The Tigrens' Glory (46 page)

“Saige, Aisling, Hope, and Glory, move to the center,” Lariah ordered in a low voice that was not to be questioned.  “Glory and Aisling, please cover Saige and Hope.  Saige, Hope, don’t either of you even
think
about shifting.  Aisling, don’t shift unless you have no other choice.  Is anyone else pregnant?”

“I am,” Honey said.  “But just a few weeks.  I’m safe to shift.”

“All right, Honey, but be careful,” Lariah said. 

Glory watched Aisling pass a small hand laser to Hope, who stood next to Saige.  Glory and Aisling stood in front of them, though Glory was worried about Aisling.  She wasn’t as far along as Hope or Saige, but she was still very pregnant.  Glory held one
sai
in each hand, Aisling held a hand laser in one hand and a
sai
in the other, and Hope held the hand laser Aisling had given her as though she knew how to use it.  Saige was digging around in her shoulder bag for something, her eyes never leaving the men spread out in front of them.  Summer, Faith, Lariah, and Honey stood in front of the pregnant women, and Glory, in a protective half circle.

“If any of you try to shift, we’ll kill you,” a familiar male voice shouted. 

“Rollo,” Glory growled, just loud enough for the other women to hear. 

“Yes, I thought I recognized his stench,” Lariah murmured.  “Summer, how’s it coming?”

“Just another few moments,” Summer replied.  Glory glanced at Summer, then followed her gaze to the men surrounding them.  There had to be twenty men, all with laser rifles or other high-powered directed energy weapons.  Glory smiled, remembering that Summer had the ability to control computers and electronics.  When Summer was done with their control circuits, those weapons wouldn’t function as anything more deadly than a club.  She seriously doubted that a club was going to do much good against a fifteen foot long, fire breathing dracon, or a katrenca whose shoulders were higher than any of them were tall.

“Give up Princess Gloriani and the rest of you can leave in peace,” Rollo said from behind a large man holding two gamma rifles aimed at Lariah as though they were hand guns.  “If not, we’ll start killing you one by one.”

“What are you going to do with her?” Lariah asked, stalling for time.

“That’s not your business,” Rollo shot back. 

“It is if you expect me to give her up to you,” Lariah replied.

“She belongs to me!” he screeched.  “I will have her!”

“Done,” Summer said in a low voice, “but remember to watch for them to pull out spare weapons.”

“I ask that Rollo be saved for me,” Glory said, matching Summer’s low voice.  “If possible.”

“Granted,” Lariah said.  Then she raised her voice.  “You will not have her.”

“Kill that bitch!” Rollo screamed just as Lariah said, “
Now
.”

Lariah, Summer, Faith, and Honey ran forward several steps to put space between themselves and their companions before shifting.  Between one heartbeat and the next, a dracon, a falcoran, a vulpiran, and a katrenca now stood where the women had been a moment before.  There were shouts of fear and confusion from their attackers as they realized their weapons wouldn’t fire, and that they were now faced with four enormous shifters looking like pissed-off mythological beasts from hell. 

Lariah bellowed crackling flame just over their heads in a wide arc, while Summer, Faith and Honey roared loud enough to rattle the windows of the shops lining the street.  The smartest of their attackers quickly tossed their now-useless weapons to the ground and raised empty, shaking hands to the sky.  Glory smiled, proud of her new friends.  Even the women too pregnant to shift stood fast without fear, weapons at the ready and blood in their eyes. 

 “Damn, I wish I could join them,” Aisling muttered.  Glory wasn’t surprised to see Saige talking on her vox.  It wouldn’t be long before the men arrived, and she wanted Rollo for herself.

“Will you watch over Saige and Hope while I go after Rollo?” Glory asked.

“Of course,” Aisling said, grinning.  “Have fun!”

“Oh, I intend to,” Glory replied, returning the grin.  She took off, jogging around Lariah who remained in front of the women who couldn’t shift, her wings spread wide, shielding them.  Glory patted her friend lightly on one furry shoulder as she passed.  The huge man that Rollo had been hiding behind was now holding two short swords, one in each hand, his useless guns on the pavement beside him.  Glory caught a flash of movement behind him and veered sideways enough to see Rollo escaping up a side street.  Unfortunately, she was going to have to deal with the goon blocking the street before she could go after Rollo. 

She slowed her step and spun the
sai
in her hands, assessing her opponent.  He was big, and strong, but he didn’t appear to be very agile.  He held the swords like clubs which would certainly do a lot of damage if he were able to catch his opponent, and his eyes kept shifting to the deliberate distraction of the spinning
sai
.  She took one step toward him just as Faith, in her falcoran alter form, swooped down on the man, grasped his shoulders with her claws, and raised him several feet up into the air.  His weapons clattered to the ground as his hands shot up to grab the falcoran’s legs in fear.  Before he had a chance to get a good grip on her, she opened her claws and released him.  He landed hard on his back, but was already scrambling to get to his feet by the time an immense bear like creature with red fur, oval red eyes, six sets of wicked looking claws, and a mouthful of dripping fangs leapt on top of him and sat down. 

“Good girl, Bubbles,” Glory called as she jogged by.  The man lying beneath the
raktsasa
stared up with wide, terrified eyes, mouthing “
Bubbles
?” in a hoarse whisper. 

Glory laughed, looking up just in time to see Rollo turn a corner.  He was less than a block away and already winded, she realized with disgust.  How could he ever imagine she’d consent to be claimed by such a poor excuse for a male?  He had to be delusional.

A loud roar from above caused her to slow a step and glance over her shoulder.  Ah.  The men had arrived.  And they weren’t happy.  She winced as an enormous creature that appeared to be half bird and half lion took a swipe at a man who’d gotten hold of a working laser weapon and had the idiotic notion that it was going to save his ass.  It didn’t slow the gryphon down in the slightest.  A few yards away an enormous black and white bearenca took a swipe at a parked ground car, flinging it aside like a cheap toy to reveal the two men crouched behind it.  The bearenca roared furiously and leapt forward just as the Dracon Princes filled the afternoon sky with flames.  Glory really wanted to stay and watch more, but catching Rollo was more important. 

She picked up her pace, running as fast as she could while trying to decide the best way to deal with Rollo.  She wasn’t in the least bit afraid of him.  She was a warrior, battle-trained and strong.  He was a button, shoelace, and buckle merchant, soft and weak.  The only problem she had was deciding how to stop him without actually killing him. 

Just when she rounded the corner she heard three sets of running footsteps behind her and worried for a moment that her men would attempt to fight this battle for her.  Then a ground car screeched to a halt beside Rollo half way up the block and she focused all of her attention on him. 

Rollo opened the door and glanced back at Glory, pausing when he saw that she was alone, making her glad for an entirely different reason that the Tigren hadn’t caught up to her yet.  Rollo bent over, said something to the driver, and then reached into the vehicle.  He pulled his hand back and swung toward her with a hand laser, just as she’d expected.  Before he was able to raise the weapon high enough to aim it, she released her
sai
, both of which found their mark.  One into his right shoulder, the other into his left thigh.  Incapacitating wounds, but not fatal.  The gun fell to the ground as Rollo screamed loud enough to shatter glass. 

Rollo’s driver didn’t pause to help his employer.  He didn’t even waste time pulling the passenger door shut.  He just hit the accelerator and took off.  Glory glanced over her shoulder in time to see Cade and Kirk leap into the road, shifting into their tigrencas in the blink of an eye as the ground car raced straight at them.  They each batted at the car with one huge paw, sending it spinning sideways until it slammed into a parked ground truck halfway up the block.

Glory laughed softly, then stalked toward Rollo.  She watched him carefully, assuming he’d pull another gun from somewhere on his person and force her to kill him, but she needn’t have worried.  He was sitting on the ground, staring at the silver sai protruding from his flesh with round eyes, still screaming.

“Shut up, Rollo,” Glory said as she knelt beside him and yanked the
sai
from his shoulder.  “You sound like a little girl.”

He looked up at her with both hatred and fear.  “You’ll pay for this you bi…,” he began, then his jaw fell open and his face paled.  Glory looked back and grinned to see Kyerion in his tigrenca alter-form standing over her, his fangs bared as he glared down at Rollo with eyes bigger than Rollo’s head. 

“You should probably refrain from speaking further,” she suggested to Rollo in a conversational tone.  “Otherwise, you’re going to be in a
lot
more pain than you are now.”

“You belong to me,” Rollo said.  “I order you to protect me!”

Glory frowned.  Was the man insane?  She studied him carefully as she thought about the type of man he was, and how his mind worked.  She’d been the one to throw the weapons that had taken him down, yet he still seemed to think she should protect him just because he told her to.  Yes, she decided, he probably was insane, or close to it.  If she couldn’t convince him to let go of the idea that she belonged to him, he’d be completely useless to her and she’d have to kill him after all.  And she wasn’t quite ready to do that yet.

“I belong to them,” she said, gesturing to the three men who now stood behind her.  “If you want to fight them for me, be my guest.”  She stood up and moved aside, leaving Rollo to face the Tigren directly.

It took Rollo all of two seconds to make up his mind.  “No,” he said to Kyerion.  “I concede you have rightfully claimed Gloriani.” 

“Finally,” Glory said, rolling her eyes.  “Tell me, Rollo, how did you escape custody?  Last I heard, you and your men were bound for a penal planet.”

Rollo considered his options for a moment, but one glance at the Tigren convinced him cooperation was his wisest course of action.  “My yacht.”

Glory thought about that for a moment, then sighed.  “Of course,” she said.  “A man as wealthy as you would have all the latest technology.  Transportation ability?”

“Of course,” Rollo said smugly.  Even lying on the ground, defeated and wounded, he thought altogether too highly of himself.  “I have Blind Sight, as well.”

“That explains much,” Glory said.  “Don’t expect to get rescued again, though.  The Xanti are all dead, and Blind Sight no longer works.”  She reached for his hands and shoved the sleeves of his shirt up, revealing what appeared to be a wrist watch.  Glory pulled it off and handed it to Kyerion.  “That’s a communication device.”  He looked at the object curiously, then handed it to Kirk who was more fascinated with modern technology than he was.

“Can we kill him now, or do you wish to do that yourself?” Kirk asked.

Rollo gasped and turned horrified eyes to Glory.  “If you promise not to kill me, I’ll tell you something you really want to know.”

Glory arched a brow, though she wasn’t surprised.  This was the reason she hadn’t wanted to kill him just yet.  “What could you possibly have to tell me that I would want to know?”

“It’s about Pusan-Lo,” Rollo said.  “Give me your promise, and I will tell you,

Glory brought every ounce of will to bear as she maintained a stoic expression, unwilling to let Rollo see a fraction of her worry and fear for the man who had saved her life and taught her everything she knew.  She tapped a
sai
against one leg as though considering Rollo’s offer.  “If what you tell me is of value, I will not kill you.” 

Rollo grimaced but after one more look at the Tigren behind her, he knew he’d get no better offer than that.  “Your father, King Bashir, had Pusan-Lo captured and imprisoned on the day you left Ramouri.”

Glory’s heart leapt, but the avarice in Rollo’s eyes gave her the strength to maintain her stoic mask. 

“Pusan-Lo is Tigren,” Kyerion said coldly.  “It would be no simple manner to imprison one of his kind.”

“I don’t know what that means, but I do know that King Bashir had a net and a cage made of some special metal that holds a high electric charge,” Rollo said, his demeanor changing drastically when he addressed Kyerion.  He sounded almost respectful.  “Each time Pusan-Lo touched it, it weakened him to the point of unconsciousness.  King Bashir wanted to kill Pusan-Lo, but that proved to be impossible.  He was forced instead to have him removed to some distant location.  The whole thing was kept very secret, of course.  Everyone believed Pusan-Lo followed Gloriani when she left.”

“If it was kept secret, how do you know about it?” Kyerion asked.

“I was the one who procured the cage and the net for him, as well as the men who captured Pusan-Lo,” Rollo replied with obvious pride.  “At great cost and effort on my part, I might add.”

“So that’s why he offered me to you,” Glory said with disgust.

“Yes,” Rollo replied angrily.  “That, and an additional sum of money.  After Pusan-Lo was captured I discovered that the King had broken our agreement by allowing you to leave Ramouri.  King Bashir has no honor.”

While they interviewed Rollo, the Dracons arrived and a moment later, the Lobos joined them.  By the time Rollo was finished, the Gryphons and the Katres had arrived as well.

“Who is Pusan-Lo?” Garen asked. 

“He is Tigren,” Glory replied.  Garen nearly gasped aloud at that. 

“You did not mention that before,” he said.  “I assume it’s something you’ve only recently learned.”