Chapter Ten

The lights faded and we were standing on an icy cold transporter platform. Dread knotted my stomach. None other than Mallox himself was standing at the control console.

The dude next to him resembled an evil scientist straight out of a horror vid with his wild, white hair and thick bushy eyebrows. The bloodred rose on the lapel of his white lab coat gave me the willies. That and the blood splatters. Ick! I tried to mentally link with Hothar to give him the wonderful news, but something was blocking my psychic abilities.

"That's not Bodhi," Aphrodite squeaked.

"Let me introduce you to Mallox and his henchman Giovanni Dragos."

"He's not a clone, is he?"

A shudder shook me. "Nope. This Mallox is the real deal."

"Fuck and the other one?"

To my surprise, Aphrodite hadn't fainted yet. "Giovanni is a clone."

"What do you want?" Aphrodite demanded.

I shot her a disbelieving look. When had she grown a pair?

Mallox bared his sharp teeth in a scary smile. "To rule the galaxy and your magic will enable me to do that."

I snickered.

Hitch's meow was almost gleeful.

The most hated male in the universe turned his cold gaze on me. "You find this amusing?"

"Yeah, I kinda do. Aphrodite here is nothing like Marion."

Aphrodite nodded. "I'm a dancer." She did a little tap dance. "See?"

"It matters not!" Mallox spat. "The DNA I extract from your fetus and the Jones female will be used to create unbeatable fighters."

"I'm going to have so much fun with you." Giovanni giggled madly.

I just had to ask. "Fun?"

"I do so enjoy dissecting my subjects alive." An expression of ecstasy crossed his face. "Their screams are utterly divine."

Oh swell. I eyed the heavily armed soldiers behind them. Taking them out shouldn't be a problem.

"Is he for real?" Aphrodite wanted to know.

"Unfortunately."

To my stunned amazement, Aphrodite broke into the Texas two-step, with a bit of hip-hop thrown in. "What are you doing?"

"I'm showing him my dance routines."

"Seriously? That's not gonna help."

"Can't hurt." Aphrodite boogied toward the control console, singing, "Earth girls' rule. Yes, we do. Oh, yes, we do. You are messin' with the best. We're smarter than you, you dumb fuck."

I shrugged. What the hell. I needed a distraction, and this worked perfectly. I joined her in the Texas two-step and sang, "We are women. We are strong. We are invincible. No nasty ass alien is gonna keep us down."

Hitch yowled loudly.

Yikes! Poor thing couldn't carry a tune.

Mallox, Giovanni and the soldiers stared at us in utter disbelief.

"Hear us roar!" I yelled and whacked the two Rodan soldiers with my telekinesis. They crumpled to the floor.

"Earth girls rule and today you die. Sufflamine yankata," Aphrodite shouted and gestured with her right hand. Amber colored flames engulfed Mallox and Giovanni.

I backed away as the weird inferno crackled over their bodies like St. Elmo's fire.

Their mouths opened in silent screams as their skin began to bubble and melt. Within a minute, nothing was left but a gooey bit of whatever and their bones.

I tried to wrap my mind around how easily Aphrodite had killed the deadliest villain in the universe. A slightly hysterical giggle escaped me. No one would believe me. I needed proof. I tapped an icon on my warrior's bracelet and recorded the icky mess on the floor.

Meow?

"I'm documenting the end of Mallox."

Meow?

"How? I'm taking a vid of the remains, scanning the bones, and getting a DNA sample too." Hitting an icon on my warrior's bracelet, I quickly sucked up some of the goop. I couldn't wait to see the expressions on Hothar's, Zarek's and Uncle Saul's faces when they found out. "Gotta say I'm impressed Aphrodite."

Hitch meowed in agreement.

Aphrodite studied the mess with a great deal of satisfaction. "The curse has its limits."

"Curse?"

Aphrodite's laugh reminded me of a mad hyena.

"You, okay?" She was acting weirder than normal.

"When it's that time of the month, I get a bit homicidal, but pregnancy is bringing it to a whole other level."

I sent her soothing vibes. "I hear ya. Sometimes chocolate is the only thing between me and life in prison." Was she cursed? It kinda made sense. I'd have to ask Ella or Skye.

"That ass will never threaten another kid." A demented smile formed on Aphrodite's mouth.

"Nope. Mallox forgot the cardinal rule. Never, ever piss off a momma bear." I mentally scanned the complex. All I could sense were hundreds of mutant fighters, thousands of Kotsors spiders and a shitload of dead things. "We need to blow this place to kingdom come. There is an armory down this corridor. Let me see what kind of goodies they have."

Aphrodite's eyes suddenly began to glow. "Do you know how to work the transporter?"

"I do."

"I'll take care of blowing up the complex. You get us out of here."

The note of command in Aphrodite's voice was a bit unsettling. "Okey-dokey."

Meow.

"Yeah, she's kinda freaking me out too. I walked over to the control console and studied the scanners. "All of Tihar's ships have their shields up, but I can beam us to a spot about a mile away."

"Make it ten miles from here." Aphrodite stepped up on the platform.

I typed the coordinates. "Done." I added a thirty-second delay and hurried over to the transporter platform. "Send them to hell."

"Aga Markoo thone wasr giet," Aphrodite chanted.

A glittering blue light engulfed us, our molecules whizzed about and seconds later we appeared on top of a small reddish-orange hill. The salt flat stretched out before us in a shimmering haze of heat. Nothing moved. No birds. No insects. No animals. The only sound was the moan of the wind.

I glanced down at my warrior's bracelet. We had been standing here for a good two minutes, and Mallox's base still hadn't blown up. Had I made a mistake letting Aphrodite handle it?

"Ticktock. Ticktock. Ticktock. Here comes vengeance with a big kaboom!" Aphrodite cried.

All hell broke loose as the mountain to the north of us blew with a thunderous cracking boom. The ground shuddered and shook as blazing debris flew in every direction. Thick black smoke blotted out the sun.

"You did it! You did it!" I hooted.

Aphrodite shouted, "Earth girls' rule!"

Another titanic explosion erupted, sending pieces of metal whooshing high into the sky.

"Whoa! How many photon torpedoes did they have?"

"A shitload!" Laughing like a crazy woman Aphrodite boogied to the left. "Ding-dong the wicked Rodan is dead." She boogied to the right. "He's gone, gone, gone. Ding-dong the wicked Rodan is dead."

I joined her dance and added a bit of an Irish jig. "Ding-dong the wicked Rodan is dead. Ding-dong may he roast in hell. We are women. We are strong. We are invincible. No nasty ass alien is gonna keep us down."

Yowling at the top of his lungs, Hitch danced alongside me.

Hothar, Uncle Saul, Zarek, Tihar and Bodhi teleported in and watched us boogie for a long moment.

"Have you lost your minds?" Uncle Saul demanded.

Zarek cocked his head. "Did Mallox gas you?"

"No. Ding-dong the wicked scientist is dead, dead, dead." I danced over to them. "You'll never guess what happened. Just call Aphrodite the Exterminator."

Hothar growled, "Did Mallox inject you with something?"

"No. What part of Mallox is dead don't you get?"

"Dead? Are you sure?" Hothar's tone was one of disbelief.

"Very. Mallox's dead, and he wasn't a clone. He was the real deal." I climbed Hothar like he was Mount Everest and wrapped my arms around his neck. "I knew you would find me."

Hothar hugged me tightly. "I will always come for you."

"Can't breathe," I squeaked.

He loosened his grip and gave me a long, voracious mental kiss.

Hitch started hacking up a hairball.

Uncle Saul sighed loudly. "Do I have to remind you this is a battle zone."

"There aren't any bad guys left," I pointed out as Hot Lips gently set me on the ground.

Bodhi glanced up at the black smoke darkening the sky. "Aphrodite killed Mallox and blew up his complex?"

"With her awesome magic and I've got proof."

"What kind of proof?" Tihar asked.

I tapped my warrior's bracelet and projected a hologram of Mallox's icky remains. "That's what's left of Mallox, and I took a DNA sample."

"Send it to all of us," Zarek instructed.

"Okey-dokey." Watching Aphrodite dancing her little heart out, I quickly sent the sample analysis to all of them. "Y'all need to thank her."

Another explosion shook the ground. The blast belched blazing shrapnel, bodies, and pieces of machinery.

"Whoa! Mallox's stockpile of thermite grenades is going, going, gone."

"Along with our chance to search his computers and lab," Zarek growled.

I glared at him. "Our options were limited, and I wasn't about to get dissected."

"The DNA is Mallox's," Uncle Saul inserted.

Violent tremors continued to shake the area.

Zarek commanded, "Share your memories of the incident with Hothar."

"You think I'm lying?"

"No, but we are skeptical of Aphrodite's abilities," Hothar said.

I snapped, "She acts like a loon because she's cursed."

"Cursed?" Uncle Saul repeated.

"That's right. Cursed. She managed to break free of it and saved our butts."

Hothar slid into my mind and reviewed my memories. I could feel his surprise. "Casey is correct. Aphrodite killed Mallox and destroyed the base."

"Told ya. So, unless Mallox has a twin brother, the biggest threat to the galaxy has been eliminated, and you owe Aphrodite big time."

"We do," Uncle Saul agreed. "And Mallox does have a twin brother."

"Well, hell."

"Spiders!" Aphrodite shrieked and started running.

Hothar raised an eyebrow. "She is cured?"

"Sorta. Maybe." I watched Aphrodite zigzag across the sand. "I wonder if throwing holy water on her would help."

Uncle Saul snorted. "Doubtful."

The Kotsors swarmed up the hill.

As one, we all pulled our weapons and opened fire.

Fireflies filled the air as we vaporized the kissing cousins of the black widow.

"I will retrieve my mate," Bodhi said and zoomed after Aphrodite.

I smacked Hothar's chest. "Where's my chocolate?"

"You can't eat it until we are back on the ship." He motioned to the sand hoppers popping out of the sand.

With a hiss, Hitch scurried up my body.

"Too many for you to eat?"

Meow.

"Okay, we'll go back to the ship and party like it's spring break."

"You still have six weeks left before you can party or drink," Uncle Saul growled.

"Fine, then I want the biggest piece of German chocolate cake the replicator can make."

Hothar scooped me up. "As you wish, my love." He teleported us to the mess hall on Zarek's ship.

Meow? Meow?

"Can the replicator make cat chow with mealybugs?"

"It can," Hothar replied.

"Good." I retracted my armor and gave Hot Lips a come-hither look. One kiss wouldn't hurt.

"Your uncle is coming," Hot Lips advised and walked over to the replicator.

"Rats." I mentally stroked his fine ass. "Soon."

A shudder shook Hothar.

Hitch rubbed against Hothar's legs as he typed instructions into the replicator. Meow?

"Yes, the biggest mealybugs we have," Hothar answered.

Huh? Hot Lips could understand Hitch.

Uncle Saul teleported in and snapped, "Stop acting like a hormonal teenager."

"Hormonal teenager?" My frayed temper broke. "I'm a grown-ass woman, and it's time you started treating me like one."

"You're not too big for me to put over my knee."

I gave Uncle Saul my best challenging stare. "Try."

"You think you can stop me?" He retracted his helmet.

"Damn right I do."

Hitch ran over to me. Meow! Meow! Meow!

"Listen to Hitch." Hothar quickly placed a huge piece of German chocolate cake on the table in front of me. "Eat your cake before you do something foolish."

I took one look at the predatory glint in my uncle's eyes and sat down. "Fine." I took a big bite of cake. God, that hit the spot. "What are we going to do about Aphrodite's curse?"

"It's not our problem," Uncle Saul responded.

Grrr. My uncle could be such an ass. "The hell it isn't. Aphrodite took out Mallox. She deserves our help."

Hothar interjected, "Since we have no magical abilities, Ella and Skye will have to help her." He placed a bowl of mealybugs and cat food on the floor for Hitch.

Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow.

I sighed and put Hitch's bowl on the table. "Fine. You can eat with us."

"He has some Tabor in him," Uncle Saul commented.

I nodded. "I wouldn't be surprised."

Hitch hugged the bowl and chowed down.

"Easy boy. No one is going to take it away from you."

Meow?

"Yes, you can eat as much as you want."

Hitch purred loudly.

Hothar positioned a platter filled with hamburgers and French fries on the table and sat next to me.

I snagged a fry. "Betcha Marion is responsible for Aphrodite's curse."

"She would be the logical culprit," Hothar agreed.

"Skye has Marion's journals. I'll ask her to check if the evil witch mentioned any curses she placed on people."

"An excellent idea." Hothar took a bite of my cake.

If I didn't love him so much, he would be missing some fingers. I typed a message to Skye.

Hothar read it. "Ask how difficult it will be to remove the curse."

I added his question to the message and hit send. "Where do you want to honeymoon at? The resort in Mexico or Zarek's hideaway in Fiji?"

Hot Lips smiled. "Both have scuba diving and snorkeling."

"Plus, horseback riding and sailing."

"Check with Detja before you make any plans," Uncle Saul interjected. "She's in charge of all the bonding ceremonies."

"I already did, and she's even agreed to babysit Hitch."

Meow?

"We'll be doing a lot of kissing and stuff on our honeymoon."

Hitch hissed in disgust.

My warrior's bracelet beeped. "It's Skye."

"Put her up on the vid screen," Uncle Saul ordered.

I tapped an icon and Skye appeared on the wall screen. "Let me tell ya. Marion was one sick bitch. She cursed over a hundred people and Aphrodite is the only one still breathing."

"What did Aphrodite do to make Marion so angry?" Call me curious.

"According to her journals Aphrodite took Marion's soul mate away from her."

"Soul mate? Marion? Seriously? She was like a hundred years old."

Uncle Saul interrupted me, "Who did she consider her soul mate?"

Skye sighed. "An Antonio Banderas look-alike named Juan Martinez. He was a professor in the Music, Dance and Theatre department at ASU. According to Marion, they were going to get married before Aphrodite showed up and spoiled everything."

"I hear a but in there," I said.

"She never dated him."

My jaw dropped. "Never?"

"Never and Marion was about thirty years older than Juan."

"And Marion was not a pretty woman," I added.

"No, she wasn't."

Hothar asked, "Where did they meet?"

"At a student musical production of Hansel and Gretel , and according to her, it was love at first sight. She signed up for all of Juan's classes and followed him everywhere."

"The background check we ran on Aphrodite, showed she took dance and drama classes at ASU," Uncle Saul advised.

I smacked Hothar's hand as he stuck his fork in my cake again. "I'm surprised Aphrodite didn't flunk out."

"She was quite talented. That ended when Marion discovered Aphrodite had slept with Martinez," Skye said.

"So, the curse took away her ability to dance and turned her into a narcissistic loon."

"Exactly, and it also restricted her psychic powers."

"What happened to Martinez?" Uncle Saul wanted to know.

"Marion unmanned and disfigured Juan. He died in a suspicious house fire two weeks later. Then the Tai-Kok attacked Earth, and Marion's revenge took a backseat to the invasion."

Hothar helped himself to more of my cake. "Can you reverse the curse?"

"I'm not sure. I'm hoping Marion wrote it down in one of her journals."

Uncle Saul asked, "How many journals did you find?"

"Forty."

"Yeow! Let Aphrodite know. She can help you go through them."

"Oh, don't worry. She's gonna help."

My fork clashed with Hothar's. "My cake."

"Mates share everything." Our forks dueled for a moment.

With an exasperated sigh, Uncle Saul stalked over to the replicator and ordered more chocolate cake.

Hothar and I exchanged grins when Uncle Saul dumped the cake on the table.

"I expected better of you, War Commander."

"War commanders take what they want," Hothar replied.

Biting my lip to keep from laughing at Uncle Saul's outraged expression, I asked Sky, "Are you and Ella coming to our bonding ceremony? It's being held at Central Command's base in Tucson."

"I'll be there alright," Skye scowled. "Detja decided Vorian, and I would have our bonding ceremony on the same day as yours."

"Good." I rubbed my hands together. "We can have a bachelorette party."

Uncle Saul groaned. "The last bachelorette party you girls had was an unmitigated disaster."

Skye laughed. "Sounds perfect. I'll arrange for the strippers."

"Strippers?" Hothar growled.

I patted his hand. "She's kidding and just how many pleasure house workers did you feel up?"

Hothar narrowed his eyes. "I was maintaining my cover."

"Uh-huh."

Skye winked at me, and the screen went blank.