Chaiyse’s elegant, pale blue face remained impassive, unemotional as she began to describe the course of treatment for Vaush. The essence had kept her alive this long, but she would lose the battle if she didn’t receive medication soon. The obscure chemicals could not be synthesized and could only be found in remote parts of their system. Time was of the essence as Comron scrambled hyper-light speed transports to obtain the ingredients for the antidote.
Four hours later, he and the ingredients arrived back at the Lion Palace. He burst into the infirmary with the medical case in hand. “Dr. Belser you must make the exact dosage of the following substance and administer it to the empress.”
Besler scanned the list with furrowed brow. “I seriously doubt that—”
“Do it!” Comron shouted, shoving the case at him. “It’s her only chance for survival.”
Chapter 31
Vaush was sinking, slipping deeper into the well unable to find purchase on the slick walls of her prison. Breathing became more difficult; every breath was a battle. Her strength was waning, and she sensed it was a miracle she had lasted this long, but she was losing the fight. She sensed it with every passing moment. Even then, her only regret was that she couldn’t see Comron’s face once more, tell him how much she loved him and that she didn’t want to leave him.
Oh, Comron!
I’m here, love!
She heard his voice, felt his strong hand take hold of hers.
Thalonius has poisoned me, I don’t want to leave you … can’t fight any longer.
Then I will fight for you. Hold on to me, Vaush!
His hand tightened around hers.
See me. I’m here with you. I’ve brought the medicine. It’s going to help you. See me, Vaush.
She hadn’t the strength to open her eyes, but she knew that’s not what he meant.
I’m holding you. I’ll carry you through this just like on Anchorii.
In her minds eyes she beheld the two of them, Comron carrying her through the dark storm, sheltering her from the ravages of its wrath. The comfort the image produced was so overwhelming that she began to weep.
The poison has been identified. Doctor Belser’s administering the antidote to you as I speak. You’re going to be fine, love. You’re going to be fine.
“Come on, Vaush,” came Laney’s tense voice. “You’ve got to pull through, honey.”
“That’s it, love. Stay with me,” Comron’s voice was as warm as his embrace. “It’s already taking effect. Your vitals are improving beautifully.”
Though Vaush felt no immediate relief from the antidote, Comron’s mere presence lifted her spirits and reignited her will to fight. More than ever, she wanted to be well and face Thalonius with the news that she had survived another one of his attacks. Let him ponder that! With faith strong, she took her first deep breath. Her lungs filled with the rich, cleansing oxygen. Never before had she appreciated such a simple act. When she exhaled, she opened her eyes to find Comron staring back at her. His eyes glistened with relief and joy.
Belser removed the intubation tube.
Comron leaned near and stroked her cheek. “I would have followed you into death to bring you back.”
She managed a tremulous smile. “Beloved. Thalonius … he did this,” she said with a raspy voice. “You’ll make him pay.”
He whispered in her ear, “He won’t live past this day.”
Thalonius had attempted to murder her, but would Comron really take matters into his own hands? She didn’t care; she only knew she wanted the man dead.
“She’s stabilizing nicely, but she’ll need plenty of rest to fully recuperate,” Belser said while reviewing her charts, still looking bewildered by the whole incident. “She’s fortunate to be alive. Simply remarkable.”
“Hey, you gave us quite a scare,” Laney said from the other side of Vaush.
Comron cut Laney a scathing look. Vaush looked between the two, knowing Comron must blame her for letting it happen and this would only exacerbate the tension between them.
“I can’t have anything but positive energy from the two of you if I’m to make a quick recovery.”
They held the hard gaze for a moment longer before relenting.
“I’m exhausted,” she said and inclined her head at Laney. “I really should get some rest.”
“Of course.” Laney gave her a crooked smile. “I’ll just be right out here if you need me.”
Vaush nodded before turning her attention to Comron. “You’ll stay with me, won’t you?”
He squeezed her hand. “Just try to pry me away, angel.” He reached for a chair and sat at her bedside.
Vaush smiled sleepily at him. Her lids felt heavy, she let them slide shut. “The moment I heard your voice, I knew that everything would be all right.” She yawned. “I knew you’d save me.” She felt him stroke her brow and cheek.
“Shhh, love, rest,” his voice was a soothing balm, lulling her to sleep. “I promise to keep you safe. After I’m through with Thalonius … no one will dare raise a finger against you.”
Vaush drifted to sleep comforted and terrified by his words.
Chapter 32
When Comron was certain Vaush had fallen into a deep sleep, he hurried out of the infirmary and down the west corridor of the Lion Palace. He quickly answered Crausin’s call, gave him an update on Vaush’s condition, and told him he’d return in a few hours. He dashed out of the main entry and headed for the civilian hangar bay. As he approached the doors, he found Yaeger and three others guarding it.
“Took your sweet time, didn’t you?” Yaeger said, walking out to meet him.
“I don’t have time for this, Yaeger,” he said through gritted teeth. “Move!”
“I’m not trying to stop you,” Yaeger explained and hitched his head at the others. “We know what you have in mind. We’re here to make sure the job gets done right.”
Comron eyed them cautiously. “You sure you want to do this?”
The cavalier look in Yeager’s gray eyes hardened. “We’ve sworn a blood oath to protect the empress. Tonight, we mean to see blood—Thalonius’ blood.”
Comron raised his hand and Yaeger gripped it firmly, sealing their pact.
“Then let’s go avenge our empress,” Comron said and led them into the hangar bay. “I want stealth. We need to be in and out as quickly as possible.”
“Then I recommend a Nighthawk. It’s sleek and fast,” he said pointing one out to the left. “She’s virtually invisible to radar.”
“Perfect,” Comron said as he hurried toward the ship with Yaeger’s team in tow. Yaeger ordered one of his men, Kever, to pilot the vessel. Kever slipped into the pilots chair and initiated the takeoff sequence.
While Comron appreciated the expertise that Yeager’s men would bring, he wondered if they’d balk at what he truly had in mind. Would they really go that far? If they got in his way, he could easily incapacitate them long enough for him to carry out his mission. Only when they came to would they learn the extent of the carnage he’d wrought.
The vessel lifted off and soon they were on their way to Carthis, home world of House Nostrom.
“So, let’s lay out the plan of attack,” Yaeger said, pulling up holographic schematics. The blue grids illuminated the dim cabin. “This is Grachen Hall Estate, Thalonius’ home. You see the red lights throughout the building,” he pointed, “those are the surveillance devices we’ll need to deactivate.” As if on cue, one of his men stepped forward, a red headed, gangly looking fellow. “Red’s our man.”
Red nodded curtly at Comron. “They use second-generation reverting cryons. I can crack them in my sleep, but maintaining the feedback gets a little tricky. I can only keep it streaming for about four minutes.”
“Then we’ll get it done in three,” Comron said evenly, folding his arms across his chest. “What about the house shields? How do we penetrate them?”
“Not a problem,” Red said. “We’ll punch through with—” he hesitate
d. “How were you planning on breaching the house shield?”
“I’ve got their security codes,” Comron answered. “I was going to commandeer one of their patrol ships and walk right in.”
“How the hell did you get your hands on their codes?” Yaeger said in a tone that suggested awe and envy. “No matter, our way is quicker.”
The Chronicle Archives had already told Comron everything he needed to know about Thalonius’ residence, right down to the chambers in which he and his wife slept. And, with the family celebration taking place, his entire family would be present under his roof. Fortuitous for the extent of the revenge he intended to exact.
“Suit yourselves. Just get me in there to do what I need to do,” Comron stated tersely.
“You want to go in alone?”
“I think that would be best,” Comron answered. “Stay back and be my eyes and ears.”
Yaeger laughed. “That place is crawling with guards, a virtual fortress. You can’t get to all of them before they sound the alarm. No, we’re going in with you.”
Comron eyed him a moment, appraising the man. In the end, when his plan became all too apparent, would Yaeger help him or try to stop him? “They tried to murder the woman I love. So, I’m warning you, Yaeger, no matter what happens down there, don’t get in my way.”
For a second, there was a look of uneasiness in Yaeger’s gray eyes, but then he smirked. “I don’t really care what you do to the bastard. As long as Thalonius dies at the end of it, you’ll get no trouble from us.”
Chapter 33
The five men sat crouched at the service door of Gretchen Hall as Red worked his cyber wizardry. After landing in the park grounds where they’d hidden the ship, they’d raced to the main house, dropping half a dozen guards on the way. Motorized scaling gear quickly delivered them to the roof where they eagerly awaited Red’s efforts.
“I’m in!” Red said, grinning at them. “Feedback loop commencing in five, four ....”
Yaeger opened the latch and looked at Comron. “Van Laven, four minutes before all hell breaks loose.”
“Go!” Red said.
Hyped on essence and adrenalin, Comron sprang forward and descended down into the service entrance. With the layout memorized, he made his way through with alarming speed leaving Yaeger and the others behind. This had been his plan all along, to do what he needed to do without worrying about them going soft on him.
In less than a minute, he’d already reached the main living quarters where Thalonius and his family slumbered. A couple of dead guards later, he sprinted past Thalonius’ chambers and went to that of his eldest son, Demetrus. Just before he entered, he heard Yaeger in his ear shouting that he was going to the wrong room.
“I know what I’m doing, you leave Thalonius to me!” As Comron spoke the words, he reached behind his back and retrieved two ceremonial ostako swords that had been sharpened to razor perfection.
Time to collect the heads.
In the darkness, he descended upon Demetrus while he lay asleep. He brought the sword down in one stroke severing his head from his shoulders. The movement and bloodspatter awakened his wife. She looked up at Comron and opened her mouth to scream, but he deftly ran her through with the ostako blade. No witnesses could be left alive. He unclipped a sack from his side and scooped Demetrus’ head into the sack. He swiftly moved on to Thalonius’ second son and did likewise.
On his way to the daughter’s room, Yaeger caught up with him. “Have you lost your mind?” he said, gesturing at the heavy sack Comron carried.
“Stay out of my way, Yaeger!”
“This was supposed to be about Thalonius.”
Comron raised the sack. “This is about Thalonius.” He darted away from Yaeger and entered the daughter’s room. She lay asleep, but her husband was just exiting the lavatory. He spotted Comron.
“W-what is this? No, no!” he raised his hands but Comron hurled an ostako knife, impaling him in the chest. No witnesses!
The commotion awakened his sleeping wife. Her blue eyes were wide with terror as she caught sight of Comron and then spotted her husband slumped on the floor.
“Please, take whatever you want and just leave!”
“I intend to,” Comron growled and then swung the ostako sword at her for another clean decapitation. He stuffed her head in with her brother’s and then moved on to Thalonius’ teenaged grandchildren. The whole house of Thalonius would fall this night!
Yaeger finally caught up with him when Comron’s sack was heavy with the severed heads.
“You’re insane! We didn’t sign up for this blood bath.” Yaeger barked. “Have you forgotten about Thalonius? Two minutes, that’s all we have left.”
“That’s all I need.” Comron sped down the hall as Yaeger struggled to keep up. Comron entered the room and brought up the lights. “Thalonius!” his voice boomed. “I have a message from the Empress and a gift from Nethic.”
Thalonius sat up in his bed, blinking from the stark light. “What the devil? Guards!”
Comron turned the bag upside down emptying the gruesome contents onto Thalonius’ bed.
Thalonius howled in shock and horror. He scrambled back even as he stared at the heads confirming that his whole line, all of his children and grandchildren, were dead before him.
His wife woke up and added her horrified, ear-piercing shrieking to the mix.
He pointed the tip of the sword at the heads. “This is just part of the payback for the devastation and destruction your ancestors rained down on Nethic. Sellusion’s line will end under Nethic’s knife!”
When Lydia kept screaming, Comron recalled how she’d been the primary instigator driving Thalonius to strike out against Vaush. Without a second thought, he brought the blade down in a blinding arc, cutting off her screams permanently.
“You devil!” Thalonius said leaping off the bed at him. But Comron caught him by the throat, lifting him off his feet.
“You should’ve respected your father’s will,” Comron said, his anger broiling within, he channeled it the way Chaiyse had taught him to. “But instead, you poisoned the empress, my wife!” Upon hearing those words, Thalonius clutched his head and howled in agony as blood poured from his ears and nose. “And now you’ll pay for your error with your life.” With one of the swords, he impaled Thalonius at the left shoulder, driving the blade deep into the wall. Ignoring Thalonius’ blood curdling screams, he drove the other sword through his right shoulder so that Thalonius was suspended off the floor, pinned to the wall.
“Fifty eight seconds!” Yaeger called out from behind.
“And now I have a message to deliver to all those who dare raise their hand against the empress!” With that, Comron produced what appeared to be another ostako sword, but had an axe head instead. In a mad frenzy, Comron began swinging the axe, hacking away at Thalonius’ body, all the while roaring his rage and fear at almost losing Vaush. Soon Thalonius’ chilling screams stopped and there was nothing but the sound of Comron relentlessly chopping away at him until the lower half of Thalonius’ body dropped to the floor. His entrails were all over the walls, the windows, the carpet, and Comron.
“Forty seconds, we’ve got to go!” Yaeger announced.
Comron roared his rage one last time at Thalonius’ upper corpse, the eyes bulged and exploded in their sockets. Stepping back, he spared half a second to survey the carnage. Satisfied, he turned to Yaeger who stood with mouth agape and eyes wide with disbelief.
Comron walked toward him and grabbed him by the arm. “Let’s get out of here!” The two of them sped down the hall, and Comron glanced at the chronometer—only thirty seconds left before surveillance came back on line. With a burst of speed, Comron flew down the corridor to the rendezvous spot. When he heard the shot ring out, he turned to find that Yaeger was no longer behind him.
“Damn it!” He looked at the escape point and then groaned in frustration as he turned back for Yaeger. When he reached him, Yaeger was hurriedly limping dow
n the hall, his blast rifle drawn. Comron ran to him and threw an arm around him for support.
“You kill him?” Comron asked brusquely glancing at Yaeger’s injured leg as he dragged him along.
“Pretty sure the blast hole through his face did the job.” Yaeger glanced at his wrist chronometer. “Surveillance is back up in five, four—”
Comron hoisted Yaeger over his shoulder, dashed to the attic access and bounded up the stairs as if Yaeger were light as a feather. The moment they reached the top, the other men grabbed Yaeger, and they all scrambled out onto the roof where the hovercraft waited.
Chapter 34
By the time Comron had cleaned up and returned to the Lion Palace, Vaush had been moved to the imperial suite and had fallen asleep in their bed while awaiting his return. He climbed into bed next to her and lay on his side. He watched the steady rise and fall of her chest and thanked the heavens that he hadn’t lost his beloved wife. He moved his fingers lightly across her warm skin, her cheek, and her lips.
The sudden welling of emotion overcame him. His throat tightened as his vision blurred and tears burned his eyes. All the fear, the rage, and relief crashed down on him. “Oh, Vaush,” he whispered tremulously, “don’t ever leave me.”
She stirred from her slumber, and he quickly wiped his eyes dry with his sleeve.
“Hello there,” Vaush said in a sleepy voice.
“How are you feeling?”
She gave her body a good, long stretch. “Not bad, all things considered.” She looked into his eyes. “Love, are you all right?”
He nodded. “I am now.”
“Yeah?” she said, lacing her fingers between his. “And Thalonius?”
“He’s dead.”
She lowered her gaze and her grip tightened on his hand. “Do I want to know the details?”
“No. For the sake of plausible deniability, it’s best that we don’t discuss it.”
“Oh,” she said and stared at the ceiling. He watched her, saw her lips draw a firm line. She regretted that it had come to this but knew that Thalonius had left them with no alternative.