees, their arms secured behind their backs when he walked in. Both men glared defiantly up at Jazin as he walked through the door. Their glares turned to fear as they studied his face. Jazin stared at each man before he nodded to Armet and Dakar to pull them up into a standing position.
“You might as well kill us,” the taller man, Corklar, stated coldly. “You will get nothing out of us.”
Jazin’s smile turned the men’s blood to ice. He took a step closer, appraising each man carefully. He raised his hand and gripped Delant’s throat, squeezing slowly until he began to gag. Jazin grimly shook his head.
“You will not die so easily,” he whispered in a dark, menacing tone devoid of emotion. “I am going to slice you up one small piece at time. You will beg for death and I will still deny you the comfort of it. You will learn the penalty of harming the mate of a Kassisan Lord. We are unbelievable cruel when someone harms what belongs to us.”
The door behind him opened and two men entered with a small cart. Both men turned white when the saw the medical cart. Their eyes swung back to Jazin. Delant’s throat worked up and down frantically.
“Jar,” Jazin called out quietly. Jar stepped forward and removed the hood from the cloak that he always wore. “I want everything.”
Jar turned his glowing amber eyes to Delant. “I will discover everything, my friend, everything.”
Delant’s screams filled the room as Jar laid the tips of his fingers on the male’s temple. Thin fibers burst through the tips of them, drilling through bone, and into the soft tissue of the man’s brain. Jarmen accessed the male’s memory. His eyes burned brightly as he downloaded the images. Every memory the man had now belonged to Jarmen. The process was not painful for Jarmen but it could be for the recipient of the probe. Jarmen had the capacity to block the pain if he choose but he didn’t. When he finished with Delant, the male would have sank down to the floor limply if Dakar would have let him.
Jarmen smiled at Corklar blandly. “Next,” he said calmly.
“No,” Corklar shouted hoarsely. “No, I’ll tell you everything you want to know. I swear, I’ll tell you everything.”
Jazin nodded to Jarmen to continue. “Yes, you will,” Jar said as he touched his fingers to Corklar’s temples. “You will tell us everything.”
Chapter 18
Star slipped the comlink into the pocket of her pants as she felt the box she was in being roughly handled. She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. This was just like when she help Marcus the Magnificent, the most famous magician in the all the world when he needed an assistant. Marcus was really Marcus Jones, a pick-pocket from Vegas that learned the tricks of the trade on the streets before Walter caught him sneaking into the circus when he was twenty. His name changed and so did his life. Marcus had taught Star, Jo, and River how to pick every lock that was ever made. He said you never knew when you might find yourself trapped in a five hundred year old dungeon or in a thirty year old jail cell. He had also been thrown into a few trunks by local drug dealers and pimps determined to give him a new home under the brilliant Nevada skies.
In fact, many of the circus performers had skills they learned on the streets or, as in the case of Bombing Bill, in the military. He perfected his skills when he got out by doing special effects for Hollywood before he came to a show one night. He had fallen in love with the magic and beauty of the performers. Walter found him sitting on the steps of his trailer the next morning with nothing more than a sad look and a battered suitcase.
Star let her memories calm her as the box was set down. She refused to leave the world she remembered as she needed to remain as calm as possible until an opportunity presented itself. The lid of the container slid backwards slowly. Musky air circulated around her and she had to fight not to sneeze from it. The instant the lid was clear, Star erupted upwards. She struck out like Armet and Dakar taught her with a little bit of Walter thrown in for good measure. Her feet connected with one man’s nose while her palm caught the one bending over her in the throat. She rolled up, doing a handstand before flipping out of the container. She looked at the two men. Both were on their knees. The one she kicked in the nose was groaning as blood flowed down his face. The one she hit in the throat was gagging. Star didn’t wait. She moved forward, grabbing the one gagging by the back of his head and slamming him face first into the metal box as hard as she could. The second man tried to roll to his feet and grab for the pistol attached to his side. Star kicked out again feeling an immense sense of satisfaction at the sound of bone crushing under her booted foot.