Chapter Two

I winced when we appeared in my very messy room. "I haven't had time to clean this week."

"It didn't get this bad in a week, Casey," Uncle Saul countered.

Ugh. I hated it when he took that sanctimonious tone. "I'll put it on my to-do list."

"See that you do. Give me a holler when you're ready."

"It won't take me long to change."

Uncle Saul snorted.

"Ten minutes max."

"We'll see." He teleported away.

I retracted my armor and once again caught that flash of white. Had I picked up a critter from the ship? I cautiously scanned my room. Zip. Nada. Nothing out of the ordinary. Weird. Unbraiding my hair, I took a quick shower and rummaged through my tiny closet. Hmmm. The green sundress or the sexy, black mini dress? Crap, what was I thinking? Uncle Saul would have a cow. I changed into a sundress and strappy sandals.

One look at the dark circles under my eyes, and I groaned. I looked like shit. I brushed my hair and hurriedly added some makeup. I studied my image in the mirror. Better. The pink lipstick brightened up my pale face. "I'm ready Uncle Saul."

Poof. Uncle Saul teleported into my room and smiled. "You're a beautiful young woman."

"Thanks. Do you think Hothar will like my dress?"

He held out his hand. "Without a doubt."

A loud hiss sounded in my ear. What the hell? "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" My uncle asked with a frown.

A nervous laugh broke from me. "It's probably nothing. Aphrodite has me a bit stressed out. Plus, it has been a long time since I've seen Hothar." I took Uncle Saul's hand and an instant later we were at the spaceport's landing pads.

"Relax. The bond between you can never be broken." Uncle Saul pointed to a Talon fighter. "That's Hothar's ship."

"Okay." I looked around anxiously, but I didn't see him. My uncle tightened his grip on my hand. I stared up at him. "What's wrong?"

"Hothar is now a war commander. Combat changes people. He's not the same man you remember."

"I made my first kill at the age of eleven and I'm still the same."

"That's because you are one of a kind, sweetheart," Uncle Saul replied, releasing my hand.

"So is Hothar."

Uncle Saul smiled and kissed my forehead. "Remember. No shenanigans."

"Yes, sir." I was a little surprised Uncle Saul teleported back to his office. I thought he'd hang around and make sure we didn't do any touchy-feely stuff.

Purring sounded in my head.

What the hell?

The purring stopped abruptly.

Drawing on my psychic powers, I scanned the area. Holy hell! Something was huddled on my shoulder. My invisible hitchhiker wasn't giving off hostile vibes. It was young and scared. I'd always wanted a pet. I would give the little guy some time to get used to me and see what happened.

My gaze fixed on a tall, brawny warrior dressed in a spiffy black uniform striding across the landing pad. God, why did he seem so familiar? I eyed his short hair and beard. He didn't look Coletti. Maybe he was one of Zarek's mercenaries. I mentally scanned him, and my jaw dropped. "Oh, my God. Hothar?"

The warrior stopped and turned to face me.

My affectionate companion had turned into a cold-eyed stranger. My stomach tied in knots; I walked over to him. "What happened to your warrior's braids?

"I cut them off."

Color me confused. Braids were an important part of a Coletti warrior's identity. "Why?"

"I went undercover as an Avicii mercenary."

Which explained his brown eyes. "And the beard?"

"It hides my Coletti features." Hothar's gaze roamed over me. "You have not been eating properly."

"Gee, I wonder why?"

"I must go. Zarek awaits me."

Talk about a slap in the face. Was he that eager to get away from me? "Who do you think told me where you were? Should I call you War Commander now or will Hot Lips still do?"

The muscles in Hothar's jaw bunched. "I do not answer to Hot Lips."

"Don't I get a hug, Hot Lips?"

Hothar's hands fisted. "I gave my word to Zarek that I would not touch you."

"Well, I didn't." I wrapped my arms around him. "I've missed you so much."

"And I you."

Pain squeezed my heart at his cool, impersonal tone. He didn't sound like he had missed me at all. His body remained stiff and unyielding. My God, he hadn't even smiled at me. I took a step back and smacked his chest. "You've changed your mind about us. That's why you never wrote or called or linked with me."

"I could not contact you. I was on an undercover assignment for the Overlord."

The image of a nude female draped over Hothar's lap flashed across my mind. Oh, hell no. The bastard was fondling her breasts. A murderous fury swept over me. "And how many pleasure houses did that undercover assignment include?"

Hothar's eyes narrowed. "I did what was necessary to maintain my cover."

"And you enjoyed every minute of it too, didn't you?" I shoved the memory of the nude female into his head. "Why don't you just admit, you forgot all about me. But that's okay, you'll never have to see me again. It's a win-win situation for both of us." I stomped off.

The war commander teleported in front of me. "Stop!"

"Why? You made your choice and it's obvious you don't want me."

Hothar's hands closed around my arms and up I went. He held me at eye level. "How could you even think I would have sex with another female?"

"What am I supposed to believe? You were touching her." I studied his stern face, hoping to find some sign of affection or love. "I thought you were the other half of my soul. Guess I was wrong."

A burning hunger exploded in Hothar's eyes. "Every hour of every day without you was pure agony." He gently shook me. "You are mine and I will never let you go."

"Why should I believe you?"

Hothar's mouth closed over mine. It wasn't a gentle kiss. It was a body-burning, soul-searing lip lock.

I wrapped my legs around him and returned his kiss. I wanted him so badly.

"Enough," Uncle Saul growled in our heads. "You know the rules."

Hothar broke the kiss. "We do."

God, Uncle Saul was such a pain-in-the-ass. I looked Hothar in the eye. "You so much as look at another female and I will geld you."

His white teeth flashed in a grin. "There is my green-eyed vixen."

"That's me. Now tell me about your undercover mission."

"Zarek wanted me to infiltrate a band of rogue Coletti warriors." Hothar lowered me to the ground.

"Let me guess, Badon and his gang of murderous misfits. You also discovered they were in cahoots with the Rodan."

"Surprise filled Hothar's eyes. "Yes, but before I could kill Badon, he vanished."

"That's because Mallox had his eye on Pirate's Keep, an impenetrable fortress, for another one of his labs. He sent Badon in to make it happen, but they hadn't counted on Skye."

"Skye?"

"A powerful witch who blew his plan all to hell. She's mated to Vorian now. Maybe you've met him. He's a war commander too."

"I defeated Vorian in single combat," Hothar said smugly.

"Oh, my God. You challenged him, didn't you?"

"Yes. Vorian said Earth females were inferior."

I patted Hothar's fine ass. "A perfectly good reason to beat him up."

"Casey, Hothar's backside is off limits," Uncle Saul warned.

"Yes, sir." I removed my hand. "How did you get Badon's goons to lead you to the Rodan bases?"

"I read their minds and used the fools' passcodes to bypass the Rodan death satellites."

"They didn't catch on when you started blowing up the bases?"

A predatory smile curved Hothar's mouth. "They were weak-willed and easily manipulated. I took control of their minds, and they did what they were told."

"And that's how you made war commander at the ripe old age of twenty-one."

"I did not expect the promotion."

"It's well deserved." I peered up at him. "I think you shot up another five inches." I stroked his bulging bicep. "And bulked up too."

Hothar shrugged. "All Coletti warriors have a final growth spurt at twenty-one."

"Too bad humans don't do the same. I could use another five inches."

"You are perfect the way you are." Hothar frowned. "But you have lost weight."

"What can I say? It's difficult to eat when the other half of your soul has cut off all contact."

Hothar pulled a chocolate bar out of his pocket, unwrapped it and held it out to me. "It will not happen again."

"You bet your sweet ass it won't." I took a bite of the chocolate and moaned. He had gotten it from Cerreta, the best candy maker in Arizona.

Hothar touched the amulet around my neck. "What is this?"

"It protects me from magical attacks and boy does it work."

"That witch attacked you?" Fury flashed in Hothar's eyes.

"Aphrodite tried, but the spell boomeranged on her." I grinned. "You should have seen the look on her face."

"Zarek promised me they would keep you safe, but you almost died today," Hothar rumbled.

"I'll admit things got a little out of hand."

"A little? I do not want you anywhere near that witch."

"That's gonna be a problem, Hot Lips. Aphrodite has been assigned to our team."

Hothar bared his fangs in a snarl. "I will not allow it. She is a menace."

"Zarek also wants me to train her to fight," I added.

"All that fool will do is jeopardize our mission. We have no need for a witch."

"Yeah, we sort of do." I took another bit of chocolate.

Hothar scowled. "Why?"

"To disarm Marion's magical booby traps, hexes and death curses," I mumbled around the chocolate.

"I will kill this, Marion."

"You're too late. Vorian and Skye already took care of Badon and the evil witch. We get to deal with all the crap Marion left behind. Like the horde of Kotsor hatchlings, the other monstrosities she created, and her magical traps."

Hother rubbed a hand over his beard. "I have not been gone that long. How did all this magic come to be?"

"Earth witches have been around for hundreds of years. They're just good at hiding in plain sight. Unfortunately, Mallox found himself a traitorous witch who wanted to live forever. He promised Marion immortality if she helped him build an army of mutant soldiers. The idiot believed him and magically created the Kotsor/human hybrids, along with some other nasty critters."

"I will ask Zarek to assign us another witch."

Leaning against Hothar, I reveled in the warmth of his body and the utter sense of belonging. He felt like home. "We aren't sure how many witches are left."

"What happened to them?"

"The Tai-Kok and Rodan killed a lot of them. The survivors went into hiding when Zarek took control of Earth."

Hothar's large hand stroked my back. "Zarek's hunters cannot find them?"

"Nope, and we're out of time. We managed to destroy all the Kotsors on Earth, which really pissed off Mallox and he has started sending more of his mutant spiders in the cargo holds of merchant ships."

"Do the captains of these ships know what they are transporting?"

"Mallox hides the Kotsor's egg sacs in boxes of rambutans. You know, the hairy fruit everyone loves so much, and by the time they arrive at Earth, the spiders have hatched. The only problem with Mallox's plan is the minute the crews open the cargo holds, the baby Kotsors swarm out and eat them. It's sorta bad news, worse news kinda thing. The Kotsors don't make it to the surface, but it forces Central Command to destroy the contaminated ships."

"How many ships have been lost?"

"Six."

"I want to meet this witch," Hothar growled.

I snorted. "Not when you're wearing your scary face. Aphrodite's a fainter."

"The sight of my face will cause her to lose consciousness?"

"Yep. Along with Chihuahuas, cucumbers, and multi-legged aliens."

"I will use mind control on her," Hothar stated.

"Her mental shields are unbreachable."

"Wazzock's piss."

"Exactly."

"Come to General Jones's office immediately," Zarek snapped.

"At once, my lord."

"That note of aggravation in Zarek's voice means Aphrodite has done something stupid."

"I would not be surprised." Hothar's arms closed around me, and he teleported.