Her Commanders - M.K. Eidem Page 0,80

them. Had Cali inherited this gift too? If so, how were they going to explain it?

It wasn't long before the Commander and Sub Commander entered the room. Jamis settled in behind his desk while Taarig stood behind him. Jamis nodded to the Lead Meddyg, who placed an injector to Tecumseh's neck and pressed the trigger. Tecumseh's body spasmed uncontrollably for a moment, then she stiffened, and her eyes flew open.

Xanto watched as she didn't seem to know where she was or what was going on until her gaze settled on Jamis. Then crazed insanity filled her elongated eyes, and she began pulling on her restraints.

"You! You ssshould be dead!" Her gaze shifted to Taarig. "Both of you."

"It takes more than a little Sion Viper venom to end two Apre warriors," Jamis told her.

"It wasss more than a little," she hissed, her gaze searching the room. "Where are my bey-beesss. What did ssshe do with them?!"

Xanto stiffened against the wall. Ruk, she was going to reveal that Cali was here.

Jamis raised an eyebrow at her. "There are no bey-bees here, Tecumseh, and you are the only female. So, tell me, why did you try to assassinate two Coalition Commanders. You had to have known the punishment for such an act would be imprisonment if not being ended yourself."

"For Taini!" she screamed, trying to lunge at him even though restrained. "For what you, both of you, did to her."

Xanto saw the Commander stiffen at the name while confusion crossed the Sub Commander’s.

"Taini?" Taarig questioned. "We haven't seen her since she returned to Sion over three standard-years ago."

"Liesss," Tecumseh spat out. "He," she jutted her chin out toward Jamis, "sssaw her a year ago."

Xanto could tell by Taarig's suddenly blank expression that he hadn't known that.

"He approached her," Tecumseh continued, "even though he knew ssshe was mated. "He ssseduced her into betraying her mate, then left her. The ssshame of what ssshe'd done wasss too much for her to bear and ssshe threw herssself into a viper pit."

That explained the use of the vipers. What Xanto still couldn't understand was how she'd been able to keep them alive without their dame being nearby.

"Taini approached me," Jamis responded after a moment.

"LIESSS!"

Xanto frowned as Tecumseh denied the Commander's words. Not because he believed Jamis but because as Tecumseh moved from side-to-side in denial, the thick, decorative band along the bottom of her dress began to move up and down as if there was something alive in it, and it was trying to get out. A horrifying thought suddenly occurred to him, and he pushed away from the wall.

"Commander," Xanto tried to gain the Commander's attention.

"I don't lie," Jamis said, ignoring the Elevsìs male.

"Commander!" Xanto shouted.

"What?" Jamis demanded, furious at the male's interruption.

But it was too late. Before Xanto could respond, a mature and fully-enraged Sion Viper exploded from Tecumseh's dress. It landed in the center of Jamis’s desk and immediately coiled up tightly, its fangs bared.

Chaos reigned in the office as everyone tried to get out of the viper's strike range. Everyone but Tecumseh, who couldn't because she was restrained, but it didn't seem to bother her.

"There'sss my bey-bee," Tecumseh cooed in a loving voice, undulating from side-to-side in perfect sync with the viper. "It'sss time to get revenge for my sssessstra and your bey-beesss that bitch killed."

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

Jamis’s mind raced, trying to think of a way to take down a mature Sion Viper that had a strike range that encompassed nearly the entire room, especially when his weapon was sitting useless in a drawer of his desk. Realizing there was only one way, he caught Taarig's eye so he'd be ready.

Taarig's eyes narrowed, and with the barest movement of his head, told Jamis he disagreed. They'd been fighting side-by-side for so long that Taarig immediately realized what Jamis had decided to do as neither of them had a weapon. It would get Jamis killed. No being, Apre or not, could physically overpower an adult Sion Viper. Even if you were able to immobilize its head without being bitten, the rest of its body would coil around you, crushing you to death. But Taarig could tell Jamis would do it anyway and that he expected Taarig to retrieve the weapon from the desk and end the viper before it finished him.

Ruk!

But before Jamis could act, the viper struck.

Tecumseh!

It was sinking its rows of razor-sharp teeth behind its fangs into her neck.

Because of Jamis’s years of training, he wasn't paralyzed by the viper's