Ovation (Galaxy Circus #9)

Chapter 25

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Lila

W e materialize in the desert, setting down at a spot slightly away from the tunnel entrance. The cold, crisp, fresh air hits my senses, and I drag lungfuls of it in as we assess our surroundings. Breathing fresh air again makes me realize just how much my life has changed over the last six months.

When I was getting dressed, preparing to assault a military base and free some captive aliens, it really hit me that my life has changed dramatically. Gone is the drifting, unhappy female who didn’t know what she wanted to do with her life, and in her place is a mother, a wife, and a CEO of a large corporation who will defend her family and way of life at the expense of everything else.

I got a message while I was doing up the laces on my combat boots. It was a note from Cronus and Xylene, wishing us luck on our incursion. It also contained a picture. The photo was of the two of them and the two people I now recognize as my parents. They are dressed up in Halloween costumes as the Scooby gang. Cronus and Xylene are Fred and Daphne, and my parents are Shaggy and Velma. In their arms is a toddler dressed as Scrappy Doo, and Xavier stands in front of them in a Scooby costume with a scowl on his face. Everyone is smiling at the camera but Xavier. His pout would put Hali to shame.

We always came to Earth to celebrate Halloween with your family. We liked to go in group costumes. Xavier was not a fan of this year’s costume, but you looked adorable. Your parents would be so proud of the woman you have become, as are we.

A tear trickled down my face as I read it. Xavier’s parents really are wonderful, and I’m blessed to be a part of their family.

I studied the photo, smiling even though I don’t remember it. My dad was the spitting image of my grandpas, and it was kind of weird to see. He wore his hair slightly shaved at the sides and longer on top, and in this image, it was completely tousled to mimic Shaggy, but his eyes were the same shade of green as mine.

My mother looked to be wearing a black wig. I’m pretty sure Gigi said I was the spitting image of her, so she must have had hair the same color as mine used to be. Her eyes were hidden behind black-rimmed glasses, but I thought they were hazel. She was shorter than my dad and curvy in all the right places much like I am.

Although I was happy to have the image, seeing it was bittersweet. I’m never going to know these people. Looking at them hurt, but someday, it wouldn’t, so I saved the image, closed the tablet, and finished my preparation.

“Lila, are you okay?” Ghosie asks me, bringing me back to the present.

“Yeah. Sorry, just getting my bearings and breathing in the fresh air. It’s a shock every time,” I tell him, and he nods, some of the worry in his eyes fading.

I look around, and the guys are all on high alert. The moon is full and bright in the sky, lighting up the landscape like a floodlight. Brannock has a pair of binoculars in his hands and is looking at something in the distance.

Zeydan is glowing again, drawing in as much power from the earth and surrounding vegetation as he can. He didn’t want to drain the bio level, but here on Earth, he has an unlimited resource.

“What’s the sitrep?” Saxon asks as Brannock lowers the binoculars.

“I don’t see any cameras around the entrance, but I could be wrong. Can you feel with your magic?” he asks Xavier, who nods and sends out a burst of lilac mist. It creeps across the ground like fog, spreading to cover a large area before it drifts in the direction of the tunnels.

“That will alert us to anything in the surrounding area that has an electrical current running through it. It’s also searching the ground for land mines and trip wires and deactivating any of them.”

A small squeak escapes me before I can stop it, and I clamp my lips tightly together in the hope nobody noticed, but alas, that was not the case.

“Are you okay?” Tirrian asks, smoke drifting out of his nose. His dragon is riding him hard. I bet it wants to come out and eat everyone, but this mission is strictly for two-legged forms.

“Yeah, I guess I wasn’t expecting land mines. How naive of me,” I reply dryly, watching Xavier’s mist move eerily across the space between us and the tunnel entrance.

We wait in silence as it gets to the tunnels and expands outwards, draping the area in a thick fog and obscuring our view. Xavier glows purple, the same color as his mist, and he mutters a few words and does a few complicated hand signals. I don’t know this kind of magic, since it isn’t anything we’ve touched on in our lessons yet, but I’m sure we will get there eventually. Suddenly, it all dissipates until nothing remains, like it was never there in the first place.

“Okay, we’re clear. There were some cameras, but they have been neutralized,” Xavier tells us.

“Isn’t that going to alert them to us being here?” Ghosie asks, a frown creasing his brow. I miss all his beautiful fur, but we decided that being fully covered was less of a risk to us during the mission. I live for the day when we won’t have to worry about it, and I can put my hands on his sexy body whenever I want without having to worry about scarring anyone.

“No, because instead of destroying them, I created a loop that will show the same image. It won’t pick us up as we pass in front of it.”

I let a little sigh of relief out as Brannock leads us forward. I’m shuffled into the middle of the group. Saxon and Brannock are in front, Ghosie and Xavier are on either side of me, and Tirrian and Zeydan bring up the rear.

We get to the entrance of the tunnels, our laser weapons drawn. Saxon holds up his hand, making a fist, and we freeze. I strain my ears to listen, pushing the limits of my Vilaxian hearing, but I can hear nothing except for an inconsistent dripping somewhere further down the tunnels. There are no signs of life—no heartbeats, breathing, or rustling of clothing or fidgeting of limbs.

“We’re clear,” he says.

I heave out a sigh, some of the built-up tension draining out of my body, and stash my weapon in its holster.

“Okay, we need you to head down the tunnel in mist form and cut the power to the top secret level. The rest of the facility shouldn’t be any wiser.”

“But it will put the remaining guards on high alert, right?” Tirrian asks.

“Possibly, but there have been power malfunctions in the past. I heard guards talking about rats chewing holes in the cables. I’m hoping they will assume the same has happened and send a team to investigate,” Brannock explains, staring down the tunnel with longing.

“And we will be ready to take care of them.” Zeydan cracks his knuckles, and he frees his tails from his body. The nine animals yip and screech as they gather at his feet, bristling with anticipation for the fight to come.

“Huh, that’s handy. We just added nine more to our team,” Ghosie whispers to me, and I snicker.

“Is it just the one generator?” Saxon asks, and Brannock shakes his head.

“No. There are two, which is why Lila needs to go too—one on either side of the tunnel and slightly apart from one another. You need to switch them off at the same time. One powers the outer facility, and one powers the one on the other side of the door we need to go through. All the prisoners will go into lockdown and be returned to their rooms, making them easier to rescue.”

“You’ve really thought of everything.” I stare at him in wonder, and he nods ruefully.

“I’ve had a long time to scheme and plan my daughter’s rescue. I just never imagined I’d have so many allies to help me,” he says solemnly, his eyes shining with gratitude.

“Family, not allies.” Saxon slaps him on the shoulder. “Alright, let’s get this show on the road.”

Xavier and I allow our bodies to turn into mist. We’ve been practicing all week between rehearsals, and I pretty much have it down now. The only thing I struggle with is manipulating matter while in this form. I need to get it right today, though, because failure is not an option.

We float down the tunnel. It’s weird being in this form. Although I have all my senses, the feeling of my body is gone, and it’s slightly disorienting. I smacked into quite a few things before I learned to go around them or use cracks to go through or under them.

I can see and feel the lasers lining the tunnel, but because we are basically vapor, we glide through them without setting them off. We arrive at the first generator. It’s a huge unit, the tunnel having been widened on one side for it to reside in.

You do this one, and I’ll go to the next one , Xavier instructs me telepathically.

I do a lap around the machine, looking for the off switch. I find it and feel a thrill of success when I open the cover. I just need to wait for Xavier to give the command. My mind is a mess of emotions—nervous anticipation, relief, and excitement all wrapped together with the burning need for revenge against Smith. How dare he do what he’s done? How dare he treat aliens like they are his own personal play toys to exploit? To think he was creating an army for his own use. I don’t know what we will find behind that door or how successful his program has been.

Brannock said the program is in its early stages, and that it’s only been running for about ten years, so we won’t have any brainwashed adults to deal with. I made the guys promise that anyone behind that door who comes at us will be incapacitated as opposed to being executed, and we can work out guilty and not guilty once they are all safely back on the ship.

The Celestians are sending a transport to bring them back to their health facilities and are en route as we execute this mission. Link’s med bay wasn’t going to be big enough to handle the influx of victims we are expecting, so they converted the hologram warehouse to an overflow med bay, setting up beds for treatment of any injuries. We are hoping there aren’t many, but who knows? There may be a number of pregnant females. We’re preparing for the worst-case scenario.

Okay, I’m in position , Xavier says, and I jolt in surprise but quickly get my shit together as he starts a countdown. On three. One, two, three…

I flip the switch on the generator, and the lights and lasers in the tunnel turn off, plunging it into complete darkness.

I reform as I hear the others make the journey toward me. They use their enhanced speed and join me within seconds.

“Good job.” Tirrian gives my waist a quick squeeze. They all know how worried I was because my skills were a bit hit and miss.

Suddenly, we hear a shout echoing down the tunnel from Xavier’s direction.

“Xavier!” I don’t wait, drawing my laser and running toward my warlock mate. I feel the guys on my heels. Ghosie grumbles about not being able to see a thing, and suddenly, a green glow lights up the immediate area.

When I look back, Zeydan has changed into his god form, the green glow making it easier for my bear.

“Thank you,” he says while panting. My poor bear is not really in fighting form. I love his dad bod, but he’s not really built for speed and stealth, more smash and grab style attacks.

Zeydan’s nine tails dart ahead of us, the distance to Xavier a lot farther than I expected. When we arrive, we find the tunnel lit up with pale purple light spheres floating in the air and Xavier battling a host of beings.

“I thought you said there were no life-forms,” Brannock growls at Saxon, but he looks surprised.

“There weren’t any.”

“That’s because they aren’t alive. These are robots,” Xavier growls, slicing the arm off one, but he keeps going.

“Robots? They look real.” I look a little closer, but even though they look real, none of them are bleeding.

“Holy shit, are they murderous sex robots?” I ask, taking in their beautiful features and perfect bodies.

“Yes, I think maybe Pleasure Bot Industries may have expanded their capabilities.” Xavier grunts as he’s tackled by two of the figures. “A little help here, please?”

Zeydan, Saxon, Brannock, and Tirrian join the fight. Ghosie pulls me to the side, puffing slightly, and the two of us stay out of the way while the others quickly take care of the robots. A blow to the back of the head or decapitation, severing their core processor, takes them out. They just collapse in a pile when this happens.

Finally, they are all incapacitated, and the guys are barely winded. “Well, that was a good warm-up.” Xavier beams as he puts his sword back into its scabbard. “I wasn’t expecting them. They appeared out of nowhere.”

“I’ve never seen them before. Obviously the facility has had an upgrade. I wonder if any of the internal guards have been replaced as well,” Brannock murmurs, inspecting a scratch on his hand where one of the female robots got him with her ridiculously long nails. Seriously, who has nails like that in battle?

“How do we tell the difference between them and humans?” Ghosie asks as we shuffle a little closer.

“Humans bleed,” Saxon says dryly, kicking one of the incapacitated lumps.

“True.” Tirrian stares down the tunnel we need to traverse, his head cocked like he’s listening.

“It sounds like we have more coming. Shall we meet them halfway?” He doesn’t wait for a response, just bellows a roar and takes off.

“So much for stealth,” Zeydan mutters as his tails stream after the dragon, caught up in the bloodlust.

The rest of them follow just as enthusiastically except for Ghosie and me. We exchange a look.

“Do you want to join the fight?” he asks, pointing in the direction they went.

“No, not particularly,” I reply, linking my arm with his, happy to touch him freely. “We can guard the rear,” I tell him, and he nods happily.

“I like that plan, and by the time we get there, all the hard work will be done.”

“I like how you think,” I chirp as we slowly meander after the others.