Page 82 of Fated to the Dragon Warlord

“I have an idea where they will be,” I respond. “Where we last found them.”

My wings are shifted. Try as I might, they’re not shifting back. I stop trying. If channeling my shift into my wings is all I can do to stop the rest of me, which I know cannot pilot a ship of this size, then they can stay this way.

The engines whine into life, and I punch in the route. I’m pushed back against the chair as the ship leaps forward in a burst of speed which makes my heart beat a little faster.

Everything I have is concentrated on one goal. Get to Kerra.

Once I have obtained such a goal, I will deal with the other matter. The extermination of the Veseli, once and for all.

No creature who dares to touch my mate will live while I do. The Veseli should be counting down the nova-seconds until their destruction.

I work my way over the onboard console. Dalat has done an impressive job of stocking theAmber Gemwith weaponry, even if I do recognize some of the cannon from other ships.

But, given the speed of this thing, I won’t take any action. He’s turned it into a formidable weapon, one I need at this time.

My comm crackles again, but nothing comes through. I guess not everything is working as well as the weapons system. I try it, but the thing seems dead.

I don’t need anyone else anyway. I will get Kerra and rain down the revenge required on the creatures who dared to take her.

No one touches my mate. No one takes her from me and nothing keeps us apart.

Kerra is mine.

The Veseli are about to find this out the hard way. And it will be the last thing they ever know.

KERRA

Idash between the eggs, my eyes feeling like they’re on stalks as I attempt to keep clear of Veseli. I presume the evil professor has raised the alarm and they’re looking for me, although it does seem like there’s no rush to locate my position.

I scratch absently at my neck. There’s a raised bump which wasn’t there before…it’s similar to the one behind my ear where the nano-translator was installed. I feel instantly nauseous, like I did when I found the nano-translator. My head spins and I fall back against the nearest egg.

What is it? What have the Veseli put in my body?

When it dawns on me, I find myself dry-retching. They have put some sort of tracker in me. It’s the reason no one is chasing me down.

They know exactly where I am. And they can come to me any time they want. I can imagine the evil professor enjoying watching my movements as I’ve attempted to dodge the cockroaches. I am the mouse in the maze.

He’s watching what I do to determine when they bother to come find me. In the meantime…I am free range.

Terror settles in my stomach, forming a lid over disgust and horror. I know what I need to do, but I know I’m not strong enough to do it, even if it is possible.

But it means finding my friends is pointless. If they’re not fitted with trackers, mine will lead the evil professor and the Veseli straight to us.

Escape is useless.

I need another plan. One which doesn’t involve getting away from the Veseli but which involves getting help.

I’m under no illusion I can do any of this on my own. Whatever differences Darax and I have, I want us to work them out properly.

It means I somehow need to contact the Sarkarnii. Despite the fact the evil professor has some sort of perverted interest in our mating, and in the Sarkarnii in general, if there’s one group of creatures which are likely to be able to stomp…or burn…Veseli, it’s going to be the big dragon guys.

It’s the reason they started hiring themselves out. Space muscle.

Although why they didn’t deal with the Veseli before is a bit of a mystery, but then cockroaches do tend to scuttle into dark places.

I need to find some sort of communications array or device. While the strange egg room might seem like an underground nest, the tech I saw inside the evil professor’s lair means they are sophisticated enough to have what I want.

At least until I can find a way to get this tracker out of me.

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