CHAPTER 24
We entered several upstairs bedrooms. Like the rooms below, these were empty. We kept moving until we spotted a gathering of Arcadians huddled together in the middle of a hallway, laughing and talking. The carpeted flooring was congested with females, probably breeders, I realized.
Our guns were already set to stun, so we discharged a round of lasers. Blue lit the air like a midnight bonfire, and suddenly their bodies looked frozen by time, some standing, some sitting. Some were even poised with hands upraised, mouths open.
This almost seemed too easy.
Shaking my head, I studied the forked hallway ahead of me. Two choices. Left or right.
“Lilla,” I said, “stay here. Detour anyone who comes this way.”
She gulped and clasped a pyre-gun as if it were a precious diamond. “I will.”
“Jaxon, Kittie. You take the right. Kyrin and I will take the left.”
Everyone nodded, and we split.
Kyrin and I entered a large sitting room, making sure to stay in the shadows. A fireplace decorated the far wall, the only spot not covered by mirrors. A black velvet couch and two matching chairs flanked the center.
I sucked in a breath. There, in the second chair, lounged Atlanna. She wore a sheer lavender gown, mere wisps of fabric, and her snow-white hair hung down her body in erotic curls. A man was seated directly across from her, talking about their progress with the halflings.
I couldn’t make out his features, but I knew from his short, inky hair that he was human. I inched a step toward them, my pyre-gun aimed at Atlanna’s heart. Stun. I’d only stun her, I thought, squeezing the trigger. Blue lights erupted. Then fizzled. I watched, my heartbeat suspended. My mouth formed a small O. Shit, shit. Something was wrong. Atlanna remained completely unaffected. In fact, neither she nor the human had ceased their conversation.
Kyrin fired off a round of his own.
Nothing.
Atlanna shifted her body and faced me directly, as if she’d known I was there the entire time. “I’m so glad you decided to join me, Mia. Sorry I had to destroy your weapon.” She waved her fingers in the man’s direction. “Leave us,” she said.
He instantly obeyed and disappeared behind a mirrored door. Before I could receive a clear look at his features, a sharp pain lanced through my hand. With a gasp, I dropped my gun, and the metal fell limply from my fingers and thudded on the carpet. Kyrin’s features were contorted with pain, I noticed, and he too dropped his gun.
“Much better,” Atlanna said, and the pain stopped.
“Our battle will end here and now, Atlanna,” I told her, straightening to my full height.
“You disappoint me,” she said. “I thought you’d kill Kyrin and help me. Instead, you do the opposite. Foolish girl.”
A swarm of Arcadians burst into the room from the mirrored door, surrounding us. The air circling Kyrin thickened, and I knew he was about to use his lightning-fast reflexes. I closed my eyes, willing myself to do the same, damn the consequences. Instantly, my powers sprang free. When my eyelids snapped open, I saw Kyrin fighting three Arcadians at once. They moved slowly, barely an inch per second, while he waltzed around them, punching and kicking.
I turned my attention to Atlanna. Her eyes were narrowed, and she was watching me. She strode a step in my direction, yet even her actions were slowed. It was as if she could see me, but couldn’t force herself to move as quickly. Something deadly gleamed in her gaze.
Fighting my way toward her, I landed a quick kick to one man’s neck and a hard jab to another’s midsection. But my head began to ache, my muscles going lax, and I slowed the closer I came to her. I knew, knew, Atlanna was the source of my pain, just as before. The more the ache intensified, the more energy I lost, until finally I was jolted back into normal speed. Lethargy seeped into my every pore.
She grinned.
Before I could gather the strength to protest, four male aliens latched onto my arms and legs. They gripped me, and I used what little strength I had to try and jerk myself free. I failed. Where was Kyrin? Was he safe? I could no longer see him, but I knew he was there, knew he fought for my freedom. Two of my guards flew back against the wall, making me fly forward. Before the other two were felled, a mass of them converged around me and managed to apprehend Kyrin. Slowly, his image appeared.
My strength completely gone now, I sagged against my captors.
“My people have already gathered the rest of your team,” Atlanna said. “How silly to think you could best me.” She positioned herself directly in front of me.
“If you harm them, I will make your death as painful as possible.”
Her hands came up, the nails long and clean, polished, and she caressed my jawbone. “I want a thousand more just like you. Think of the profit they would bring.” Eager to brag, she said, “For years I thought the answer lay in science, but all along I was the answer. Me. My blood, like Kyrin’s, has healing qualities that aid in the creation of halfling offspring. After I infused my women with my blood, they were able to produce healthy babies with Earth men.”
“Where are they? Where are the children?”
“I’ll never tell.”
“You disgust me.”
Fury flashed in her brilliant lavender eyes. “Whip him,” she said, motioning to Kyrin. “And if you fight it,” she told him, “I will punish Mia. I might anyway. She’s proving to be quite a disappointment.”
His expression dark and dangerous, he nodded. A guard stripped away his shirt and bared his back.
“I will be fine,” he assured me with a strained smile.
That smile was almost my undoing. He thought to keep me calm, to assure me everything would be okay. We both knew it wouldn’t be.
“He is able to heal quickly,” Atlanna growled, “unless he is whipped until there is none of his precious blood left. Or…unless the whip is laced with poison. Which this one is. You see, the poison binds with the healing properties of his blood, and the more his body tries to recover, the more the poison destroys him.”
A mixture of panic, dread, and helplessness uncurled in my stomach, giving me a jolt of energy. I twisted and lunged; free for a moment, I raced toward him, but was quickly grabbed again and subdued. “Leave him the hell alone,” I screamed.
“Continue,” Atlanna said to the whip wielder.
The first blow landed on his back, and Kyrin flinched. Then the next and the next were delivered in rapid succession. Sweat dripped from his temples, and blood flowed like a crimson river down his back. Again, the long, thick length of the whip cracked through the air. He moaned.