Page 65 of Arresting the Warlord

“I’m surprised he fit under there.” Getting a firm grip on his leg, Jake hauled him out and whistled at the guy’s battered features.“What happened to his face.”

“My foot.”

“It is never a good idea to make an Earth female angry,”Loki commented.

Ivan eyed us suspiciously.“Going somewhere?”

“Can’t say. It’s top secret,”I answered.

“Are you starting your hunt for the Earth females?”

Jake grabbed me and poof! We were suddenly in the shuttle.

“Run but know this. We are the best trackers in the galaxy, and we will find you,”Loki warned as Jake closed the hatch.

“Fuck.” I dropped into the pilot’s chair. “Good thing they can’t teleport.”

“No kidding. They’d steal us blind.” Jake typed coordinates into the navigational computer. “I need to grab some gear from the ship.”

“Okay, it’ll give Uncle Jesse time to heat the rocks for the sweat lodge.”

“Is the sweat lodge really necessary?”

I shot Jake a narrow sidelong glance. “You still want to become a shaman?”

“I do.”

“Then it’s necessary. Our rituals serve a purpose. The sweat lodge purifies the soul and stimulates visions.”

“Any peyote involved?”

“Some.”

“Warlords are not allowed to take recreational drugs,” Jake said.

I shrugged. “Your choice.”

Jake frowned and cocked his head to one side as if he was listening to someone. “I have Zarek’s authorization to use peyote in shaman rituals.”

“How often does Zarek listen into your conversations?”

“Not often.”

I cocked a disbelieving eyebrow. “Seriously?”

“He listens in on critical missions,” Jake conceded.

“And he considers locating Trayon’s mate a crucial operation?”

“He does. The treaty with the Askole is too important to risk.”

I shuddered. “I’d hate to have them as enemies.”

“The Askole were the Coletti enemies until Sariel ended up on the same penal colony as Zarek. They joined forces to escape and have been allies since,” Jake advised.

“I bet they annihilated the penal colony.”

“They did and freed all the prisoners.”

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