"The pleasure's all mine."
Jaylan growled, "We don't have time for these pleasantries."
A faint whisper sounded in my mind. "Zoey."
"Zarek!" I recoiled at the agony tearing through him. Oh my God! Malik was torturing him mercilessly.
"Need. Power."
"Yes, sir. Hang in there, sir, we've got a plan to free you."
"Need it … Now."
"Yes, sir." I turned to Jaylan. "Zarek has managed to link with me, and he needs power."
Jaylan rudely burst into my head. "My lord?"
The Overlord latched on to his mind and started draining Jaylan's psychic energy.
Letting out a guttural groan, Jaylan collapsed to his knees.
Oh shit! Zarek was draining him dry. "Stop! You're killing him."
"Mine," the Overlord hissed, all predator.
"Are you going to let Malik turn you feral? The Overlord I know is stronger than that. If you kill Jaylan, that murdering bastard wins." I gave him a hard mental smack. "Let him go!"
The Overlord wrapped himself around my mind. "No one strikes me and lives."
My temper flared to life. "Fine. You want to kill the one person who can free you? Go for it." I shoved a torrent of energy at Zarek. "Suck me dry, and you'll be the one facing Kalafat, not Malik."
Hothar suddenly linked with us. "Don't kill her, my lord. Take my power instead."
The Gorum joined with us, and Raj announced, "We freely give you our energy."
Dozens of minds suddenly crowded into my head, and an amazing amount of psychic energy flowed into Zarek.
The Overlord abruptly broke the flow of power. "I thank you for your gift. It will not be forgotten." On a private link, he added, "You command an amazing amount of loyalty."
"They're my friends, and they know I would die for them."
"Indeed you would. We will discuss your actions later."
Great. He was gonna turn me into a vacant-eyed breeder. "How badly is Voss hurt?"
"He needs blood. We bore the brunt of Malik's fury."
"Malik's a dead man," I spat.
"On that we agreed." Pain blasted through Zarek's body, and the link snapped.
The energy backlash struck my mind, and the next thing I knew I was sprawled across Hothar's lap.
He patted my face. "Zoey? Wake up, Zoey."
I blinked up at him. "I'm back. How is Jaylan?"
"I'll live," Jaylan snapped, jumping to his feet.
"Help me up, Hothar."
Wrapping an arm around me, Hothar rose to his feet, pulling me with him.
When the dizziness faded away, I looked Jaylan over. His face was the color of parchment, and he had trouble standing. "Anybody want to donate some blood to Skippy before he falls flat on his face?"
"I do not need blood," Jaylan snarled.
"Yes, you do," Lothel corrected him and extended his hand. "Drink. The Overlord needs you."
Very reluctantly Jaylan sank his fangs into Lothel's wrist.
"Good boy," I said, patting his leg.
Jaylan growled at me.
Yep, he was feeling better. "Let's go kick Malik's butt."
Chapter Eighteen
Down.
Down.
Down I went into an inky blackness that seemed to go on forever. I was really starting to regret volunteering to sneak into Malik's compound. The harness bit painfully into my crotch, and my fingers were cramping from the death grip I had on the rope.
A shudder shook me. I didn't even want to know what kind of creatures belonged to the hundreds of beady red eyes peering at me from the walls of the shaft. Probably something with really big teeth.
Down.
Down.
Down.
"Are we there yet?"
"No," Jaylan snapped impatiently.
"Am I even close?"
"No!"
What a cranky butt. So I had asked a couple dozen times. No need to get all snarly. My nerves were shot, and I was a bit claustrophobic. I just needed to know I wasn't totally alone in the darkness.
"You are not alone," Hothar said, giving me a mental hug.
I hugged him back. "Thanks, sweetie."
"Silence," Jaylan commanded sharply.
"But … "
Dozens of icky phosphorescent critters suddenly swarmed out of a side vent and scurried after me.
Holy Mary, mother of God, what are those?
One of the nasty things jumped on me. I screamed blue bloody murder, and thrashed around frantically trying to dislodge it.
Chittering madly, it tumbled off me and disappeared into the darkness.
Jaylan let out an exasperated sigh. "Now what's wrong?"
"Something that's a cross between a scorpion and a big hairy spider jumped on me. And … and a bunch more are following me."
"They're Ovas. Their bite is painful but not fatal."
"Gee, how reassuring."
"Concentrate on your mission."
"Sir, yes, sir."
"You should be beaten regularly."
"Any man stupid enough to try that will be picking pieces of himself out of the walls."
"Goddess help us. You're just like Detja."
Like that was a bad thing?
Down.
Down.
Down into the abyss I went. Thinking about Voss helpless and hurting made me want to kill something.
A rather large Ova scuttled alongside me, its pincers snapping wildly.
My hand settled on the butt of the laser pistol. "Back off before I fry your little ass."
Jaylan's furious bellow reverberated around my skull. "NO! You'll set off Malik's sensors."
"Holy shit, Skippy, take a chill pill."
"You will not endanger this mission."
"Don't worry, I'll get them back."
"You fail, and you will answer to me."
"Has it escaped your pea-sized brain that if I fail, I'll be very dead? So, why don't you shut the fuck up, Skippy?"
A deep growl rumbled in my head. "No one speaks to me in that manner."
I rolled my eyes in disgust. Testosterone should be outlawed.
Light glimmered beneath my feet.
Hallelujah! "I'm at the bottom of the shaft."
"The generators will be on your left," Jaylan instructed.
"I got it the first one hundred times you told me," I snipped, fighting to release my harness. Stepping out of it, I pushed the release lever on the hatch and winced when the metal plate slid back with a hideous screeching groan, exposing a ladder.
The monster-sized Ova and a few of his buddies scurried toward me.
"Take a hike." I drop-kicked them out the opening.
Someone grunted in surprise.
Taking a cautious peek, I caught a glimpse of the Ovas clinging to a Coletti warrior's head and stinging the shit out him. The poor guy was desperately trying to knock them off and getting stung even more for his efforts.
"Stop him before he can sound an alarm!" Jaylan yelled in exasperation.
"Yes, sir." Sliding down the ladder, I dropped into the complex, pulled my pistol, and zapped him with a stun beam.
The warrior hit the floor, twitched violently, and went very still.
Ovas' bites weren't fatal, huh?
The persistent buggers charged me, and I stomped the shit of out their crunchy little asses.
Jaylan roared, "What are you doing?"
I jumped about a foot. Jeez, he could give a drill sergeant a run for his money. "Disabling the generators, sir." I hurried over to them and planted the itty-bitty magnetic pulse bomb. "I still don't get why it won't take out the backup generators too."
"Move it! You have three minutes to get through the air duct and into the holding cells."
God, were all Coletti warriors cranky butts? Climbing up on the generator, I pulled myself into the air duct and crawled toward the holding cells.
A guttural cry of agony echoed down the duct.
Horror, fear, and fury swept over me. Voss! I had to help him. My knees thudded loudly against the metal in my haste to get to him.
Directly below me, a deep voice asked, "Do you hear that?"
I froze.
Another voice answered, "Sounds like something big is in the duct."
The first voice added, "Bet another sand shark got in."
"I'll stun it," the other voice said.
I hurled myself forward. A bright red glow filled the darkness behind me.
Shit! Shit! Shit! Making like a speed racer, I scurried down the duct, flinching as the stun beam came closer and closer.
A third voice shouted, "Don't let it get away!"
"Do not let them stun you," Jaylan commanded.
"Gee, ya think, Skippy?"
There was a loud, cracking pop, and the lights died.
"We're under attack!" the first voice shouted. Booted feet stormed down the corridor beneath me.
I sagged against the metal. That had been too damn close.
"You have sixty seconds to free them before the backup generator comes on line," Jaylan growled.
"I know." I heaved myself forward. The latch should be right …
The metal buckled beneath me and spat me out. I hit the floor painfully. "Ouch."