Page 17 of Game on Askole

“You have been promised to Lothel.”

“It would be our little secret.” I cupped my breasts. “Haven’t you heard? Jones girls are hot to trot.”

He bared his fangs menacingly. “I will not dishonor my oath to the Overlord.”

Warlords were so much fun to mess with. “Okay.” I switched topics. “Sincewe’refamily now, are our spiffy Tucson headquarters still uninhabitable?”

“Ourheadquarters?” Rho’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief.

“Well, yeah. You know, the whole conversion thing? Aren’t you supposed to welcome Aunt Tess, Sam, and me to the clan?”

“Goddess help us,” Rho muttered under his breath.

“Any hoo, being family and all, I can give you the name of a good Tucson exterminator. You’ll probably have to have the building sprayed several times to kill all those little buggers.”

“The little buggers have been dealt with,” Rho replied nastily.

I fought back a grin. “The skunk smell is a real doozy to get rid of, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” Rho unlocked my handcuffs and snarled, “Any resistance will be met with force.”

“Wow. Do you practice that look in the mirror? Can you teach it to me? It’s really effective.”

“I do not find you amusing.” Rho yanked me off the table and teleported. There was a fleeting second of blackness, and presto, we were standing inside an old military barracks. “This is your new home.” He pushed me away from him.

“What? No good-bye kiss?”

Rho vanished abruptly.

That had been way too easy.

“Sarah!” Aunt Tess ran over and wrapped her arms around me. “Thank God you’re okay. I’ve been so worried.”

I hugged her back. “They didn’t hurt you or Sam?”

“Sam wasn’t happy about being stunned. Voss, the prick, refused to let the medic treat her severe muscle cramping. He said she would think twice before attacking another warrior.”

“Never gonna happen. As Grandma used to say, ‘That girl is a hellion.’”

Aunt Tess laughed. “True. It didn’t stop Sam from building a flash-bang bomb and lobbing it at Voss.”

“What did the Battle Commander do?”

“He tossed her butt in their version of a jail.”

I looked around the room. There was a table, two chairs, and two beds. “Where are the guys?”

“They’re cooling their heels with Sam until Zarek can”—Aunt Tess did air quotes with her fingers— “speak with them.”

“In other words, until he can use some mind control on them.”

“Exactly. The only reason we’re stuck in the barracks is the Coletti warriors can’t handle the smell.”

“Can’t blame them. Even breathing through my mouth isn’t helping. I’d kill for some mentholated gel to rub under my nose.” A buzzing noise emanated from the other side of a door. “What kind of critter is making that noise?”

“The Tanith version of a fly. They breed in the underground river that runs nearby,” Aunt Tess answered. “Horrible little things. Not only are they lime green, but they look like a wasp mated with a particularly nasty mosquito.”

“Yuck. You can control them, can’t you? They seem really intent on getting to us.”

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