Case tutted.
“Now, now, you know how the girl likes her boots...”
And, I added two more names to the list of people I dearly wanted to punch. They laughed at my discomfort, but ignored me, because the situation around us was changing, and they needed to concentrate.
“Heads up. Rohan, don’t let her do anything stupid.”
Stupid? Me? Now, why would I want to... Oh.
In my implant, I could see the sniper teams moving. Three were heading for stairwells. The fourth? Well, the fourth had slung its weapons and was coming over the wall in a way only the arach were capable of. I was torn between trying to run, or grabbing the nearest guard’s weapon and going on a killing spree.
“Easy, Cutter.” Mack’s voice, my head, and I was grateful.
Even if Barangail wasn’t a sadistic bastard, these things were. If they knew how they affected me, they’d take great delight in standing just as close to me as they could get.
“Not gonna happen,” made me wonder if Tens was standing by to grab control of Mack’s body, in the same way Rohan had mine.
Mack snapped me a glance that might have melted stone. Case thought the idea had merit.
“Done,” Tens said, and I wondered if Mack would take it to the mats.
He didn’t comment, but it didn’t matter; the Lord Barangail had reappeared at the door at the head of the stairs, and, this time, he wasn’t alone. A fine shudder ran through me, despite Rohan’s best efforts, and I made myself take a deep breath.
Whatever the spiders wanted on this world, they wanted it bad...or there was another queen getting set to warp into the sector and this one wanted to impress her. I’d only ever seen one king, before, and he’d been devastatingly attractive. Given I wasn’t wondering how to gain its amorous attention made me consider pheromones.
And my head, I remembered, as it looked towards me. Damnit! I had no mental shields, and if this thing was....
“Aren’t you an interesting tidbit?” it said. “Seen one of my kind before, and lived to tell the tale? You’ll have to tell me more.”
“We’re here on business,” Mack interrupted, drawing its attention, and I realized he’d been able to hear its voice in my head. “Stories will have to wait for later.”
Oh, good. Because, now, in addition to the shuddering vibrations running through muscles trying to react and being prevented, I was trembling for an entirely different reason. Fear rolled through me, making my stomach churn and my skin go cold—and I no longer wanted to run.
I wanted to take the king apart, slice it into the tiniest of bite-sized pieces and crush every one beneath my...
“Cutter!”
My hands were twitching towards blades that weren’t there, moving in spite of Rohan’s best efforts. I stopped still, at the sound of Mack’s voice. Rohan breathed a sigh of relief. I heard it, like a distant whisper, but my attention was in my scanner, on the troops around me, and on the king and his host.
The king had stopped his descent of the stairs, drawing a concerned look from Lord Barangail, who halted beside him. The arach team had reverted to full spiders, and were coming through the ranks of Barangail’s house guard just as swiftly as their long eight legs could carry them.
Part of my head calculated the path I’d have to take to put a sword in the arach king’s gut, and whether or not I could do it before the leading spider could reach me.
“Easy, girl,” Mack said, sounding for all the world like he was trying to calm a nervous horse. “We’ve got business to discuss, remember?”
I shot him a sideways glance, and wished Rohan would let me go, so I could, at least, turn to face the oncoming arach.
“Not a chance,” the boy said, and it sounded like he was gritting his teeth.
By then, they were on me. I tried to duck under the rearing fore-legs of the first spider, and found I still couldn’t move a muscle. As a show of sheer balls, it must have been impressive. From my point of view, being held rigidly still, while I watched the spider’s pedipalps and fangs reach form me, was not my idea of a great day.
The other spiders surged around their leader, but they didn’t strike. In the background, on the stairs, the king gave a short, piercing whistle, and the lead spider drew back its reaching fangs, dropping to all eight feet before melting back to a human form.
Seeing its gear and body armor reappear around it would have been fascinating, if I didn’t know what it was, or just how close I’d come to being paralyzed for a time-delayed snack.
“Gift,” it corrected, and I realized why it had reacted so violently to my desire to kill its king.
Damned psi.
“Gift,” the king agreed, “and, if I did not have other matters to attend, on this world, and if my business partner did not require your services, you would be learning the real attraction of a king.”
Beside me, Mack’s hand moved, reaching for a blaster that he no longer carried—or it tried. The movement came to an abrupt halt, before his fingers reached his hip, and he froze.
“Tens!” was a protest that would have come from between gritted teeth, if it had been said out loud.
“Easy, boss. We have business, here, remember?”
Mack gave a growl of assent, and it hit clear air. It drew the attention of the king and his entourage, but none of them moved. Instead, the king turned to Lord Barangail.
“Thank you for the opportunity to meet your guests,” he said, “but I must pass on the meal, or you will not receive the services you require. Perhaps we can meet later and discuss matters in the mines?”
Barangail looked a little taken aback, but he didn’t disagree. He turned to the king.
“As you wish.”
If it weren’t for the acquiescence in the bow of his head, I might have taken
