Page 65 of Tamed
“Why are we being detained?” Jill cried, fear making her voice shrill. “What’s going on?” She suddenly slumped to the floor. Loren crumpled beside her.
Kendra looked at him in confusion. “What just happened? Did you knock them out?”
“It’s just a sedative. We need to put them in stasis in case there’s a biological trigger. They’re also enclosed in a disruption field. No signal of any kind can penetrate it. Verbet shouldn’t be able to detonate the bombs.”
“Shouldn’t? How do we get it to can’t detonate the bombs?”
A team of medics slipped into the room and rushed Jill and Loren down the hall to the clinic. Zevon followed, ensuring that his orders were carried out to the letter. The females were placed in stasis chambers with a disruption field surrounding the entire area. When that had been accomplished, Zevon finally answered Kendra’s question.
“We need to put as much distance between this ship and Torret as possible, but I want you off of it now.”
“What about you?” she objected.
“I’m going to transfer to the Agitarri. One of their fighters will return you to the Citadel.” She looked as if she’d argue, but he simply shook his head. “You’re going and that’s final.”
“Yes, Master,” she muttered with a sigh.
When Arcon sensed Kendra depart, he raised his mental shields and looked back at his team. “On to target number two.”
“Are Jill and Loren going to be okay?” Raina asked, reluctant to move.
“Yes,” Arcon assured her. “There are over a hundred people onboard the Anolox. Zevon is not going to let anything happen to any of them. Now, we need to focus on our next objective.”
“Yes, sir,” she said respectfully and moved back between her mates.
Arcon crept down the hallway toward the royal apartments but he felt no impending threat, no building tension. They would be foolish not to check, but he didn’t think Verbet was in his quarters.
Eden sent a pulse of energy down the hallway as the team made the final turn. The guards collapsed, soundlessly removing the obstacle. Arcon heaved one of the guards upward and pressed his hand against the scanner releasing the locking mechanism. As he suspected, the apartment was empty.
Pausing long enough to disarm the guards, drag them inside the bedroom, and bind them hand and foot, the team then headed downstairs. If Verbet wasn’t in his rooms having sex, it was almost assured that he was in the throne room reveling in the symbols of his newly acquired power.
Movu’s entire team, six Wraiths in all, waited for them in the corridor outside the throne room. Movu was with them. They’d already taken care of the first set of guards and scanned open the doors. Arcon hadn’t expected to see Movu. Like Zevon, Movu had been directing his team from one of the spaceships in orbit above the city.
“There’s no way that bastard is escaping,” Movu said bitterly. “I heard what he did to those poor conduits.”
More than happy to accept his help, Arcon just nodded and motioned toward the massive, ornate doors. The Wraiths pushed them open and everyone rushed inside.
“Took you long enough.” Verbet sat on his throne looking smug and unconcerned. “Did you like my surprise? Was it adequately explosive?”
Domar stood at Verbet’s side, dressed in finery from head to toe. The throne sat on a dais and twelve people fanned out before the platform. The three missing conduits and their new mates, no doubt.
Jessie stood in the middle, hate gleaming in her dark eyes. “Where’s Kendra? I thought for sure she’d be part of this.”
Arcon ignored her, keeping his focus squarely centered on Verbet. Eden’s triad stood on Arcon’s right, Raina’s on his left. Movu and his Wraiths stood behind Arcon’s team, staggering their positions so they could see the throne and the newly formed triads.
“Somebody has to make the first move,” Verbet said with a smirk. “It might as well be me.” He motioned to one of the triads standing before the throne. The conduit launched a fireball. It flew toward Arcon with surprising velocity.
Raina encased the ball in ice, extinguishing it long before it reached Arcon.
“Fire at will,” Verbet yelled, scooting to the edge of his seat.
Fireballs and pulses of energy, streams of water and gusts of air soon filled the room with all the fury of nature. For just a moment Arcon was captivated. He’d been in countless battles, but he’d never seen this many triads all in one place at the same time.
A Wraith appeared behind Domar and she screamed as he wrapped his arms around her.
Verbet shouted, “No!” and reached for her, but the Wraith and his unwilling passenger vanished from view. Verbet shot to his feet, looking frightened for the first time since Arcon entered the room. Verbet looked about wildly. Like a fucking coward, the emperor of Torret was about to run and hide. Arcon could see it in his eyes.
Bolting through the battling triads, Arcon vaulted up the stairs and grabbed Verbet by the throat. “Surrender right now or your life is forfeit.”