“Like ghosts?” Scarlett queries.
“Go-sts?” Dexx asks.
“They’re spirits of those who have died, supposedly,” Scarlett says.
“Those who die go to be with our ancestors,” Dexx responds. “The Gonoz are not dead.”
“But they’re a myth?”
“No one has ever seen a Gonoz,” Dexx huffs. “Have they?” He addresses the question to Dart.
“I have seen many things,” Dart says, earning him a puff of smoke from Dexx.
“I bet you have, given the amount of paraxio you consume.”
Scarlett slaps Dexx on his chest and glares at him. Dart doesn’t seem bothered in the least.
“I believe there are Gonoz,” Dart says. “If the boss says there are Gonoz.”
“But whatareGonoz? And why would they want Dante’s crew?”
Scarlett puts her index finger to her lips. “Kerra said the professor was interested in the fact we’d mated with the Sarkarnii.”
Dexx releases a bloodcurdling growl. “The clones.”
I feel like I’m frozen in place. Dexx and Scarlett battled clones of Sarkarnii warriors not so long ago, ones which had ill intent towards the Sarkanii.
“Could this all be linked?”
Dexx and Dart glare at each other.
“Probably,” Dexx says. “As far as I was concerned, it was the end of the matter.”
“Hardly,” Dart growls. “Why would you think your clan would scare them off?” He bares his teeth in a flash of dangerousbehavior I suspect is unwise to the warlord who prides himself in beating all comers.
If Dexx is bothered by Dart, he doesn’t show it, not even moving from his position against the bulkhead.
“If it is the Gonoz, what else do the myths say about them?” I ask, attempting to deflect from any sort of Sarkarnii pissing contest.
“The myths say they are looking for their own form. And when they find it, they will take it,” Dart says.
I look at Scarlett, and she looks back at me. I know we’ve both come to the same conclusion.
“They want Sarkarnii forms for themselves,” I say, my voice a rasping whisper. “And they hope to breed their own, using Dante’s crew and humans.”
“None of us are safe,” Scarlett says.
Lead settles in my gut.
My mate has gone after these creatures.
And it is exactly what they want.
DANTE
This was probably not a great idea.
I pull at the control collar around my neck. It’s partially stopping me from shifting into my Sarkarnii form, although it would seem my tail is still unaffected.
