"Dammit! You clumsy fool, look what you've done!" my father bellowed, trying to brush the powdered sugar off his uniform.
I shot out of the office and ran into the parking lot. God, I hadn't had this much fun in ages, and the looks on their faces were priceless. Grinning, I headed for my car.
"Zoey!" the general shouted.
Crap. Hunching my shoulders, I turned to face him. "I'm so sorry, sir."
"You worthless bitch, you're determined to destroy everything I've worked for!" My father punched me.
My head rocked back, the world swam dizzily around me, and I hit the asphalt.
"Your mother ruined you."
Wiping at my bleeding mouth, I fought down the urge to kick the living hell out of the jerk. Staring up at my father's rage-contorted face, I hissed, "You hit like a girl."
"I'm going to beat the truth out of you." My father pulled back his foot to kick me, and I rolled frantically to the right.
A frightening Coletti battle cry sounded, and the next instant the general flew across the parking lot and slammed into a wall.
I took one look at the ferocious expression on Jaylan's face and quickly huddled into a fetal ball. What had the general done to piss him off that much?
The warlord stalked over to my father, grabbed him around the throat, and lifted him up. "Touch her again and you die." He shook my dad hard. "Do you understand me? Voss has claimed her."
Say what?
His face an ominous purple, the general nodded.
"Zoey!" Marie screamed, rushing toward me in her crappy mustard-yellow maid outfit that clashed violently with her red hair. "Did that bastard hurt you, honey?"
I scrambled to my feet and ran into her outstretched arms like a scared child, and whispered in her ear, "Did you get my bag?"
"It's stashed under the rose bush. I can't believe he hit you," she whispered, shooting a worried glance at Jaylan, who still held my father by the throat.
"I think Daddy just blew any chance of getting that job at Central Command."
"What a shame." Marie took an abrupt step backward. "Dear God! Did you use the entire bottle?"
"I guess I should have stopped with one good spray, but I wanted to make sure I grossed them out."
"By the amount of vomit in that wastebasket, I think you succeeded."
Immense power rippled the air around me, and the biggest, scariest warlord I'd ever seen teleported in. The guy was huge, and his battle suit fit him like a glove, emphasizing every bulging muscle. Two daggers protruded from his knee-high armored boots, and on each arm he wore a large copper bracelet. Copper chains were woven into his ebony warrior's braids. A burn scar on the right side of his hard, chiseled face twisted his mouth into a permanent sneer.
One look at his aura of sheer menace, and I knew he was the warlord who had been chasing me.
A frightened gasp broke from Marie. "Isn't that Voss, the Overlord's battle commander?"
My stomach clenched. Dear God, it was him. The only logical reason for his visit was the Alliance cruiser that had blown up in Earth's orbit a month ago. I was pretty sure the traitor I was investigating had sabotaged the spaceship, but all my research had failed to yield any hard evidence.
What had Jaylan meant when he said Voss had claimed me? We had never really met, and he didn't know anything about me. Did he? Nah, I was probably freaking out over nothing. If he laid a hand on me, I'd kick his ass. I eyed his muscles again. Running was good too.
Marie grabbed my face and turned it toward her. "Unless you want to be a Coletti war bride, you'll wipe that scowl off your face and start crying."
I obediently broke into hysterical sobs.
"Better." Marie stiffened. "Holy Mother of God, he's headed this way."
I took a quick peek over my shoulder. Shit! Voss's pale amber eyes were locked on me, and I didn't like his gotcha smile.
The Battle Commander's baritone voice sounded in my head. "Your disguise is very effective, little one. I shall enjoy discovering what is hidden beneath it."
"Holy shit!"
"He knows," Marie cried at the same time.
"He sure as hell does."
"9-1-1?"
"Oh yeah." I reached into my pocket and hit my special panic button. The base alarm wailed loudly.
Voss stopped dead, shot me a suspicious look, and commanded in perfect English, "You will go to the bunkers and stay until I come for you."
Yeah, like that was going to happen.
He pointed a long finger at me and warned, "Disobey me, and you will be punished."
The menace in his voice did make my knees wobble a bit. I nodded my head obediently, and he vanished.
Jaylan clamped the general to his chest and teleported.
Stopping only long enough to grab my get-out-of-jail bag, Marie and I bolted for the tunnels like two scared rabbits. Voss was downright terrifying, and there was no way I could beat him in a fair fight. So I'd have to cheat. A lot.
Two military police officers waved us through the blast doors, and we tore down eight flights of stairs.
Marie huffed. "How long do we have?"
"It won't take the Battle Commander long to figure out I rigged the computers, and the squadrons of Tai-Kok fighters are nothing but ghost images."
I handed her a clip-on bio jammer. "Once these suckers are turned on, we're invisible to the Coletti's scanners. I could have used one when the hunters were chasing me around Tucson."
Her hands shaking badly, Marie quickly turned it on. "Where did you get these?"
"I borrowed them from Daddy's armory, along with a few other things."
"If you get caught … "
"I won't." Breathing hard, I skidded to a stop next to a massive steel door and quickly typed in the security code for the emergency evacuation tunnel. Mind reading could be so handy.
The doors groaned and slowly slid open. We hurried over to a small door, and I ran the security card I had swiped from Daddy over the scanner. The door clicked opened. I rolled out the motorcycle I had stashed there. Warlords being warlords, I figured I better have an escape route and a safe house.
"You've gotta ditch those clothes." Marie gasped, rubbing more Vapor Rub under her nose.
"That spray is worth every penny I paid for it. No warlord will want to come within ten feet of me."
"No, they'll just throw you in a cell until it wears off."
"Good point." I quickly stripped down to my underwear, yanked a camouflage shirt off the shelf, and put it on.
"I must compliment you on a well-executed ruse. You are far too clever for a female," Voss rumbled in my head.
I think he just insulted every woman on Earth.
"Surrender and I will be merciful," the Battle Commander added.
I burst out laughing. A merciful warlord? Wasn't that an oxymoron?
"You find me amusing?"
"Very."
"You refuse my offer?"
"My, you are a bright one, aren't you?"
"I will find you."
What a smug asshole. "Wanna bet?"
"You issue a challenge?"
"Sure, whatever."
"As you wish. A challenge was issued and has been accepted. We will meet on the battlefield in twelve hours."
"What? I'm not fighting you." Was he nuts? I wouldn't last ten seconds in any kind of hand-to-hand combat with him, and the jerk knew it.
"The challenge has been accepted. You have no recourse."
"The hell I don't."
"Are you without honor?"
"No, but this is ridiculous."
"You have the option of surrender."
"Surrender is not an option."
"Then we meet on the battlefield, or those close to you will pay the forfeit."
"If you want to kill the general, go for it."
"Alejandro Vega is my guest. Do you still wish me to go for it?"
I ground my teeth in frustration. Dammit, I had been outmaneuvered.
Marie stared at me anxiously. "What's going on?"
"The Battle Commander has your son."
"What! How? Is he okay?"
I held up a hand. "I want proof that Alejandro is okay."
"He has not been harmed."
"Give him access to a phone and-"
Voss broke in with a menacing growl. "You doubt my word?"
Insult a Coletti's honor and you didn't live very long. "Who, me? Never. His mom wants to speak with him."
"I will make the arrangements."
"Thank you. Am I allowed to bring weapons to the challenge?"
"It is permitted."
"Where's the big smackdown happening?"
"Smackdown?"
"You know … the battlefield?"
"The base gym at dawn."
That was so lame. You'd think the arrogant bastard would set it up at one of the big arenas and turn it into a media event. See the big bad warlord beat up the itty-bitty human. "Could you specify a time? I'd hate to be five minutes late and find out you had already hacked off Alejandro's head."