“We were just discussing that.” Xavier appears next to me and helps Saxon to his feet. He’s slightly blood drunk and is going to take a moment to get his bearings. He forgot to seal the wound on the dragon, so I lean in and swipe my own tongue over it, using the healing enzymes in my saliva before placing a kiss on the spot. Sure, I could have used my Celestian powers, but where’s the fun in that?
“It seems like this projectile can also penetrate previously impenetrable protection. As I said, this formulation is slightly different from the one my brothers and sisters created as a fail-safe. I wonder if it was deliberately changed so it would penetrate weapon-proofed armor.” Zeydan sounds perplexed.
“That would take someone who has a good knowledge in chemical compounds and experimentation, wouldn’t it?” Ghosie points out.
“Yes, or someone who is really smart and has a whole lab of scientists and programmers at their fingertips,” Xavier says, frowning, but it sounds like he has suspicions.
“What are you thinking?” Saxon slurs, struggling to stand upright as he comes out of his blood stupor.
“I think I know where you’re going with this,” Tirrian says as he wraps an arm around my body and pulls me against him. “You’re a tease,” he whispers in my ear and rubs his dick against my backside. I snicker quietly.
“What are you thinking?” Zeydan asks, and Xavier sighs.
“Link’s mother has all of those things we just talked about and is very capable of reformulating something to fit another purpose.”
“And what purpose is that though? It didn’t kill him,” Brannock says as the smell of ash reaches my nose. Tirrian’s dragon torched the rest of the bodies before he changed back.
“No, it didn’t, but it cut through his armor like butter. Maybe that is the purpose. If you can badly wound most of the forces you are fighting against, then it doesn’t matter if they die or not if you can go around and finish them while they are writhing around on the ground in pain.”
We all fall silent at Xavier’s words.
“Shit, now it’s even more important that we shut down the Syndicate, especially if Deinara Digicon has been recruited to their ranks,” Tirrian mutters. “We need to warn our families. If she is providing the Syndicate with unlimited warrior sex robots, as Lila calls them, who don’t bleed or cause pain and have armor piercing rounds, then anyone who goes up against them is going to suffer major casualties.”
“Pfft, even with their technological capabilities, they are no match for warlock magic,” Xavier scoffs, and Zeydan frowns.
“I wouldn’t be too sure. I have a feeling that round contained a compound that would nullify your magic. That’s why Saxon wasn’t healing. His Vilaxian magic, so to speak, wasn’t working. It basically rendered him benign.”
“Human,” I murmur. “No one would be spared.”
“Fuck, come on then, let’s get this raid over with, rescue the damsel in distress, and go take care of the big bosses,” Ghosie says, jolting everyone out of their panicked musings.
“Sounds like a video game to me,” I tease as we head in the direction Brannock came from with his two donors.
“I grabbed a swipe card so we can get into the facility, but I should probably go first to see if there is another team of guards waiting for us,” Xavier suggests, and the rest of us agree. He can do his floaty misty thing and give us exact numbers.
When we get to the door, it doesn’t take him long, and when he returns, he’s smiling. “It looks like there is only a small crew left inside, and they are all mostly panicked about the lack of power. It was guard changeover, and most of their forces were on this side of that door when the power was cut. That’s why there were so many for us to battle. There are maybe twenty remaining inside the facility, including a few admin staff as well.”
I wonder if that bitchy assistant to Smith is in there. I wouldn’t mind showing her the pointy end of my fangs.
“Excellent.” Zeydan grins foxily, his tails flowing back into his body to go through the door. He probably figures we won’t need the backup.
“Yeah, but the bad news is with the power out, that door is locked down tight. No one goes in or out,” Xavier continues, ignoring the god.
“Well, that sucks, but it’s hardly a problem since we have our trusty bear here to get us through.” Tirrian slaps Ghosie on the shoulder, touching him without having to worry about the properties of his fur. Maybe we need him to wear clothes more often so we can all give him some affection. I’d never even thought to suggest it because he doesn’t usually wear any. Unlike my cats, he isn’t flashing his goods around willy-nilly, literally in their case.
“Yeah, but I can only take one person at a time, and we will be vulnerable as we step through the door. You won’t be able to use your weapons or powers” —he looks at Zeydan— “while we are phasing.”
“That’s not a problem. I can mist like Xavier,” Zeydan announces casually, crouching down and putting his hands on the ground, absorbing more energy from the dirt. “So that leaves only three people who need to be phased.”
Xavier nods thoughtfully. “The three of us can mist through the cracks and reform on the other side and cover you while Ghosie goes back and forth. What do you think?”
We agree to the plan, and the three of us that can mist go through. We rematerialize in a dark room that looks like it might be a staff room. There are lockers, a kitchen area, some couches, and a bookcase.
“Cozy,” I mutter, pulling my weapon and looking around.
“This area is clear,” Xavier whispers. “Most of them are standing around with their weapons aimed at the sealed door that leads to the area that needs special clearance. I heard them muttering about not letting the animals escape. That’s their focus for now, but some of the admin are spooked and were talking about trying to get this door open so they could get out.”
There’s a sound behind us, and it’s the same kind of electric buzzing sound that I heard when Ghosie phased with me from the space station onto the carevasta ship. I don’t turn around, but eventually I hear Tirrian groan, and when I look, he’s bent over with his hands on his knees and his eyes closed.
