With my braid still wrapped around his hand, Lothel towed me over to the henhouse. My teeth bared in a snarl, I pointed at the metal hatch. "The Tai-Kok have a secret base down there. And guess what? Two hundred of those murdering bastards are heading this way, and you're a bit outnumbered."
Poof, he teleported away.
"What part of outnumbered didn't you get?" God, testosterone should be banned. I climbed down the ladder and surveyed the dimly lit dirt tunnel for any sign of the warrior. "Lothel?"
Wulf peered down at me. "What are you doing, female?"
"Looking for Lothel."
The next instant Wulf was standing next to me in the tunnel and studying his scanner. "It's shielded."
"Told you so."
A bloody Lothel sprinted down the tunnel with several dozen Tai-Kok hot on his tail. "Go."
Wulf threw me over his shoulder and teleported us back to the henhouse. A second later, Lothel appeared next to us.
I pulled four blue thermite grenades from my bag of tricks and held them out. "These will even the odds a bit, don't ya think?"
His fangs bared in a wicked grin, Lothel took the grenades from me. "I can see why the Battle Commander chose you."
Quickly pulling the pins, Lothel hurled them down the tunnel and locked the hatch.
His face etched in stone, Voss appeared in the doorway. "Give her to me."
Wulf gently handed me over. "She is a Siren of exceptional talent."
"That she is," the Battle Commander replied, and poof, we were standing on a hillside.
Good thing Colettis could teleport up to ten miles in one pop, or we'd be crispy critters.
The ground rumbled under our feet.
Kaboom! The Latin King's Family Farm exploded with a tremendous roar, hurling dirt, chunks of twisted metal, and a fireball high into the air. A couple hundred dead hens rained down around us.
"You guys like fried chicken?"
Chapter Six
Voss plunked me down on a boulder shaded by a large palo verde tree and commanded, "Do not move from this spot."
My evil twin struck again. "What if I have to pee, or a rattlesnake comes slithering by?"
With an audible snap of his teeth, Voss snarled, "I need to search for Malik, and I do not have time for your foolish antics."
"Malik's not here. Which you would have known if you had only asked," I snarled back, resisting the urge to whack him a good one with the charbroiled chicken dangling from an overhanging branch.
The big guy pinched the bridge of his nose as if he had a sudden headache. "What makes you so sure he's gone?"
"I'm a damned good Siren, and I scanned the area for Malik's brain pattern. He either got blown to smithereens or he escaped."
"Their base is shielded."
"Yeah, it was, and I still sensed the two hundred Tai-Kok warriors that were getting ready to jump your sorry ass." I threw up my hands in disgust. "You know what. I'm done. You obviously don't need or want my assistance. So why don't I just toddle on home, and you do what you need to do." I slid off the boulder.
Voss put me right back onto the rock. "Why didn't you tell me you couldn't sense Malik?"
"Gee, I don't know. Could it be that you won't listen to me?"
Annoyance flashed briefly across the big guy's face. "It won't happen again."
My jaw dropped. Was that an apology?
"We both have adjustments to make. I will listen to what you have to say, but I expect you to obey my orders without question."
"Can I get back to you on that?"
The Battle Commander growled deep in his throat. "Zoey."
"Okay, if it's a reasonable request, I'll do it, but no more of this sit, stay crap. I'm not a dog."
Irritation glinted in his eyes. "No, you are an aggravating, undisciplined female."
"You know, Jasmine the whore would have been the perfect mate for you. She's dumb as a brick, she'll fuck anything that moves, and mind control works on her. She'd be the perfect puppet. She'd stay where you put her and never talk back."
"I do not want a dumb-as-a-brick mate. You, my fierce little warrior, are exactly what I need," Voss answered and gave me a hard kiss. "But make no mistake, I will tame you."
Coletti warlords did like a challenge. "You can try."
"I never fail." Voss's psychic hands skimmed over me, exploring my curves and igniting a fire in my belly.
Where was a bed when you needed one?
Jaylan linked mentally with Voss. "Commander, we found a body."
Poof! He was gone.
How rude. No sweetheart, would you like to come with me? Or I'll be right back. Or if you need anything, just let me know. Nope, he just pops out. If Voss thought I was going to sit here in the 112 degree heat for the next couple of hours, he was nuts. I jumped off the boulder.
Lothel appeared out of nowhere and put me right back on the rock. "The Battle Commander said you are to wait here for him."
I was so done with this macho male crap, and if they kept this up, they were going to meet my evil twin. "Why?"
He scowled. "The Commander does not explain his reasons to me."
"Right, and you never disobey an order?"
"No." Lothel crossed his massive arms, tacitly daring me to move.
My attention was drawn to a young, skinny Coletti warrior who reminded me a bit of that singer Justin Bieber. The poor guy was struggling to assemble six floating view screens. "What are those for?"
"The command post," Lothel answered, frowning when the screens abruptly crashed to earth.
"Hothar, engage the anti-grav," Lothel shouted.
The kid nodded, and the screens floated back up and abruptly crashed again.
My babysitter stomped over to the kid and started yelling at him in High Coletti.
If I didn't find a bathroom soon, I was gonna pee my pants. I slid off the rock and hurried down the hillside.
A big hand grabbed my braid and jerked me to a halt.
That did it. I spun around and kicked Lothel in the shin with my steel-toed boot.
He just grinned at me.
"So help me God, if you grab my braid one more time, I'm gonna kick your ass."
Laughing, Lothel wrapped my braid around his hand and dragged me back up the hillside.
My temper flared to life, and I bit his hand hard enough to draw blood.
He flashed his lethal fangs at me. "You are a weak little female, and no match for a trained warrior."
Weak? I literally saw red. "I'm the Battle Commander's mate, and you will treat me accordingly."
Lothel smirked.
"You wanna play hardball? Batter up." Drawing heavily on my powers, I hit him with everything I had.
Lothel's eyes rolled back in his head, and he toppled over like a felled tree.
"That, dickhead, is what we call a home run." My triumphant grin faded. Oh sweet Jesus. Voss would lock me up and throw away the key.
Hothar ambled over and stared down at Lothel. "Nice punch."
"Ah, thanks. Gotta go." Locking my shields down tightly, I bolted for the truck and prayed desperately that the big guy was too busy to check on me.
Hothar jogged beside me.
"Go away."
His expression one of fierce determination, Hothar replied, "I cannot leave the Battle Commander's mate unguarded."
"Sure you can." I waved my hand at him. "Shoo! Go away."
"Do you think I am without honor?"
Oh dear God, why me? "No, of course not, but I can take care of myself."
"You are but a tiny female."
"Who knocked out Lothel?" I skidded to a stop by the battered red truck. The poor truck driver was still standing there, staring blankly at a cactus. I slid into the semi driver's mind and commanded, "Go home."
With an agreeable nod, he turned and started walking. I really hoped he didn't live in Tucson or Flagstaff.
I scrambled into the truck and started the engine.
Hothar opened the passenger door and climbed in. "Where are we going?"
"I need to find a bathroom." I hit the gas, spun the truck around in a tight U-turn, and headed for Phoenix.
He plucked several feathers from my hair. "If you wish to clean up, I can teleport you to our ship."
A slightly hysterical laugh escaped me. "Thanks, but that won't be necessary. There's a burger joint up the road a bit. I can use their facilities and get something to eat too."
He settled back against the seat and curiously surveyed the interior of the truck. "I like cheeseburgers and fries."
I flashed him a surprised glance. "Really? They serve burgers on your ship?"