The Chalice (5 page)

male. “If you’d taken a moment to look at the others, you’d have seen that.”

“Look at her hair.” Shagal jiggled his arm , maneuvering behind Vaux as

Mordaq storm ed after him . “It looks like coiled cords—lots of them .”

Tegan raised an arm, halting the fuming bodyguard. “What of yours?”

Mordaq paused, looking shamefaced. “I’ve not yet looked,” he adm itted, glaring

at Shagal. “Other matters kept my undivided attention.”

“I think he’s afraid his Chalice will be hideous and malformed.” Shagal smirked

at the towering guard. “I’ve never seen Mordaq afraid or even worried until now.”

“I’m  not worried.” Mordaq’s head bent, narrowed eyes flashing with golden

lights. “But you m ight consider being afraid if I get my hands on you.”

“Display your im age.” Tegan sm iled at his guard, softening the command.

“Let’s see which female Kormak chose for you.”

Mordaq the inscrutable…winced. “Maybe it’d be better if I first viewed my

Chalice alone.”

Was Shagal correct? Was Mordaq nervous? Mordaq—the very same m ale whodefied his enem ies, laughing as he doled out his own form  of justice. It was

unthinkable the hardened warrior could react in such a manner. It made Mordaq

seem …fallible.

“ Display your fem ale,” Tegan said, laughing to him self. “I would see your

future mate.”

The Warrior’s arm  lifted as though weighted by a thousand stones. His eyesglinted. W ith measured slowness, his fingers flicked across the controls. An aurasprang up.

They all leaned closer. She appeared sm all. Smaller even than Tegan’s Chalice. Her shoulder-length dark hair was cut straight at the bottom . A like fringe sweptacross her wide forehead. Skin color was somewhere between Tegan’s Chalice andthat of Shagal’s.

“She has caste marks,” Vaux com m ented. “I’ve never seen the like, but they

must m ean som ething.”

“Perhaps she’s an artist,” Shagal m urm ured. “But why would Kormak pair an

artisan with a Warrior?”

Mordaq’s hand flicked and the aura vanished. “He had his reasons, vague as

they may seem . I’ve no doubt we’ll discover his motives soon enough.”

Chapter Three

The throng of women clustered around Kara, buzzing with questions, looking to

her for leadership.

Great! Kara thought, annoyed beyond belief. Just great! Like I’m  the leadertype. Not! But everyone was looking to her for direction so she’d better saysomething. Frantic, she searched her mem ories. What would the Queen of England do and say right now? W here’s my Corgis?

She cleared her throat, nervous and ill prepared to take up the reins of power. Once in grade school, she’d been a hall monitor for a week, but that was aboutthe limit of her hands-on experience.

The crowd stilled, waiting for her input.

“W hy me?” she hissed.

“You opened your mouth.” Dreadlocks said, eyes twinkling with m irth. “No one

else wants the job.”

Gritting her teeth, she closed her eyes, taking a moment to focus. Okay. Didn’t

work.

She gazed across the sea of frightened faces, feeling their terror with every

molecule of her being. They all needed answers. Hope. Something to hold onto.

“I think what we need to do first is figure out what we’re up against.”

Heads nodded agreement.

“And I know it’s scary, but I think some of us need to head down that hallway,” she m otioned to the opening, “and investigate. Much as I hate the idea, I guess I’ll go. W ho’s with me?”

“Me,” Dreadlocks offered im mediately. “Ain’t nothin’ but a dam ned hallway.” She glared at the others, daring them  to join. “I don’t see anyone else volunteering.”

Nordic giantess pushed through the crowd. “Ja,” she said. “I go vith you.”

Kara breathed a sigh of relief. Three was better than one—and she didn’t relish

going alone.

“You’ll need my expertise,” English offered, stepping forward. Offhand and

calm, she surveyed the room . “I doubt anyone else has my intelligence.”

“Yeah,” Dreadlocks snickered. “Shit for brains.”

English laughed, a high trilling sound. “Touché, sweetie pie.” Her lips curved

into a sneer. “I could just be your fat butt’s savior.”

“Better a fat ass than a fat m outh,” Dreadlocks grum bled.

“… please exit the cham ber,” the recording droned on. “Any dalliance and you

will be punished.”

“I’ll just be glad when I don’t have to listen to that frickin’ thing.” Dreadlocks

glared at the ceiling, voicing Kara’s own thoughts. If she had a gun, she’d shoot it.

Oriental Ninja girl’s black head bobbed as she wove through the onlookers.

“You need protection. I can help.”

Bodyguards! Things were looking up.

“Okay,” Kara exhaled, damning the inevitable. “W e have a consortium .”

“Ye cannae leave m e,” Irish shrieked, shaking like a leaf as she clung to Kara’s arm . “Ye dinnae noo what’s out there. And I cannae go. I wouldnae be m ooch help.”

Naked fem ale body touching her. I don’t think so. “Would someone babysit

Irish while we’re gone,” Kara called out, “before she has a heart attack.”

“Me name’s Moira.” Irish’s blue eyes snapped. “Me nam e’s Moira.”

“W ill someone take care of Moira while we’re gone?”

“I dinnae need care.” Moira’s head lifted. Her back stiffened. “I just dinnae

want ye to go.”

Kara extricated herself, one sweaty finger at a time. “Somebody has to do

something and I can’t volunteer anyone but myself.” She patted the girl’s arm .

“Just relax. If they haven’t hurt us yet, I doubt they’re going to.”

“By the way,” Dreadlocks said. “My name’s Danesha, Danesha W illiams. From

Hartford.”

Kara took the proffered hand. “Kara Nichols. San Francisco.”

English’s hand covered theirs. “Anne Ford. London.”

The tall Nordic girl slapped Kara’s shoulder. “Hannalore. Hanna Svenson.

Stockholm, Sveden.”

“Swedish, huh.”

Four sets of eyes focused on Ninja girl.

Bowing low, she introduced herself. “Ume Nishioki. Okinawa, Japan.”

The five huddled in a circle, building their courage. The other women m illedaround them, offering words of encouragement or dark warnings about whatmight lurk beyond the confines of the cham ber. Kara could feel her lips trem bling.

Bright spots flashed in front of her eyes. Her knees grew weak. I’m  going to faint!

“Take a deep breath,” Anne’s voice broke through her pre-blowout anxiety

attack. “Just breathe slowly for a few m inutes. It’ll pass.”

“I know,” she gasped. “I get this way when I’m  scared.”

“Maybe you should stay here.”

“Just give me a m inute.” She bent down, letting her head drop. Blood rushed

to her brain. The mom ent of angst eased and then passed.

“Somebody tell me why the frick I’m  doing this.” She stood up, brushing back

her hair. “My idea of courageous is going out on a blind date— not this crap.”

“Pretend there’s a hot guy waiting out there,” Danesha chuckled. “Besides,”

she grinned, “we only die once.”

“Thanks   for   the   uplifting   words,”   she   snapped,   stomping   towards   the

passageway. “I wish we had some weapons.”

“I don’t think any weapons we know about would do m uch good here.” Anne reached a hand up and ran a finger along the wall seam . “There’s nothing to show where the wall ends and the doorway begins. It’s amazing.” Her grey eyes sparkled with adm iration.

“Yeah, I’m  freakin’ amazed,” Danesha m uttered. “Let’s get this over with. I

gotta pee.”

Tense and wary, they entered the hallway, clumping together for courage. Likesheep to the slaughter, they inched down the path. Brave little Ume took the leadwith big Hanna right behind. Dreadlocks took rear guard, leaving Anne and Karain the center. Away from  the turmoil of the pod cham ber, an eerie silencepervaded the unfamiliar surroundings.

The long tubular corridor followed a gentle curve to the left. Dust covered theglass-like walls and floor with a thin coating of gray film . Every few feet, Annewould stop and examine some aspect of the structure, m uttering to herself aboutthe configuration and texture of the building materials. The impression was thingsweren’t norm al.

The stress caused Kara’s knees to shake so bad, her teeth banged together— or

maybe it was nerves causing her teeth to chatter. W hatever! She’d never been so

scared in her life. She comm iserated with Danesha. She needed to pee, too.

“Wonder why we haven’t seen anyone.” Anne brushed her hands. “Seems peculiar we haven’t been approached. The only contact so far is the recording. Doesn’t make sense.”

“Maybe we’ve just been lucky.”

The hall took a sharp curve to the right and they were standing at the

entrance to another large chamber. Odd shaped tables and chairs— at least she thought they were tables and chairs—were situated throughout the center. Locker-like structures lined one side and on the other side, what appeared to be a kitchen or serving area.

Kara caught at Um e’s arm  as the smaller woman moved forward. “Don’t go in

there.”

“We came to investigate,” she said, slipping from  Kara’s grasp. Bobbed black

hair swung free as her head swiveled. “There’s no one here.”

“You don’t know that for sure.”

Almond-shaped black eyes regarded her with calm  resolve. “The room  is

em pty.”

A subtle whirring sound started up and Kara caught a whiff of something

delectable. Her m outh watered and her stomach growled.

“Human females…” the recorded voice started up.

“Ohm igawd. He followed us.”

“…suitable clothing in the storage units and nourishm ent is being prepared.

Please make yourselves comfortable.”

“W hat? We’re not gonna be punished severely?”

A wall opened up. “Sleeping areas and waste receptacles are located within for

your convenience.”

“Well, I’ll be fricked.” Danesha strode to a nearby locker and yanked it open. She pulled out the first thing she touched and shook it out, what little there was, holding it against her chest.

“This m ust be the underwear drawer,” she said. She reached in and pulled out another—and another. Every item  was the same except for color. Looked like nothing more than the briefest of thongs.

Kara opened another storage unit. Like the first, it was packed with m ore

stacks of thongs, as was each unit they opened.

“We’ve been kidnapped by perverts.”

“Dat is not clothing,” Hanna grum bled. “It vould cover nothing on me.”

“Don’t feel bad,” Anne said, brows furrowed with disgust. “I doubt it would

cover anything on any of us.”

Kara slipped on the item . Whatever the fabric, it stretched to accommodate hersize. At least she had something to wear. She eyed another one, pulling it onbackwards. Ha! Spandex panties!

Danesha grinned. “There’s a m illion of these dam n things.”

Slipping two of the item s over her shoulders, she crossed them  over her chest,

creating a makeshift bra, and adding her own set of thong panties.

Hanna regarded the scraps of clothing with dismay, but pulled on a set. The

small triangles did nothing to cover her hum ongous boobs, even stretched to the

lim its.

“Looks like postage stamps on an elephant’s ass,” Danesha laughed.

“You vould not laugh if it vas you,” the voluptuous woman sniffed.

“She’s just jealous,” Anne replied, turning away to hide her sm ile from  the

disgruntled Swede.

Kara’s lips twitched. “At least we aren’t naked anymore. Almost.”

Having something to wear, even as skim py as this outfit was, gave her a

measure of confidence. W eird how that worked!

Like magic, a panel slid open and trays of food appeared. None of it

recognizable but it sm elled terrific. Kara’s stom ach growled again.

“We need to get the other girls in here. At least it’s better than the other room

and we have food.” Anne started back out.

“Vait! I go vith you.” Hanna followed her. “No one goes alone.”

Still tense, but starting to wind down, Kara wandered around the big room ,stopping to examine each object, sitting in the chairs. Surprisingly comfortable. She resisted the urge to sam ple the abundant foodstuffs, waiting for Anne to giveher okay.