"I'm gonna fucking kill you!" the thug screamed, lunging for me with the chicken riding his head.
"Not today." My steel-toed boot slammed into his face. His head snapped back, and he toppled over, out cold.
The chicken kept on pecking him.
"You go, girl." Slipping and sliding on the broken eggs, I grabbed hold of the cages and pulled myself upright.
The Battle Commander was fighting four Tai-Kok warriors at the same time with his hands still cuffed in front of him, and doing some serious damage. Color me impressed.
Using the cages as a ladder, I climbed up to the catwalk for a better view. Should I shoot the Tai-Kok, or let Voss work out all that aggression? He seemed to be enjoying himself.
Fire ants danced across my mind. A sneaky Tai-Kok slithered around the cages and pointed his weapon at Voss.
A cold rage rolling over me, I pulled my Glock and shot him in the third eye.
Voss broke one warrior's neck, head-butted another, and delivered a spinning side kick to the third, knocking him into the fourth Tai-Kok.
"I need your knife," Voss said.
I pulled it and hurled it at him.
He snatched the knife midair, stabbed two warriors in the eye, and slit the other one's throat.
The big bad warlord had killed all of them in less than thirty seconds. He made Batman look like a wuss.
A loud clank caught my attention.
A visibly frightened El Jefe climbed out of a metal hatch set in the floor and ran for an open bay door.
Oh hell no. That murdering asshole wasn't getting away. I sprinted down the catwalk after him, batting frenzied fowl out of my way. Grabbing a pulley chain, I swung off the catwalk doing a great imitation of Tarzan, and dropped on El Jefe.
The breath oofed out of El Jefe as my hundred-and-twenty-pound body knocked him flat.
Straddling his back, I grabbed a handful of hair and pounded his head against the asphalt. "You murdered my mother, and for what? So you could make a few bucks off of feeding your own people to those monsters? You're a dead man. Do you hear me?"
His muscles bunched beneath me, and to my utter surprise, El Jefe reared up like some rodeo bronco, twisting, turning, and doing everything he could to throw me off his back. "Perra estupida."
"I may be a bitch, but stupid I'm not." Wrapping my legs around his waist, I put him in a chokehold and squeezed with all my might. Around and around and around we went.
Voss stepped out of the chicken house, and an eyebrow rose in disbelief. "What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to choke him out, but it's harder than I thought. I mean, it always looked easy on television."
The Battle Commander rubbed a hand over his battered face, and I got the impression he was trying not to laugh. I felt his mind lash out.
El Jefe suddenly collapsed to the ground in a boneless heap.
"Thanks, but I could have taken him," I groused, wiggling out from under him.
"Eventually. Why didn't you use your mind control on him?"
I shrugged. "I wanted to beat him to a bloody pulp."
"Understandable, but your fighting skills are not sufficient for the task."
"Are too." I looked over at the still-burning cars, shuttle, and melted plastic chicken. "And I'm pretty good at blowing shit up."
A smile tugging at his mouth, Voss tilted my face up and gently kissed me. "Very good."
The sensation of enormous power rippled around us.
A few seconds later, Jaylan teleported in with twenty heavily armed Coletti warriors.
"About time you got here, Skippy."
Jaylan bared his fangs. "You failed to provide me with coordinates."
"And you failed to listen to me."
Voss fixed a glare on us that would send most men fleeing in terror. "Enough."
With a slight bow, Jaylan quickly said, "My apologies, Battle Commander."
"Wuss," I muttered under my breath.
"You will show my men the proper respect," Voss snarled in my head.
"Yes, my lord," I replied in my timid-mouse voice, knowing it would drive him nuts.
"Mind your tongue, or you will spend a month at the breeder's compound."
One look at the menace glittering in his eyes, and I almost peed my pants. "Yes, sir. Would you like me to pick the lock on your handcuffs?"
"Yes." Voss held out his cuffed hands.
Pulling a lock pick from a pouch on my belt, I quickly freed him and resisted the urge to smack Jaylan upside the head with the shackles.
"A useful talent," Voss said and turned Jaylan. "Report."
Jaylan tapped his left bracelet, and a three-dimensional image of a warbird appeared. "Degan had planted three bombs. Here, here, and here."
While Voss scrolled through several dozen images, I studied the muscle-bound warriors gathered around him. They could be described in three words: big, fierce, and deadly. They made me feel like Tinker Bell.
El Jefe groaned and tried to sit up.
Pulling my Taser, I kicked him over and zapped his nuts. He let out a bloodcurdling shriek and convulsed violently. I let him have it again, watching in satisfaction as he thrashed around and moaned.
"Zoey," Voss barked and yanked the Taser from my hand. "You can torture him after I have captured Malik."
My evil twin spat, "Another promise?"
The Battle Commander purred menacingly, "You doubt me?"
"Time will tell."
The warriors' jaws dropped in amazement.
Jaylan stared at me with the eerie unblinking stare of a predator. "Do you have a death wish, female?"
"If that's what it takes to find the traitors, then yes, I'm willing to die. Are you?"
A big hand clamped around back of my neck, and Voss snapped, "Another word, and you will spend the next two months at the breeder's compound."
"Yes, sir. Zipping it, sir." We couldn't make the big guy look bad in front of his men, now could we?
"Rho, take the prisoner to the ship and lock him up," Voss ordered.
Rho, a badly scarred warrior, tossed the still-moaning El Jefe over his shoulder and teleported.
The Battle Commander asked Jaylan, "What have the scanners picked up?"
An image of the chicken farm appeared in midair, and Jaylan pointed to a road. "Several humans were seen fleeing the area and have been detained. A power generator was detected here."
My face started itching like crazy. I really needed to wash the egg off before I broke out in hives. There had to be a water hose around here someplace. I noticed a hose under a scrawny mesquite tree, and I started for it.
Voss grabbed my braid and yanked me back. "I did not give you permission to leave my side."
My temper flared to life. Permission? Whoop-de-fucking-do. Like I was a two-year-old? I had been taking care of myself for a very long time, and no one told me what I could or couldn't do. I made my own decisions. I-
The Battle Commander tightened his grip on my braid and jerked my head back. "Zoey."
One look at Voss's implacable gaze, and I sighed. Living with a mind-reading alpha male was going to be so much fun. Not.
I pointed to the hose. "I'm allergic to eggs, and I need to wash off."
"Wulf, Lothel, go with her."
Their eyes full of animosity, both warriors clamped their right fists against their chests and said in unison, "As you command."
Just freakin' terrific. They were the ones I had darted outside the gym, and by the way they were growling like pit bulls, they definitely held a grudge.
I walked over to the hose, turned it on, and started scrubbing my face, hands, and arms.
Several hundred fire ants tromped across my mind. I quickly scanned the area. There. I could sense them by that hatch. Betcha they had an underground hideout. I tapped politely at Voss's mind. "I'm sensing more Tai-Kok."
"We have them on our scanners."
"But they won't-"
Voss severed our mental link.
"Show up on your scanners," I muttered. The idiot knew I was a Siren. So why in the hell didn't he listen to me?
Wulf and Lothel were totally ignoring me too. An evil grin touched my mouth. There was one way I could get their attention.
Raising the hose, I squirted both of them in the face.
Sporting a slitty-eyed predator's glare, Lothel leaned down until we were nose to nose. He completely disregarded the water still pouring over his face. "Female, the only reason you still live is my respect for the Battle Commander."
Swallowing hard, I pointed to the chicken house. "Tai-Kok, and they won't show up on your swell scanners."
"I will inform the Battle Commander," Wulf snapped.
"You do that," I snapped back and stomped off.
Lothel grabbed my braid and hauled me back. "Show me."
Yee-flippin-haw! Someone was actually listening to me, and the next idiot that grabbed my braid was going to be singing soprano.