Page 112 of Rescued

Bolt after bolt of emotion energy flew from their mouths and Sonya felt as though the song was swelling within her, making her bigger and stronger than she had ever been in her entire life. She poured everything she had into it—the warmth and safety that Davrik made her feel when he held her, the desire she felt when he touched her, the pleasure he gave her when he tasted her…all the positive emotions she’d ever had when she touched the big Kindred came out.

And in the process, she felt Davrik’s emotions too—they poured out in a song of love and longing for her so intense it nearly took her breath away.

He loves me, she thought. He really loves me despite everything!

The AllFather was screaming and writhing on the floor by now but the Scourge soldiers around him seemed confused. They milled dumbly around, looking uncertainly at the scene of their leader screeching and shouting. They might have understood if they had seen someone pointing a blaster at his head, Sonya thought distractedly, but they had no idea what she and Davrik were doing. They had probably never heard singing before in their dull, miserable lives.

There was one person who seemed to understand, though. That was the single Scourge officer the AllFather had called Krix. He was standing by uncertainly, looking down at the screeching Scourge Overlord as though he wasn’t sure if he ought to help or not.

“Krix, ssstop them!” the AllFather screamed at him. “I will never passs my power to you if you let them kill me thiss way!”

This seemed to galvanize the Scourge officer into motion.

“Here—stop that sound!” he shouted, coming towards Sonya and Davrik with a hand on his blaster. But that was when Xairna sprang into action.

The minute that Krix was distracted, the Scourge girl pulled a long dagger from her boot. She ran at the Scourge officer and, just as he was turning to her, his red-on-black eyes wide with surprise, she made a swift, sideways motion.

Krix gasped…but the sound turned into a gurgle. Taking a stumbling step backwards, he clutched at his throat but streams of crimson were already flowing down his black uniform.

“I told you I’d never Join with you!” Xairna hissed at him.

Then, stepping around him, she knelt by the writhing, screeching AllFather.

“Stop—just for a moment,” she shouted at Sonya and Davrik.

Sonya did—taking a minute to breathe deeply. Beside her, Davrik stopped as well and for a moment the entire round throne room was filled with nothing but the sounds of the AllFather’s wheezing breath.

“Xairna…my daughter,” he hissed as she bent over him, the knife still gripped in one hand. “You have…sssaved me.”

“Only so I can kill you myself!” She glared down at him and Sonya felt her hatred again—the pain and sorrow of a child who had been abused and hurt instead of being loved and cared for. “You’ll never taste my pain again,” she whispered, her eyes flashing.

And then she plunged the bloody blade deep in the AllFather’s heart.

There was a final screech so loud Sonya thought it might burst her eardrums and the dark figure in front of them bowed its back at an impossible angle, the hilt of the knife protruding from its chest. Sonya saw the burning red eyes flicker…and then go out. And then the AllFather sank back to the dais and something strange happened.

The shadowy robes the Scourge Overlord wore slowly went flat and the skeletal body inside seemed to crumble away until the only thing left was a little pile of gray dust.

The AllFather was no more.

SIXTY-FIVE

NATE

Nate looked around in surprise as the enormous Scourge warriors began dropping to their knees…and then falling flat on their faces.

“What…what’s going on?” Lan’ara asked beside him in a trembling voice. She’d been holding herself rigid, trying to block out the waves of negative emotion the AllFather had been emitting like a poison cloud—Nate could still feel the tension in her.

“Don’t fucking know, sweetheart” he growled. “Maybe the AllFather was what kept them going. At least we won’t have to fight our way out.”

“I can’t believe you came for me!” Lan’ara said, looking up at him. “When I left the Mother Ship, you were nearly comatose!”

“The Kindred Goddess woke me up—she told me you were in danger. She told Sonya the same thing,” he added, nodding at Sonya, who had let go of his arm and was wrapped in Davrik’s embrace. The big Kindred was so much larger than her, he had gone to one knee to gather her into his arms. Sonya had her arms around his neck and the two of them were just breathing each other in.

“Nate? Big brother?” It was Madison’s voice and when he turned back, he saw his little sister looking at him with wide eyes.

“Maddy!” he exclaimed, gathering her close with his other arm, so that he was hugging both of his girls at once. “I’m so fucking glad to see you!”

“Not half as glad as I am to see you!” There were tears in her big blue eyes as she hugged him back. “Your, uh, wife came to rescue me but then we all got caught,” she added, looking at Lan’ara. “Um, you are his wife, right?”

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