Guarding the Goddess Read online

  “But, Your Holiness, you swore that once the dust took effect she’d be begging for it,” Fundreg protested. He was still standing outside Ellina’s cell with the torch raised and an uncertain look on his face. “You didn’t say anything about taking her against her will. She’s the Potentate.”

  “Yes, and soon she’ll be my Potentate—to do with as I wish.” Kikbax’s eyes gleamed greedily in the torchlight, making Ellina feel sick. “Just stay where you are and hold the torch so I can see what I’m doing,” he told Fundreg.

  “Stay away from her, Kikbax.” Ty’s voice from the other side of the bars was a low growl. “Touch her and you’re dead, I swear it!”

  “You can rant and rave all you want,” the High Priest told him with a sneer. “It won’t do you any good. You, my dear Kindred, are going to be spending the rest of your life in the dungeons to be certain your sweet little Ellina stays in line and does exactly what I tell her. But first, you’re going to watch me give her the very first breeding of her life—and the only one that really counts. Once I take her, she’ll be mine forever and there’s nothing anyone can do about it!”

  “You bastard!” Ty threw himself against the bars, his eyes gleaming red with Rage in the flickering torch light. “Don’t touch her!”

  “Oh, I’m going to do considerably more than touch her,” Kikbax purred. “And lucky for you, you get to watch me do it.”

  Ellina felt sick as he came towards her.

  “Stay away from me—stay away!” she gasped as the High Priest stepped into her cell and came towards her. “Fundreg!” she shouted at the old captain of her guard, who was still standing outside the cell, holding the torch with an uncertain look on his face. “You were once sworn to protect me. How can you stand by and watch me attacked?”

  But the other man just looked away, as though he couldn’t bear to see what was about to happen, but he didn’t intend to stop it either.

  “Ellina! I’ll kill you, Kikbax! I’ll fucking kill you!” Ty swore, throwing himself against the bars again until they rattled. His voice echoed harshly in the stone-lined dungeon.

  The High Priest ignored him and made a snatch at Ellina, who jumped back. She looked for a way to get away from him but he was in the narrow cell with her, his bulk blocking any possible exit. Gods and goddesses—she was trapped! What was she going to do?

  He made another grab and this time he got her by the wrist. Ellina twisted in his grasp and tried to kick between his legs, where males were most vulnerable. But the High Priest seemed to have been expecting such a move because he deflected it easily and suddenly he was on top of her, pressing her against the bars so hard Ellina couldn’t breathe as the cold plasti-steel cut into her back.

  “No! No! Goddess, no!” she heard Ty shouting as he reached through the bars as far as he could. But though his seeking fingers were almost able to reach Kikbax, he couldn’t quite catch him. “You son of a bitch, leave her alone!” he roared.

  Ellina tried to fight—she kicked and twisted in the High Priest’s grasp.

  “How dare you? Get off me—get away from me!” she shouted. Lor jumped bravely from the top of her head and tried to scratch him, but was immediately engaged by the High Priest’s chewchie instead—a creature who was bigger and older than he was. The two chewchies fell to the floor, biting and scratching as Kikbax continued his assault.

  “Now, now, my dear,” he purred, his eyes greedy with lust. “Just relax, why don’t you? It’ll be so much easier that way…”

  “Relax and let you rape me? I don’t think so!” Ellina shouted, still struggling with all her might. “Let…me…go!”

  “Come on now—it doesn’t have to be rape if you’ll just give in.” The High Priest leaned closer, as though trying to kiss her.

  Ellina spit in his face. It was an instinctive reaction—her gut was churning, her heart pounding. She was angry and frightened and disgusted all at once. She would have done anything to get away from him—anything at all. But Kikbax didn’t loosen his grip on her, though he drew back with a frown and wiped his pudgy face.

  “Now, Ellina—is that any way to treat your new consort?” he demanded. “Play nicely or I’m afraid your Kindred in the next cell there is going to get a blaster shot in the guts.” He looked over his shoulder. “Fundreg—fire a warning shot to let the Potentate know I mean business. Maybe just take off an arm or shoot him in the leg.”

  Ellina felt cold inside. Ty—he was going to hurt Ty. She couldn’t let that happen—couldn’t stand by and let the man she loved be hurt or maimed! But she also couldn’t let Kikbax rape her without a fight—she didn’t have that in her.

  Oh, please! she prayed, not even knowing who she was praying to. Oh please, I need some help here! Please stop him—please!

  But there was no answer to her prayer and Ellina didn’t know what to do.

  Ty knew exactly what he was going to do, if only he could get out of this damned cell! Rage rose in him like a fire setting his soul alight with pure fury. He was going to kill that bastard, Kikbax the minute he got a chance. He was going to wrap his hands around the High Priest’s throat the same way he had them wrapped now around the bars to his cell door and squeeze and squeeze and squeeze…

  “Well, what are you waiting for?” a little voice said in his head. “If you want to save Ellina, you’d better go now.”

  “What?” Ty was so overcome with Rage he could barely form the question. But then he looked down and saw that Tisa was sitting on one of the crosspieces of the bars. Her long blue tail was curled around herself and she had a worried look on her little pointed face.

  “Go on,” she told him. “I picked the lock for you while everyone else was busy shouting. Hurry, Ty—I think Ellina is really in trouble!”

  He didn’t waste any more time on questions. Taking a firmer grasp on the bars of his cell door, he pushed with all his might.

  Fundreg had been standing there pointing a blaster at him uncertainly, but mostly watching what was happening in the other cell. So he was taken by surprise when the heavy metal door swung open and slammed him right in the face.

  With a cry, he dropped his blaster and fell backwards, both hands grasping for his streaming nose and injured third eye which had both been caught by one of the heavy bars.

  Ty didn’t bother with him other than to step over his supine body. The Rage was like a red curtain over his vision now—obscuring everything but his target. He swooped into Ellina’s cell like an avenging angel and curled his fingers around the High Priest’s thick throat.

  Dead—he was going to choke the bastard until he was fucking dead for daring to come anywhere near his female!

  Slowly, he began to squeeze.

  Ellina gasped as Kikbax got a knee between her legs and started to lift her skirts. Was this really how her first breeding would happen—as a rape? Would she really be tied to the repugnant Lord Kikbax for life? Gods and goddesses, she would rather die.

  But then Ty was there, looming over the High Priest’s shoulder and his big hands were encircling Kikbax’s throat.

  The High Priest’s eyes widened in surprise—all three of them—and then he began to choke. He gasped and let Ellina go, reaching instead to scrabble at the strong fingers squeezing his windpipe closed, but there was nothing he could do. All three eyes bulged from their sockets and his face began to turn purple.

  As Ellina watched, her heart pounding, he sank to his knees with Ty still choking him. The big Kindred’s pale eyes had gone a fiery red and the fury in his face was frightening to behold. He squeezed mercilessly, ignoring the High Priest’s garbled pleas and wild thrashing. Clearly nothing was going to distract him from his goal of seeing Kikbax dead.

  Ellina wanted nothing more than for him to kill the bastard who had almost raped her, but the practical, Potentate part of her mind woke up and started thinking.

  “Stop!” she cried to Ty, trying to distract the big Kindred from his murderous rage. “Stop, Ty—I need him alive. We need t