Then she went flying over the edge of the stairs and I heard her tumbling all the way down—thump, thump, thump, thump, thump…
Oh my God, did I kill her? I think I killed her!were the thoughts that flew through my head. But then I remembered the reason I’d been fighting the other human pet in the first place. Sir! Was he dead?
Feeling shaky, I got to my hands and knees and crawled over to him. He was still lying there on the golden floor, his eyes closed and the jeweled hilt of the dagger sticking out of the left side of his chest. And nobody was lifting a finger to help him!
“Oh, no! No, no, no, no!” I heard myself gasping as I gathered his head into my lap. He didn’t move or respond to my touch and I felt my heart clench in my chest. I looked around and saw that a bunch of the guards were just standing there like they didn’t know what to do.
“What the hell iswrongwith you people?” I shouted at them. “Call 911 or whatever kind of emergency services you have here! Get someone over here to help my Master—to help Sir! Come on—move it!”
One of the guards acted like he might go do as I said, but just then Gra’multh came strolling over, a nasty smirk on his ugly face.
“I don’t think there’s any helping your Master now, little pet,” he drawled, looking down at me. “He’s been beaten and so have you—your little galaxy is about to be overrun and I shall take great pleasure in leading the charge myself. Every mind on your planet will be under my control before the solar year is out.”
A red curtain of fury seemed to drop over my vision as I stared up at him.
“You asshole,” I said thickly. “You killed him! Or you had your pet kill him! I saw you sending her thought messages—did she have a Mind Control chip? Of course she did,” I answered my own question. “You cheated and you killed Sir!”
Gra’multh gave me a disgusted look.
“How dare you speak to me that way, you ignorant little slut? I won’t hear such insulting language from you. Guards, take her away!” He motioned at me. “Put her in my quarters and I’ll deal with her later. I dare say you’ve been trained as a Sex Pet, have you not, my dear?” he added, leering at me. “I’m sure I can find someusefor you.”
I could feel my hands curling into fists again. Oh hell no, he wasn’t getting away with this! But how could I stop him? The guards were already moving towards me, long arms outstretched to drag me away from Sir’s body.
Suddenly, my eyes fell on the black wire around my Master’s temples—the Dueling Band he had told me would focus and amplify his power.
Well, why not?I thought.If I can use the controller to make the Matter Synthesizer work and I can get his ship to work for me, why shouldn’t I be able to use this band too?
It was a crazy thought, but I seemed to hear a voice inside me, urging me on, telling me I could do it. It whispered that I was stronger than I thought, that I could do anything I put my mind to.
I decided to listen to it.
Gritting my teeth, I slipped the black metal band off Sir’s forehead and settled it around my own, where it promptly shrank to fit against my temples.
The effect on the assembled Korrigons wasn’t exactly what I had expected. The Sovereign looked concerned.
“Stop her—she’ll hurt herself!” she said to one of the guards.
“That she will, Your Majesty—that Dueling Band will turn her primitive little pet brain to mush,” the guard she’d been speaking to answered her. And some of the others murmured agreement.
However, I wasn’t interested in them—I was focused on Gra’multh.
The older Korrigon was standing there, staring down at me andlaughing!That’s right, the bastard was laughing and not eventryingto shield himself.
Taking a deep breath, I gathered all the rage I was feeling and flung it out at him. I felt it leaving me—as it went, I pictured it as a big orange fist aiming right for his face.
And then, to my utter surprise, Isawit in the air in front of me! It looked just like I had imagined it—a big orange fist, glowing and flaming like it was made of fire, and bigger than my head. And it was headed straight for Gra’multh.
The Korrigon Overlord was so surprised he didn’t even try to shield himself. I saw the look of shock on his face as the fiery orange fist punched him right in the nose, just as I had imagined it doing.
There was acrunchingsound and suddenly Gra’multh was howling and holding his nose, which was streaming purple blood.
I didn’t give him any time to recover. I took another breath and sent out another Mental projectile—this time it was a flaming orange rope, like the blue one Sir had used earlier. But I didn’t bother trying to wrap it all around Gra’multh’s whole body—instead I wrapped it around his throat.
He choked and gurgled, his fingers prying at the Mental rope, but I wasn’t letting go. I still held Sir’s head in my lap and I was certain by now he was dead. All my love for my Master had turned to bitter rage and I poured it down the Mental connection I had established using the dueling band, wrapping it tightly around Gra’multh’s neck and squeezing as hard as I could.
“Mer…cy!” the Korrigon Overlord choked, falling to his knees. “The pet…is killing…me!”
“Because you killed my Master—you killed Sir!” I shouted at him. My eyes were blurred with angry tears but I could still take pleasure in hurting the one who had killed the man I loved. “You bastard, I’m going to kill you too!”