The mercenary rolled to his feet and pulled his laser pistol.
Like some crazed acrobat, I somersaulted behind the shuttle. A stun beam barely missed me.
Jake commanded, “Stand down Loki. She’s mine.”
I peeked around the shuttle.
Jake had his scary warlord face on, and his laser pistol pointed at the bounty hunter.
“Yours?” Loki grimaced and holstered his pistol. “I should have known a Jones was involved.”
The behemoth I had zapped, groaned, and got to his feet. “What did she hit me with?” He inspected his smoldering armor.
“Lightning. Think of it as payback for punching me.” Rubbing my aching jaw, I walked over to Jake. “You know these guys?”
“They’re my cousin Yakira’s foster brothers. Loki and Ivan are mercenaries and thieves. Never leave them alone within anything of value. Specially weapons or armor.” Jake switched to mind speak. “You hit CeeCee again Ivan and you are a dead man.”
In a placating gesture, Ivan raised his hands. “I did not know she was yours.”
“So, you hit women a lot?” Lightning crackled around me.
“Sometimes my duties as a bounty hunter makes it necessary, my lady,” Ivan responded.
Jake demanded, “What are you doing on Drax’s warbird?”
“We were chasing a bounty and heard Drax was hiring mercenaries to raid Earth for females. We contacted the Overlord and he paid us to investigate.” Loki eyed me curiously. “Drax said his son, Keyan, had claimed this one.”
I snorted in disgust. “In his dreams.”
“CeeCee’s mine,” Jake said, placing a possessive arm around my shoulders.
Power roiled across the shuttle bay and Shazam! Zarek appeared.
Jake did his fist-on-chest salute. “The ship is under our control, my lord.”
“Excellent.”
Ivan blurted out, “We both want an Earth female to mate with.”
“Gee what a surprise,” I muttered under my breath.
Zarek shot me an amused look. “Earth females are unique creatures and difficult to catch or tame.”
“That makes the hunt all the more exciting,” Loki said enthusiastically.
A growl escaped me.
“Manners,” Jake whispered, tightening his grip on me.
I hissed, “We aren’t prey or dogs that need to be housebroken.”
“I think Zarek meant you need careful handling.” Jake stroked my back soothingly.
Was I being managed?
“Earth females need to be wooed, not hunted,” Zarek admonished.
I shot him a disbelieving look.
Ivan held out his arms and crowed, “What female could resist this?”
Oh, dear God. “I am not finding women for those idiots,” I said firmly.
Zarek smiled faintly. “I agree. Your job is finding Trayon’s mate.”
“Great. Do you still want me to pilot the shuttle back to your warbird?”
“Earth First and the Dragos clan are familiar with Drax’s shuttle. Use it for your hunt,” Zarek said.
Jake gave a slight bow. “Thank you, my lord.”
The crawlies slithered up my back, drawing my attention to Ymer. The idiot was trying to pull his laser pistol, before I could zap him, Zarek’s deep voice sounded in my head, “He is mine.”
“Yes, sir.” I flinched as Zarek struck him mentally.
“Mercy, my lord,” Ymer moaned pitifully.
“Mercy?” The horrifying gentleness of Zarek’s voice warred with the rage in his eyes. “Did you show any mercy to the inhabitants of Gamma Five?”
Anger flashed across Ymer’s face. “They were illegally mining Indium in our territory. Father wanted the location of the mine. When they refused to tell us, Father ordered me to destroy the space station. I did as I was told.”
“You murdered over one thousand men, women and children. Few of them were miners.”
“They were thieves. The punishment for theft is death.” A groan of agony broke from Ymer. “My father is a powerful warlord. Release me now or know his wrath,” Ymer gasped defiantly.
A snort escaped me. “Sorry, my bad, but your daddy couldn’t fight his way out of a paper bag.”
“Quiet female. You know nothing.”
“I know your daddy was a coward and thief. A true warlord would have challenged the Overlord to combat. What did your daddy do? He had his goons plant a bomb on Zarek’s warbird. That plan failed big time. Your daddy’s dead and rotting in the ninth hell.”
Ymer gaped at me. “You are lying.”
“Nope. I was there when Drax died.”
“Impossible. Father has never been defeated in battle,” Ymer cried.
Jake chuckled. “Drax has never been in combat.”
“I can attest to that,” Loki added.
Ivan nodded. “When the fighting starts, Drax flees.”
“Lies. Nothing but lies!”
“Are they? See the truth,” Zarek snapped.
I caught brief glimpses of the images Zarek was force feeding Ymer until he began to babble incoherently. Okey-dokey. The Overlord was downright the scariest man alive. I linked with Jake, “Do you think it’d be okay with the Overlord if we started our hunt, like now?”
“I’ll ask.”
“You have my permission to leave,” Zarek announced abruptly.
“Awesome!” The minute Zarek vanished from our heads, I grabbed the boot of one of the warriors stuck under the shuttle and yanked. “God, he weighs a ton.”
“I got him.” Jake dragged the first warrior over to Ivan. “Watch him.”
“Me? You are not my commander.”
I glared at Ivan. “Watch him or I’ll zap you again.”
“Yes, my lady.”
I tugged and tugged on the other warrior’s leg. “Shit! I think he’s stuck.”
“I’m surprised he fit under there.” Getting a firm grip on his leg, Jake hauled him out and whistled at the guy’s battered features. “What happened to his face.”
“My foot.”
“It is never a good idea to make an Earth female angry,” Loki commented.
Ivan eyed us suspiciously. “Going somewhere?”
“Can’t say. It’s top secret,” I answered.
“Are you starting your hunt for the Earth females?”
Jake grabbed me and poof! We were suddenly in the shuttle.
“Run but know this. We are the best trackers in the galaxy, and we will find you,” Loki warned as Jake closed the hatch.
“Fuck.” I dropped into the pilot’s chair. “Good thing they can’t teleport.”
“No kidding. They’d steal us blind.” Jake typed coordinates into the navigational computer. “I need to grab some gear from the ship.”
“Okay, it’ll give Uncle Jesse time to heat the rocks for the sweat lodge.”
“Is the sweat lodge really necessary?”
I shot Jake a narrow sidelong glance. “You still want to become a shaman?”
“I do.”
“Then it’s necessary. Our rituals serve a
