Page 24 of Game on Askole

All the color left their faces. Making retching noises, they grabbed the remaining wannabes and vanished.

“You did that on purpose,” the Battle Commander stated, his voice low and deadly.

I put a hand to my chest. “Who, me?”

“You are as devious as Kaylee.”

“You’re too kind.”

Voss smiled, a flash of white teeth that was all predator. “You seem to forget Coletti warriors like a challenge.”

“And you seem to forget we are at war with the Coletti race,” Aunt Tess countered.

“Surrenderis not in our vocabulary,” I reminded him.

“You will find Detja a worthy opponent.”

My stomach clenched in horror. “Wait! What does Detja have to do with this?”

“While the Overlord is away, she is the supreme commander,” Voss answered.

Crap!

My Aunt looked worried too. “No one minds a woman running things?”

“Detja is a very powerful warrior. She can defeat even me,” the Battle Commander stated.

I laughed. “Get out! There’s no way.”

“A word of warning. Anyone foolish enough to challenge her ends up dead.” A grim smile formed on Voss’s mouth.

Huh? Was the Battle Commander telling the truth? My inner lie detector said he was, but I’d bet it was the Overlord doing all the killing. Or was he?

Detja appeared in the room. Her eyes glittered with rage. “Is it true?”

“Yes, my lady. Lilkee sent some of her legionnaires to execute the Jones females,” Voss acknowledged.

Detja turned to survey us. “Yet you are unharmed.”

“Lilkee needs to hire better henchmen,” I answered.

My aunt blurted out, “They can’t dance worth a shit either.”

“They did the death bringer dance?” Detja didn’t seem surprised.

I grinned. “Oh yeah. With some fancy swordplay too.” I did a series of parries and cuts with my sword.

“Give it to me,” Voss demanded.

Boy, was I tempted. I mean, he asked for it.

Detja reached out and took the sword from me. “He’s wearing a battle suit. The sword will not penetrate it.”

“Too bad.”

“I think I have a solution to your rotting corpse smell.” Detja hurled the sword. It penetrated the wall and vibrated wildly.

Color me impressed. “What is it?”

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