Page 26 of Game on Askole

“The Overlord’s oldest son. A vile monster who had Talree imprisoned, beaten, and starved. Without Kaylee’s intervention, he would have become feral.”

Before I could ask, the image of a feral formed in my mind. What had once been a Coletti warrior was now a slobbering beast. It had glowing red eyes, tusk-like fangs, and six-inch talons. It made Godzilla look like a pussycat.

“Malik wants to build an army of ferals. These mindless creatures have only one purpose. To kill. He was ready to unleash them on his own family. The Overlord, Talree, and Kaylee put a stop to Malik’s plans.”

Family was everything. To kill your own flesh and blood was the height of depravity. “If you need help putting Malik down, I offer my services.”

My aunt added, “Exterminating evil is what we do best. Oorah.”

“I will take your offer to the Overlord.” Detja held her hands out to us. “Come. Your bath has been prepared.”

We took her hand. There was a split second of blackness before we appeared in a large bathing room.

Four women wearing long red gowns stood next to an enormous sunken tub filled to the brim with green water.

“My attendants have been instructed on the proper way to eliminate the smell. Disrobe,” Detja ordered.

I toed off my boots and peeled off my filthy jumpsuit. The smell coming from the tub was heavenly. A mixture of flowers with just a hint of peroxide. God, I hoped this worked.

The women grimaced as they got a good whiff of us.

“Sorry, ladies. I know we smell like a week-old corpse.” I climbed into the tub and groaned as the hot water eased my aches and pains. “The water’s perfect, Aunt Tess.”

My aunt quickly stripped down and joined me. The attendants knelt down, poured a thick red liquid over us, and started scrubbing. I had to admit, being bathed was an uncomfortable experience, but the scalp massage was to die for.

I mentally eavesdropped on the women, and boy, did I learn a lot. Detja was the most feared female on Tanith, and she had hot monkey sex with Zarek as often as possible. The women giggled about the Overlord’s staying power. His snake could remain hard for hours.

Aunt Tess fanned herself and mouthed,Hours?

Intrigued, I gave the ladies a psychic nudge for more information. I found out Detjacoulddefeat Voss in battle, and her feud with Zarek’s two older children rivaled the Hatfield-McCoy dustup.

Two hours and a massage later, I was feeling goood. Aunt Tess and I smelled like flowers, our skin glowed, and the ladies had even fixed our hair into elaborate updos. Instead of the orange jumpsuits, we had been outfitted with velvety blue tunics, leggings, and ankle boots.

Detja had prepared a welcome-home shindig for her beloved Talree, and Kaylee and me and Aunt Tess were invited. Yay. I loved to party, and it meant more warlords to mess with. I rubbed my hands in anticipation. “Think we can trick one of the warriors into taking us antiquing, Aunt Tess?”

“I’d love to see you try.”

A black blur zoomed by and grabbed me. “Shittttt!”

“Oh my God. It took Sarah!” Aunt Tess ran after us.

I hung on for dear life as Tihar streaked down the corridor and out into a forest.“Stop! Now! I’m getting sick.”

Tihar came to an abrupt halt.“I told you I would come for you.”

“You did.”I clung to his neck and waited until everything stopped spinning around me. “What are you, the Flash? You gave me the head rush from hell.”

His tentacles gently stroked my face.“You are my chosen.”

I scanned the area. We were in the middle of a wooded area dotted with conifer-like trees with upside-down branches and multicolored bark. No sign of the Battle Commander. Yet.“About that. Human females like to be courted. You can’t just zoom in and take us.”

“It is our custom to take what we want.”

“Earth traditions are different. When a male wants a female, he courts her,”I countered.

“How do I court you?”Tihar’s long forked tongue slid across my lips as if he was sampling me.

I caught the tip of his tongue with mine. Huh? He tasted like pineapple and chocolate. My favorites.

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