Chapter Three
A fleeting second later, we stood at the base of a small hill. A furry brown spider the size of a softball scuttled across my boot. I tried to do the Texas Two-Step on its little hairy ass, but it was too fast.
“It is only a cane spider. They are not dangerous.” Hothar looked around. “There are several more in the bushes.”
“More?” I climbed Hothar like he was Mount Everest and grabbed his face. “Kill them! Now!”
His eyebrows rose in disbelief. “You are afraid of those tiny spiders?”
“Tiny? They aren’t tiny, and yes, I am afraid of spiders. I hate the eight-legged freaks.” I tightened my grip when the spider waved its hairy legs at me. “Stomp them. Whack them with your sword or use your laser pistol. I. Don’t. Care. Just make them go away.”
Hothar wrapped his arms around me. “Do you act this way around Tabors?”
“I met them once and I made sure they didn’t get within thirty feet of me.”
“Only once?” Hothar eyed me with astonishment.
“Yep. If they showed up at Central Command, I called in sick. The ones that are friends with Kaylee stay with her. Talree doesn’t let Kaylee travel much since she’s had Thor. Plus, the Tai-Kok were on the rampage and I was never able to travel to Tanith for a visit.”
“Wulf and Yakira have adopted a baby Tabor as have Sarah and Tihar,” Hothar said.
“And your point is?”
“Tabors are intelligent lifeforms and you must behave appropriately. Insult them and you could find yourself webbed to a tree.” Hothar pried my hands off his face and tried to put me down.
I wrapped my legs around his waist. “Nope. You’re my ride until the freaks are gone.”
“You are being irrational. The Rodan could attack at any moment.”
“We’ve killed all of the monsters in the area and I’ll admit I’m a spider bigot. The university’s arachnid collection got loose in science class two days in a row.” I shuddered. “They got in my hair and clothes. They were everywhere. I was bitten twice and ended up spending the night in the hospital.”
“Once you meet a Tabor you will change your mind,” Hothar assured me.
“Me? Friends with a spider?” I laughed hysterically. “The chances of that happening are a million to one.”
“Kaylee thought the same.” Hothar typed something into his warrior’s bracelet. Twenty seconds later, a high-pitched whine filled the air.
The cane spiders vanished.
“Better?”
I examined the bushes and slid down his body. “Yes, thank you.”
“We will work on your spider issues later,” Hothar promised.
“There is no we. Once Uncle Saul comes for me, you’ll never see me again.”
Hothar grinned, displaying a cute set of dimples. “I have been assigned to General Jones’s office. We will be working together.”
I stared at him in utter horror. Uncle Saul had mentioned something about getting me a partner. He was nuts if he thought he could stick me with Godzilla here. “I don’t want or need a partner. Specially one that’s Coletti.”
“The General is Coletti as is most of your family.”
“They didn’t have much of a choice, but I’m happy being human,” I stated firmly, ignoring the fact that I was a half-breed of some sort.
“The advantages of becoming Coletti are many.” Using the rat dinosaur’s device, Hothar scanned the area. “You will live longer, heal faster and have the ability to teleport.”
“I know all of that, but I don’t like the idea of becoming an alien with fangs,” I snapped.
Hothar studied me for a long moment. “Do you consider Kaylee and Sarah aliens?”
“No. They’re family.”
“Even if Sarah gets more scales?”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, smart guy, I get it.”
“Good.”
Hothar’s attitude was too damn smug. “I have a question for you.”
A chuckle rumbled in Hothar’s chest. “Relax. I know how to perform over one hundred sex acts.”
I blinked in disbelief. What? That had come out of left field and Hothar was so dang proud of the fact. “Holy hell! Are all of Zarek’s sexual conquests rolling around in that brain of yours?”
“Yes. He has had sex with over three thousand females,” Hothar said with an amused gleam in his eyes.
“Freakin’ unbelievable! When did he find the time?”
“After a battle, a warrior has needs,” Hothar explained matter-of-factly.
“So many battles, so many women. I’m surprised Detja hasn’t neutered him.”
Hothar looked at me like I was a few bricks short of a full load. “They are mated. He cannot touch another female now.”
“Right. Silly me.” Crap. I had a budding Don Juan who was eager to try out every one of those positions. Add in all that testosterone and raging hormones and I had one horny male on my hands. I needed to get his mind off sex. But how? I took a deep breath and asked, “How old are you?”
“Nineteen.”
“You’re just a kid,” I exclaimed.
Hothar stiffened in outrage. “I am a fully trained warrior with battle experience.”
“I know. I know. You have all of Zarek’s incredible knowledge of warfare.”
The young male with raging hormones was suddenly replaced by a dangerous predator who declared, “My combat skills are the same as the Overlord’s. I can and will protect you, my lady.”
“I can protect myself and I’m not your lady,” I shot back.
“You will be.”
Arrrgh. It was like talking to a rock. “You remind me a lot of Voss, the Battle Commander.”
“He is my uncle.”
Figured. “I met his mate Zoey about six months ago and she gave me some skunk perfume. She said it was it was warlord repellant.”
“It did not work on my uncle and it will not work on me.”
Uh huh. I was going to douse Godzilla with it the first chance I got.
“Do not use it on me or you will not like the consequences.” Hothar’s menacing expression rivaled Zarek’s.
I clapped my hands. “Damn, you’ve got scary down pat. How long did you have to practice that look in the mirror?”
“You are not amusing. Can we concentrate on staying alive?”
I gave myself a mental head smack. “You’re right. I apologize. When I’m nervous or scared I tend to have a bad case of motor mouth.”
“I noticed.” Hothar pointed the dinosaur’s device at some obviously fake shrubbery and tapped an icon. The bushes slid to one side revealing a metal hatch.
I looked around uneasily. “You think they have surveillance cameras on this entrance?”
“They do, but I disabled them.” Hothar opened the hatch.
I peered down. A ladder led to a dimly lit tunnel.
“Wait here.” Hothar vanished.
The first thing Hothar needed to learn was that I had a mind of my own and could take care of myself. Momma, Quinn and Uncle Saul had made sure of that. If I wanted to follow him I would and there wasn’t a darn thing he could do to stop me. Prickles scampered up my spine. Hmmm. Stay and play or follow Hothar? I peeked around a tree.