Page 140 of Galaxy Circus Act One

Ara and Jastia giggle hysterically, and Zanorn scoffs. I shake my head at her delusions.

“Oh, and how would he make me?” I ask, wanting to hear her reasoning.

“Because he’s more powerful than you. Our family has always been more powerful than yours. You don’t deserve to be the ruling family of Westalin, and it’s only a matter of time before we overthrow you.” She practically vomits this word bile. “My daddy says yours is going to meet his maker very shortly, and then I will make you bow down atmyfeet. You will bemyplaything, and I will use you whenever and wherever I feel like it.” During this tirade, she’s been moving closer and closer to me as I see the now obvious manic light in her eyes. I’m not sure if stripping her of her powers caused this mental break, or if it happened previously and I just didn’t notice.

“Well, I look forward to seeing your father battle mine for supremacy, but unfortunately for you, you won’t.” I sigh, bored with the conversation and unconcerned about any of the rubbish she just spouted. I wave a hand and watch as her body slowly starts to crumble, peeling off and floating onto the breeze like the first gentle flakes of snow at the start of winter.

“Damn it, man, you promised to involve me.”

I startle slightly, turning my head away from the crumbling warlock in front of me. She finally realized what is happening and is desperately trying to hold herself together, but it is like trying to hold water with a bucket that has a hole.

“Fuck, I’m sorry. I kind of forgot. My temper got the better of me.”

Cas rolls his eyes and puts his hands on his hips. “Fine, but I get the cyborg,” he retorts, and I wave my hand in agreement.

“Of course my friend, he is all yours.”

“You are fucking psychotic. You will regret this, Xavier!” Elyan screams, her mouth still intact. “Don’t do this, please!” she begs, and I ignore her and turn to the remaining three.

“I am sorry you had to see that. I am terminating our contracts as of today. You will be paid out fully, of course, and I will provide you with excellent references so that you can find another harem to join, if you wish.”

The three of them aren’t really paying any attention. They are too busy gaping at the horrific spectacle that is Elyan. It’s actually wasted on them, so I project a video of what is happening to the whole ship. I want everyone to know what happens when you cross a warlock, and worse when you threaten their intimate. Hopefully this will make them think twice about going after Lila again.

“How long will this take?” Cas asks, waving at the disintegrating girl, and I shrug.

“No idea.” I watch in awe as she continues to fall apart. I’ve never used this punishment before, but it’s quite entertaining and certainly dramatic

“Well, come on, let’s go find that cyborg. My kraken wants to rend some limbs.” He’s clearly on edge as he cracks his knuckles menacingly, and his eyes flash back and forth from purple to black.

“Fine, I’ll deal with them later. Hopefully someone will clean the mess up.” Nobody moves at my words. I think everyone else is too scared they’ll catch my attention.

I turn, thankful that I no longer have to deal with harem drama, and make a note to tell my dad about Elyan and her father’s plans. Hopefully Dad won’t kill him before I can return and watch.

CHAPTER SIX

Caspian

I’m kind of a little stunned at what Xavier did to his harem girl, but also kind of not. I would have killed her too, except I would have most likely just shifted and eaten her. The fact that he basically made her disintegrate slowly is kind of disturbing. She was watching as little bits of her body floated away. I don’t think it hurt, and there was no blood or gore so cleanup should only require a broom and a dustpan, but still, it was a pretty hardcore way to die. I should probably be scared of his power, but I’m not. I only feel grateful that he’s another line of defense for Lila.

I don’t think anyone is going to forget about that anytime soon, especially since he broadcasted it to the whole ship.

Xavier made inquiries as to where the cats were—either up here or down in the pod—and discovered they are actually on the main ship. As we make our way to the lightning cats’ quarters, every screen we pass shows exactly what happened to Elyan. People are gathered around, whispering and pointing at it, all wearing horrified expressions. Xavier has assumed hismysterious persona once more and is cloaked in mist, but they all blanch or shrink away when they see us walk past. Hopefully it goes a long way in keeping Lila safe, though bonding with Saxon has obviously helped her, as well as her ability to shift into a kraken.

I rub a hand across my chest at the pang in my heart when I think about my mate. Although I am happy for her and Saxon, it’s been too long since I’ve seen her, and it’s time she was returned to me. I need to reassure myself and my beast that she is fine, despite being told that she is. Seeing her in person will go a long way in calming us both down.

Going after those responsible for her being placed in a vulnerable position is the only thing keeping my beast from bursting through my skin and rampaging back to the circus pod to find her. We are definitely ready for our turn with her. We don’t even want sex, we just want to feel her in our arms again and listen to her belly to reassure ourselves our eggs are safe.

I asked Link, and he assured me that they were fine after he scanned her. He said that although her body has changed, nothing within her womb did. The only thing he wasn’t sure of was if our little darlings would now also have a taste for blood. He told me he didn’t say anything to Saxon, and Lila was asleep. Also, our beast forms like blood anyway, so it really isn’t a big deal to me, and we will deal with it if they happen to enjoy blood.

The trek from the warlock’s quarters to the lightning cats’ accommodations takes about ten minutes. We could have used the sideslip elevators, but Xavier wanted to be seen just to drive home the seriousness of the situation. People’s reactions to seeing him were hilarious. Most of them found new places to be very quickly, but I think the message has been driven home—Lila is under his protection, and death will be the only outcome if you mess with her.

There is no room for negotiation, just an automatic death sentence.

We get to the door, and he pauses and turns to me. “It’s going to be freezing in there. May I give you some magical protection?” he asks, looking me up and down. I visibly shudder at the thought of being cold. My kraken is most definitely a tropical water kind of creature. In my full form, I can regulate my temperature if I have to, but in half form, I will turn into a Caspian popsicle in there, and that is not my version of fun.

“Yes please,” I reply, and his mist peels back, revealing his waving hand. I feel a warm barrier cover my entire form. I look down, thinking maybe he’d put a sweater over my top half, but no, I’m still naked, and I can see a shimmer of magic coating my torso and tentacles. I raise an eyebrow at him, and he shrugs.

“It would be a shame to cover all that.” He gestures to my form before the mist recovers the hand and he turns his attention back to the door. I’m pretty sure he didn’t need to peel the mist back to protect my skin. Instead, he did it to reassure me.