“But she hasn’t chosen us,” Gaze said gently. “She hasn’t—”
Suddenly, the cabin of their ship filled with a presence that was both undeniably female and completely overwhelming.
“Warriors!” The strong, feminine voice reverberated through the air, making them both jump.
“Goddess? Gaze gasped at the same time Bound said,
“Mother of All Life?” in a low, hoarse voice.
“The female I sent to save the two of you on Yonnie Six is in peril,” the Goddess—for who else could it be?—told them. “It is your turn now to save her—you must go at once to Zetta Prime.”
“She’s in peril right now? But Goddess, Zetta Prime is in a whole other part of the galaxy and we don’t have space folding capabilities in our ship!” Gaze exclaimed.
“I will make a way for you. Look.”
Outside the viewscreen, a swirling blue vortex suddenly appeared in the blackness of space. It started out small but it grew and grew until it was quite big enough to encompass their ship.
“Take this wormhole which will lead you straight to Zetta Prime,” the Goddess told them. “You remember the name of the township she lives in?”
“Joannesville,” Gaze said at once.
“Good. Once you find it, look for a small pink cottage on the outskirts of town. There you will find her. Now hurry—there is not a moment to lose!”
And then, just as suddenly as it had come, the overwhelming feminine presence was gone.
Gaze and Bound looked at each other and then Bound grabbed the controls.
“Come on, Brother,” he said hoarsely. “Our Lady needs us.”
THIRTY-FIVE
At first, Lexi thought the scratching behind her closed closet door was just a yibbetz. The small rodents, which could fit into the palm of one’s hand, were a pesky nuisance, especially when the weather got cold. They crept into homes through crannies and cracks and gnawed anything they could get their teeth into.
“I really must get a felicus to deal with these damn things,” Lexi muttered to herself, as she marched over to the closet door, which was at the far end of her bedroom.
Felicus were small, domesticated pets with furry blue pelts and glowing green eyes. They were ferocious hunters, with long, stalk-like antennae growing out from the tips of their pointed ears which helped them locate pests like the yibbetz.
Plus, a felicus might offer some companionship—a little company for when it gets lonely around here, she thought.
She’d never felt the need for a pet before—or had time for one, spending her whole day, morning ‘til night at the bakery. But now her shifts were much shorter, since Grettah and Clemmie were both working full time as well. Lexi found herself at home earlier and earlier with nothing to do and no one to see…
Face it, Lexi—you’re lonely, she told herself, as she reached for the closet door. Not just lonely—you’re sad. Sad because you miss them. It might be time to admit that you made a big mistake when you let Gaze and Bound go. You should never have—
But her thoughts stuttered to a stop when she opened the closet door and saw the thing that was waiting for her inside.
THIRTY-SIX
The thing in the closet had the same blank stare as Mistress Crueltongue’s bodyslave, Karnivore. But this time the weird, empty expression was multiplied because there were three blank faces looking out at Lexi when she opened the door—a trio of heads upon an enormous, heavily muscled body that must be three meters tall at least.
It had arms that were too long, even for its enormous height. The hands ended in long, black claws that dragged the wooden floor of the closet—that was the scratching she’d heard, Lexi thought numbly. Between its heavy thighs was a shaft so large it put even Kindred equipment to shame. It was bigger than Lexi’s entire arm and it was perilously close to dragging the ground as well. Three, heavy, pendulous balls swung in a sac behind it, as big as a normal male’s entire head.
In short, it was a hideous monster and how the hell it had crammed itself into her closet, Lexi didn’t know.
“Oh my Goddess,” she gasped, skipping back from the closet so fast she lost her balance and fell flat on her ass. “Holy mother of Mercy, what is that thing?”
“Do you like it?”
The voice behind her was terribly familiar. When Lexi turned her head she saw Mistress Crueltongue standing there. The Yonnite Mistress—or was she an ex-Mistress now, Lexi’s brain wondered frantically—was wearing her signature crimson color and a cruel, amused smile on her freshly painted lips.
“What the hell did you do?” Lexi gasped, looking back up at the enormous creature that had somehow been jammed into her closet.
“You mean in the time since you ruined me financially and had me stripped of my title and mines?” Crueltongue asked? “Well, funny you should ask, because I have been a bit busy. You see, my dear Mistress Alexa, I wasn’t completely without resources, even after you ruined me. I did still have friends. Friends who owned a genetics lab and owed me quite a substantial debt.”