In Enemy Territory - Shannon West Page 0,79

made him your mate. It will be much more interesting that way.”

Kylon narrowed his eyes, not understanding what this man meant by what he was saying. Did he not realize the hell Davos would rain down on him when he found out about all this? Not to mention Janos and Prince Mikos’s men if they knew what was going on. He wished frantically he had some way to communicate or send a signal to them. It pained him to admit it, but Rasc had been right all along. The plan he’d made was flawed and displayed incredible arrogance. There should have been a backup plan to contact a rescue team in case things went south.

The commandant strode down the ramp that the guards had hastily put up and stopped right in front of Kylon, looking down at him where he knelt beside his prince.

“I know why you’re here, Tygerian, and I know what you want. But I’ve made different plans.” He raised his head and called out to his guards in Gatifreyan. They began to move the prisoners, including those of Prince Larz’s guards who were still left, down the shore toward a broad pathway, yelling and shoving at them. Pax glanced over his shoulder at him as he moved, and he could only glance back in desperation, trying to tell him with his eyes to take care of Rasc if he could. He was unsure what was going to happen to them now, but he was almost positive he and Larz would die in the next few moments.

“Not him,” the commandant suddenly called out in Earthan to the guard pushing Rasc down the beach beside Pax. “Bring him here and put him with his Tygerian. I have special plans for him.” He glanced back down at Kylon. “For all of you.”

The guards pushed Rasc toward him and Kylon caught him in his arms, murmuring to him be calm. He told him he loved him and to not try to fight them until he gave the signal. They would die soon, Kylon knew now, but he would take some of them with him, and he would make sure if he could that Rasc wasn’t left behind to suffer.

To his great surprise, the commandant knelt down on their level and looked him right in the eye. He briefly considered ripping out his throat with his teeth but decided to wait and see what he had to say first.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to kill him or you—yet. Come with me quietly, and you’ll live for a while. I’ll even give you a fighting chance to survive. Quite literally.”

Kylon watched the commandant warily as he stood back up and motioned to the guards. “Take our guests to my home, please. I need to reintroduce them to my other guests. Then after a quick rest, we can begin. I’ve made accommodations for all of you.”

Chapter Thirteen

Rasc thought he must be dreaming as they came out of the jungle and saw the house lit up on the hillside in front of them. It was full dark by then, and the moon hung in the sky like a curved sword.

His first thought was that they had come to the prison settlement after all because of all the lights on the hillside in front of him. But as he stumbled along beside Kylon, he saw to his great surprise that all the lights came from one enormous building—a lofty three level high structure with pointed towers plunging upward into the gloomy sky above them. He could make out the shadowy outlines of a huge home, almost like a palace in some ways, set on a high bluff. On all three sides of it were cliffs, diving down to where the sea clawed at the rocks as if trying to pull them down. It was all unreal to him, but the stone steps leading up to it were real enough, as was the massive front door. Still, above it all hung an air of unreality.

Why was the commandant bringing them here? He had thought they were all about to be killed a little while ago on the beach, and he was fairly confident they still would be. Obviously the commandant hadn’t been fooled by their ruse to get to the island, and now he was going to kill them all. He’d only taken them to the island first, which still struck Rasc as unreal and dream-like. Kylon squeezed his hand, and he looked over at him, glad