Page 42 of Captured By the Dragon Warlord
“What’s with the shift?” Dante asks Dexx, handing the tube back to me.
Dexx glares at him. “Would you want to dig in your biped form?” he growls.
“I’d just use the explosives,” Dante says, his breath coming in short waves.
“Which is why your presence in my mining operation is not welcome. Nev off, Dante, and don’t look at my mate.” Dexx sweeps his tail at the other warlord.
Dante skips it easily as he transforms himself into his Sarkarnii form, rearing up in front of Dexx.
Dexx lunges for Dante, his teeth scraping across Dante’s hide, but he’s obviously a tough one as no damage is done. Dante roars out and goes directly for Dexx’s throat, but mybig Sarkarnii thumps him away with his tail, slamming Dante into the rock wall where he lays on his back for a while before changing his form.
“You know I will always best you, Dante,” Dexx huffs. “With a lungful of paraxio or not.”
Dante gets to his feet and laughs.
“If you say so, Dexx,” he says. “But then, we are always interrupted.”
“Do you know who put this in your ship?” I ask, interrupting the Sarkarnii version of testosterone.
I can’t honestly imagine Dexx would be able to fight his way out of a paper bag right now, let alone do anything which would best Dante.
My waving of the tube garners both of their attention, and Dexx stomps over to me, shaking the ground in a way which makes me worry about another cave-in.
“You had one of these?” he growls. “Have you had any intruders recently?”
“The Veseli didn’t get into my sector, as far as I am aware,” Dante says with a shrug. “Although maybe they did.”
“We have had no incursions,” Dexx snarls.
“But what if this wasn’t put here,” I say, “what if it burrowed here like the probes you use, from outside your sector?”
Both Sarkarnii snarl at the same time, then look at each other.
“Nothing gets into my sector without my knowledge,” Dexx says.
“Something did.” I look at the tube. “Something got into both sectors, and maybe the others. We need to warn them.”
Dexx could say something, but he does not. Dante does a half-hearted growl.
“It’s not certain, but somehow this thing caused a cave-in which killed two Sarkarnii and injured others,” I say quietly. “Do you want more deaths? Because I wouldn’t.”
Dexx lowers his huge head, the fire coming back to his eye.
“What my mate says is right. We need to inform the other warlords.”
“Nev the other warlords, I want blood.” Dante growls. “As should you.”
DEXX
Dante is already risking his life and tail by being in my sector without permission, violating so many of the accords I pay little attention to but expect the others to follow.
My Scarlett was right about rules. Save for hers, I don’t believe I’ve ever followed any.
Because following the rules causes as much trouble as it does peace. After all, Dante being here has saved me from a worse paraxio-induced headache. Nev the narcotic…at once bliss…at once incapacitation.
I know true bliss, and it is being buried in my mate.
“Yes, I have a mate. Scarlett is my mate,” I rasp at Dante who is taunting me with his biped form. I wrap the tip of my tail around her ankle to be sure he sees she belongs to me.
