Vexing Voss:Coletti Warlords 03(28)

"Be very careful. That poor little thing is already capable of killing."

"Are you shitting me?"

"I have no reason to exaggerate his ability to kill," Voss growled in irritation.

"Don't let him eat me," the little guy sobbed.

"Who wants to eat you, honey?"

The mental image of a Tai-Kok perched high up on a ledge popped into my  mind. The monster's rifle was pointed right at … me! I hit the deck.                       
       
           



       

A laser beam sizzled over my back, and a crate of ammunition glowed brightly and vanished.

Holy shit! Keeping my head down, I scrambled madly down the aisles as  the cracking red energy beam vaporized everything behind me.

The moron didn't seem to care that he had just destroyed a good chunk of  their ammunition. I took cover behind an enormous crate and scanned the  area. Well, that was freaky weird. "Why can't I sense him?"

"It seems the rumors of a drug that temporarily creates a psychic shield are true," Zarek answered.

"Wonderful. Betcha it has some nasty side effects."

"One can hope."

A shadow moved.

Gotcha, asshole. Raising the laser rifle, I got him in the crosshairs of my scope and shot the monster's hand off.

Squawking wildly, the Tai-Kok fired again.

The beam missed me by a good foot.

"Kill it," the Battle Commander snarled. "We do not play with our prey."

"What do you mean ‘we,' Kemosabe? There's only me, and the kid needs to eat," I snarled back, and turned the Tai-Kok into ash.

"Let the Gorum tend to the child's needs."

"They're a bit busy right now, and if you think I'm leaving a baby all alone down here, you're nuts."

"The child has survived this long without your help."

"You're gonna be a shitty dad." Furious, I broke the link, stalked over  to the severed hand, grabbed it gingerly, and carried it over to the  crack. "My name is Zoey, and I'll bet you're really hungry."

"They killed my mom," the infant cried.

"They killed my mom too." Dropping the hand, I used the toe of my boot  to edge it closer to the crack. "I won't let them hurt you. Go ahead and  eat. You're safe now."

His tiny head peeked out at me. "Promise?"

God, he was so cute and no bigger than a newborn puppy. "Promise. What's your name?"

"Bedan. My father is king, and one day I'll be a fierce warrior just like him."

Color me impressed. For a newborn, Bedan was a fountain of information.  "Yes, you will. Now eat so you can grow up to be big and strong like  your father."

Wrapping his tentacles around the hand, Bedan pulled it into his rapidly expanding maw.

Voss angrily shoved information into my mind.

Oh, well, that explained it. The Gorum had genetic memories and were  born with the ability to teleport. Probably what saved the little guy.  "He's still a baby."

"A baby who can kill you."

"Not leaving him."

"You are an aggravating female."

"Right back at ya, poopsie." I linked with Raj. "Bebo's son Bedan survived, and I have him in the armory with me."

Voss roared, "You summoned the Gorum?"

"Well, yeah, they need to know the kid survived, and I'm pretty sure they won't eat me."

"Pretty sure?"

Thirty seconds later, Raj appeared in the armory. His fierce joy was contagious. "Bedan!"

"Uncle!" Their tentacles twined together.

Go figure. Raj was a prince.

A bunch of Gorum appeared.

Whoa! Raj had found and released three more of his people. I edged away  from them. God, I hoped they wouldn't want to sting me too.

Their tentacles stroked and caressed Bedan with joyous relief.

A tear rolled down my cheek, and I quickly wiped it away. God, I loved happy endings.

"There will be no happy ending if the Tai-Kok find and eat you," Voss growled.

Mentally flipping him the bird, I walked over to a crate with a  death's-head on the side and opened it. Oh yeah. I had my smoke signal.  The bombs inside were the Tai-Kok's version of our Tomahawk missiles.  Set this sucker off next to some thermite grenades, and kablooey, the  base would be nothing but rubble.

I examined the Gorum. They were still pretty skinny. "Raj, are you all strong enough to teleport out of here?"

He slithered over to me and examined the explosives. Two of his  tentacles snagged the grenades from my pockets and set the timers.  "Yes."

My eyes bugged out. Holy hell! He set it to blow in two minutes. "You  didn't give me enough time to get to the landing bay and steal a  marauder. As riled up as the Tai-Kok are, they're not going to let me  waltz in there and take one without a fight."                       
       
           



       

"Females do not engage in battle."

"Says who?"

"Zoey," Voss snapped in my head.

Raj pulled the pins on the grenades. "We will teleport your mate to safety, Battle Commander."

"Wait! I don't think that's a very good idea." A tentacle wrapped around my waist and deposited me on Raj's back.

"Do not fall off," Raj instructed, and a golden glow engulfed us.

A scream tore from me. Teleporting with a Gorum was like falling down  the eye of a tornado at Mach one. Thirty heart-stopping, chaotic seconds  later, we appeared high up on a rocky ledge.

The bloodred sun glared down at us, searing my unprotected flesh. I  sucked in a shuddering breath. I never, ever wanted to do that again.

Voss's mind wrapped me in a fierce hug. "You're unharmed."

"What! You thought I wouldn't be?

"None have ever survived the experience of teleporting with a Gorum," Zarek stated.

Oh dear God. "And why did you neglect to tell me this?"

"Staying at the Tai-Kok base would have resulted in your death. We felt the risk was acceptable," the Overlord responded.

"Acceptable, huh?" Well, wasn't that just absofuckinglutely wonderful. I  guess that showed me exactly what they thought of me. I was easy to  replace.

"You're irreplaceable," Voss said. His sinful mouth closed over mine in a bone-melting kiss.

"You are definitely one of a kind," Zarek added drily.

Raj's tentacle stroked my hair. "You were never in any danger, little  female. Our venom prohibits any cellular damage, and your mental shields  protected your sanity."

"Color me happy."

"Me still hungry," Bedan wailed.

"Eat the Scorm off Zoey," Vishna said.

That was when I noticed a horde of Scorm swarming up my legs. "Get them  off. Get them off!" I shrieked, trying to jump off Raj's back, but he  held me firmly in place.

Like a little vacuum cleaner, Bedan sucked them up.

My skin crawling, I took a quick look around for more Scorm.

A vast ocean of coral-colored sand stretched out to the horizon. In the  distance, contorted rocks reared up like giant blood-encrusted monsters.  Winds heated by hell sent swirling vortexes of dust dancing over the  dunes.

Sweat rolled down my face, stinging my eyes. It felt like I was being baked alive. And I thought Arizona summers were bad.

The ground rumbled beneath us, and with an ear-shattering boom, the  earth erupted, spewing flames and smoke thousands of feet into the  scarlet sky. Holy fucking shit! We were barely ten miles away from the  explosion.

I took a shaky breath and asked, "Your scanners picking up our smoke signal?"

"Yes. As well as any other ships within this solar system," Voss answered. His tone was all merciless predator.

"Bad guys saw it too, huh?"

"A Tai-Kok battle cruiser is heading your way."

"Can you destroy it?"

"They will reach Joroco before we can engage them in battle."

The earth trembled violently, and the ledge suddenly crumbled away. Oh my God!

Raj's tentacle tightened painfully, and we fell into a vortex of golden light.

Abruptly we were perched atop a cinnamon-colored sand dune. I clutched  my stomach and fought down the urge to hurl. Jeez, and I thought those  horrible amusement park rides were bad. "Everyone okay?"

"We are free," a badly scarred Gorum proclaimed, his tentacle crawling up my leg.

"Wait! Shit!" Gritting my teeth against the pain, I sucked in a long breath. "What's your name?"

"Kunwar. I am the king's Battle Commander."

"Oh, like my Voss."

"Yes, your mate chose well."

"Um … thanks. I take it you've met Voss?"

His amusement evident, Kunwar answered, "Many times."

"The Overlord and I would be honored to discuss battle strategies with you," Voss said.

"The Tai-Kok must be exterminated," Kunwar stated, his voice flat and cold.

"On that we agree," Zarek responded. His words were filled with a quiet, deadly venom.

Aw, how sweet. The boys were bonding.

Bedan crawled up on my shoulder. "Wanna go home."