blood red. But then, to Alli’s surprise, he threw back his head and laughed.
“I should be angry with you for putting your little concubine out of my reach, but why bother?” He sneered at the warrior. “You fool—you bonded with her and sent her back to her own place, leaving yourself with no sustenance. You’ll starve to death—you’ve signed your own death warrant!”
“Not before I sign yours!” The warrior sprang forward and as he did, a glittering silver knife appeared in his hand.
The Overlord saw it and jumped to his feet. Throwing off the fur cloak he wore, he pulled out a knife of his own. He got the blade up just in time to block the warrior’s attack. But the warrior wasn’t done yet.
“I challenge you,” he growled as the two males started circling each other before the golden throne. “To a fight to the death—for your throne and title and for the honor of our people. I challenge you, Overlord!”
“No!” Alli screamed, sinking to her knees. She was clutching her head in both hands, squeezing to try and stop the horrible bolts of pain ripping through her temples like jagged shards of lighting. “No, turn it off. Turn it off!”
“Alli, honey, are you okay?” Sophie knelt beside her, an arm around Alli’s shoulders while Caroline hastened to shut off the PORTAL.
“No,” Alli was moaning, over and over again. “No, no, no, no…”
“What’s the matter, was that him?” Caroline asked, kneeling on her other side. “Was one of those men we saw the one who took you?”
But Alli could only shake her head. Her mind was in turmoil. The little voice kept insisting that she knew those people she’d seen in the other universe—that the warrior with the mirrored eyes was vitally important. But her brain wouldn’t tell her who he was or how he was important.
The dichotomy between the two sides was ripping her apart and the pain in her head was so bad Alli felt like it was going to explode.
“Call Liv!” Sophie ordered Caroline. “Get on the Think-me and get her here now!”
A few eternities later, Sophie’s twin sister, who was also a doctor, was there.
“…having some kind of attack,” Sophie was telling her. “Seems to have something to do with something she saw on the PORTAL.”
They tried to talk to Alli but by that time she was curled into the fetal position, her head clutched in both hands, moaning. The headache was like the worst migraine imaginable and it was made worse by the constant voices in her head.
You know him! No, I don’t! Yes, you do! What’s his name then? You know him…
Over and over, round and round, until Alli thought she was going crazy.
“Some kind of mental break,” Liv was saying. “Need to give her a sedative to help her relax.”
Then something was being injected into Alli’s arm. As the needle bit into her flesh and darkness began to eat her vision, her last thought was,
It only hurt for a moment when he Stung me. After that it was all pleasure…
And then everything went black and she knew no more.
Thirty-Eight
Kane stood over the body of the Overlord, his knife dripping red, still clutched in one hand.
I won, he thought, feeling stunned. How did I do that? How did I best the Overlord?
But he knew the answer—it was the Goddess. The one from the other universe—Allisandra’s universe.
After a long and vicious fight, the Overlord had overpowered him. His blade had been at Kane’s throat and Kane had been thinking,
Dead. I’m dead now and I’ll never see Allisandra again…
And then he had heard the voice. Warm and strong and feminine, it had filled his head.
“Do not concede, Warrior,” the voice had urged him. “This evil must end. It is the Cruel Father who gives the Overlord his strength. But I will give you mine and you shall overcome!”
A rush of new energy had suddenly filled him, like electricity galvanizing a piece of metal when it’s struck by lightning. Kane had thrust the other male’s blade aside and fought afresh—fought like a madman, determined to win—to rid the world of the foul beast who poisoned the land.
Everything had seemed like a blur and then, somehow, the Overlord was at his feet and he was standing there in a pool of blood and stunned silence.
At last, the silence broke as the warriors around him cheered.
“The new Overlord!” Kane heard one of them shout. “Kane is the new Overlord—long may he live!”