runabouts.”
“It is a transfer vessel that requires coordinates from there to wherever you are sending the
traveler,”
Lord Naois told him.
“Aye, I knew that, but how do we make it work? We need to send Phelan to you
ASAP.”
“I have no idea how it works, but I might be able to figure it out if I could study it for a few
days,”
Lord Naois admitted.
“We can transport him via the drone. Just get him to the surface—”
Lord Dunham started
to say.
“We can’t!” Eanan cut him off. “His entire body is throwing off the fluids from the
ghorets and his back is laid open. The things are in his back and the ghorets could come
out at any moment.”
“Shit!”
It was Lord Kheelan’s harsh expletive. Once more the three Shadowlords
began conversing in the unknown tongue.
Whether it was the furious emotions roiling around inside the Shadowlord’s mind
or the pain in his immortal soul, something caused the wind to come rushing across the
clearing with a loud, unearthly howl. The trees shook, the ground beneath their feet
rumbled and dark gray clouds began to swirl across the clear blue sky.
“I think you just got Her attention,” Brell said in a worried tone.
A dark shape loomed on the horizon, speeding toward them with forty feet of
wingspan beating the turbulent air. Bright copper scales caught the vanishing rays of
the sun and sparked orange and green fire. Two slit-pupil dark green orbs glared out of
a giant spade-like triangular head on a long serpentine neck. Upon the gargantuan
head, two long spiny horns curved backward toward the twelve-foot-long torso. Talons
as thick as a man’s thumb curved downward from wide, massive forepaws. The
powerful haunches ended in large hind feet whose talons were thicker still. The six-
inch-thick tail of the beast ended in curving barbed fins projected upward from a bony
spade that rode the rip. When it opened its maw, rows upon rows of sharp, needle-thin
fangs glistened amid soft pink flesh. The roar that came from that giant mouth shook
the ground.
“Oh hell, She’s pissed,” Eanan whispered.
No sooner had the words left his mouth than thick streams of curling fire blasted
from the mouth of the beast, steam shot from the two flaring nostrils and the large
scalloped ears that slanted downward twitched.
“How dare they hurt my Reaper?” the beast roared, emerald orbs sizzling with
fury. “How dare they do this to him!”
“Oh yeah, She’s really pissed,” Eanan amended.
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Charlotte Boyett-Compo
The beast landed amidst the crisped ghorets. Once more the ground shook and
rocks tumbled down the mountain. The long tail swished from side to side with
irritability, rose up then smashed against the ground.
“I was across the megaverse when I heard Ben-Alkazar calling to me. I had to put
that call aside for what I was doing meant the very existence of life as others know it. I
came as quickly as I could.”
The long neck jerked as the goddess became aware of the situation. She sniffed the
air then a low groan of pain escaped Her as She no doubt sensed the depth of Phelan’s
pain. In the blink of an eye, She changed from dragon to beautiful woman.
“Follow me, Tohre!” she ordered, and strode toward the mine entrance, her copper-
colored gown swishing against her long legs.
Eanan was having trouble keeping up with the long-legged stride of the goddess as
She rushed down the tunnel. No words came from Her, but he could hear Her sniff
from time to time as though She were scenting Phelan.
“Keep your eyes off my ass, Reaper!” She snarled at him, whipping Her head
around to fix him with a green glower as cold as a wintry day in Virago.
“Aye,
Mo Regina
!” he was quick to reply. He bit his lip.
Morrigunia continued down the tunnel, hissing with anger. When She reached out
to drag Her long copper-colored fingernails along the rock wall, Eanan cringed at the
sound.
“Pussy,” the Triune Goddess insulted him without looking around.
“Aye,
Mo Regina
,” he agreed with a flinch.
“Iron ore,” She mumbled. “I hate places where there is iron ore. It inhibits my
powers. I won’t be able to shift to dragon shape in here!”
“Aye,
Mo Regina
.”
She turned on him quick as lightning, Her green eyes pinning him where he stood.
“One more
Mo Regina
out of your pretty little mouth and I’ll do to you what I did in
Daliohm
.” The green orbs narrowed. “Would you like that, Reaper?”
Eanan knew better than to speak. He shook his head in denial.
“Then zip it!” She growled, and spun around to continue walking. “Can’t fly in here
because I’m too gods-be-damned big anyway. Can’t teleport because of the iron.” She
clenched Her fists. “I don’t like walking where there is iron. I hate this place!”
The Reaper stayed a good five paces back from the Triune Goddess. He
remembered all too well what She’d done in
Daliohm
and he never wanted a repeat of
that humiliating time.
Arawn and Cynyr were standing just inside the lab when Morrigunia and Eanan
entered. Phelan was making little hitching sounds that were pitiful to hear.
“He’s in terrible pain,” Arawn said, brushing at the telltale moisture he was
ashamed had gathered in his amber eyes. “We tried to sluice the poison from him and
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BlackMoon Reaper
made matters worse. We dared not get too close to him so the water did little good.
More splashed around him than on the wound in his back.”
The goddess flashed Her Prime an understanding look. “You did what you thought
would help. Now find a glass container for pussy boy’s queen and harvest it for me.”
She strode toward the table where Phelan’s body had turned a bright red color. She put
a hand to his head and caressed his damp hair. He stopped making the hitching sounds
and opened his glazed eyes just a fraction. She made quick work of the bands
restraining his arms and legs. “Tohre, I’ll need your queen to give to Phe,” She told him.
“He can have mine,” Fontabeau spoke up. He was standing a few feet away with
his arms wrapped around him, shivering as he stared at Phelan.
“No, he can not. You are a hell hound. The queen must come from his own kind,”
She told the gunman in a not unkind voice.
“Are you going to remove the ghorets here?” Arawn asked, the only Reaper brave
enough to risk Her ire by asking.
“I can not,” She said. “I will need to take him to the polar boot in order to do that.”
Arawn frowned. “Why not to the Citadel,
Mo Regina
?”
“And have one get loose in that facility?” She countered. “Think before you open
your mouth, Reaper!”
“My apologies,” Arawn said. He motioned Eanan to one of the tables as Cynyr
brought over a container.
“Phelan?” Morrigunia said, stroking Her Reaper’s head. “I want you to sleep, my
Reaper. Sleep very deep and dream sweet, hot dreams of your mate. Do you
understand?”
Phelan’s lips moved but no sound came from him.
“Then sleep, Phelan Kiel,” She ordered, and the amber eyes flickered shut. When
She was satisfied he was under, She walked to the BlackMoon and studied it. “I have
seen one of these before.” She looked around at Eanan. “Where have I seen one of these
before, pussy boy?”
Eanan blushed. He was stretched out facedown on the metal table with his hands
curled over the top edge. “
Caillaigh
,” he answered.
“Show respect for your queen, Tohre!” Arawn hissed at him. “Give Her Her title.”
“He knows he’d best not.” The goddess smirked then turned back to the transport
machine.
As Cynyr cut open Eanan’s back and Arawn reached inside to harvest the Reaper’s
queen, She studied the machine, turned to study the glass panels across the room, went
to one and placed Her palm on the dark surface. Instantly the lights above the black
platform of the teleporter flared to life.
“Ah,” She said. The glass panel had triple rows of strange symbols running down
the left side of it. She put a fingertip to one and a number appeared. “I thought as much.
Now to find the coordinates for the polar boot.”
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Charlotte Boyett-Compo
“May I ask why there,
Mo Regina
?” Arawn asked. He dropped Eanan’s queen into
the glass container, wincing at the barbed spines that had raked his hand and the
vicious bite the hellion had clamped onto his thumb.
“Vipers are cold-blooded creatures, my Reaper,” She reminded him. “They do not
like the cold and where is it colder than at the bottom of Terra? The cold will not hurt
Phelan—especially not with his body temperature as high as it is at this moment—but it
will completely incapacitate the vipers. They will cease to move and as soon as I remove
and toss them into the snow, they will begin to die. I, of course, will fry them long
before they take their last evil breath.”
“What of the hellion?” Cynyr asked. “Will that hard a cold damage her?”
“I will keep the hellion warm, Cree,” She told him. “Have no fear on that account.
Before I place her inside Phe, I will pack snow into his wound. It will melt and help to
flush out the poisons so she can do her work. After that happens, I will pack him in
snow and let the cold waters cleanse him of the venom sweat.”
“What of the little fledgling?” Eanan asked, and blushed when his fellow Reapers
turned to give him a surprised look. He mumbled that he was just asking, embarrassed
at showing his more tender nature.
“There is one left?” Morrigunia said then sniffed. “Aye, there is! She has kept my
Reaper safe for me. Good girl! I will remove her and keep her safe before giving Phelan
his new queen. It would take far too long for her to grow to adulthood and he needs the
powers of a hellion now. If I do not remove the little one, the new hellion would destroy
her. They can be jealous bitches.”
“I wasn’t sure how that would work. I take it the cold won’t hurt You either,”
Arawn said.
“I don’t matter,” Morrigunia said, looking away. “All that matters is my Reaper. I
came when I could so do not curse me for not being here when I was needed. You are
not the only life in the megaverse. You are not my only Reapers.”
Arawn and Cynyr glanced at one another but neither dared comment on the
goddess’s words.
“She’s cold-blooded too,” Eanan whispered to Fontabeau. “The cold is bound to
slow Her down and cause some…”
“
Daliohm
, Tohre!” the Triune Goddess growled.
Eanan stopped speaking. The wound in his back had closed and he sat up to swing
his legs over the side of the table and slide to the floor, ducking his head like a
schoolboy at the reprimand.
“Arawn, I want you and Cynyr to return to your homes and retrieve your mates
and offspring. Take them by train to the Citadel. Prepare to stay a while so make sure
your stewards accompany you, your children’s nannies, and have your neighbors see to
your interests while you are away,” Morrigunia ordered. She turned Her gaze to Eanan.
“You will take Sorn and Brell to wherever Phelan’s mate is and then catch a train to the
Citadel. Bring with you the old man and the dark woman.”
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BlackMoon Reaper
“Who?” Eanan asked.
The goddess’s left eye cocked upward.
“I’ll ask Sorn,” Eanan muttered, face red.
“Arawn, contact Lord Kheelan and tell him to call all my Reapers home. I want all
of you in the Citadel by the time I return with Phelan.”
“May I ask why,
Mo Regina
?” Arawn queried.
She ignored his question. “Tell Kheelan there is to be an indefinite lockdown. No
one is to leave the Citadel for any reason, so tell him to prepare accordingly. I also want
a quarantine room for Phelan. The healers will need to wear the suits that were found in
the lower portions of the building. Those should protect them from any residual ghoret
poisoning. Phelan will be ill for several more weeks as the new queen hatches her
nestlings.”
She waved Her hand over Phelan’s prone body and a pair of black long-sleeve silk
pajamas covered him. Easing him to his back as though he were an infant, She slid Her
arms under his back and legs and hefted him from the table, carrying him onto the
platform of the BlackMoon. “Bring the hellion and place her at my feet,” She ordered.
“Why is She using that thing?” Fontabeau asked Eanan.
“Use your head, Sorn, for something other than upon which to place your cute little
hat! Not even I can use my powers in this hellish iron-infested place nor can I fly in this
form, you stupid hell hound,” She snapped. “And even if I could, I could not hold both
Phelan and the hellion.”
“My apologies,
Mo Regina
,” the gunman said.
Arawn brought the glass container to the platform.
“I want you warriors to leave now. The charges are set to destroy this facility and I
want you to make gods-be-damned sure it is demolished. Make sure there is a charge in
this very room. Place it right where I am standing. Nothing and no one must ever be
able to transport here using this machine. It must be destroyed.”
“Wouldn’t this be a worthwhile device to have at the Citadel?” Arawn asked.