Page 96 of Dark Gambit Reliance

"She made good on her promise and didn't kill him. She left the guard who Toven released from Igor's compulsion to watch him while she went on her killing spree."

"How is Toven doing?" Kian asked.

"Toven was never in real danger, and for the most part, he behaved. He refused to stand behind me when the Kra-ell attacked, but with the suit on, the few bullets they managed to discharge before we blinded them with grenades just bounced off him."

"I'm glad you convinced him to wear it."

Yamanu chuckled. "I told him that he would have to stay in the amphibian and wait for us to secure the compound, and then I added a few gruesome descriptions of what the Kra-ell could do to him, and that sealed the deal. Toven agreed to wear the suit, Bhathian lost the bet, and now he owes me a case of Snake Venom."

"Did he start freeing the people from Igor's compulsion?"

"Not yet. We are waiting for Mia and Sofia to arrive. We didn't approach the humans yet, either. We figured it would be better if she did it."

"Good thinking."

Yamanu chuckled. "I love these damn suits. They are hot, cumbersome, and they get stinky after wearing them for over an hour, but none of ours has suffered even a scratch."

Kian smiled, a knot in his stomach easing. "I consider those suits the best money we’ve spent."

"Jade's second got injured pretty badly, though. One of her designated victims almost finished her."

"I heard," Kian said. "How is she doing?"

"She'll live. Merlin patched her up. Several purebloods and hybrids are in the infirmary as well."

"How did they get hurt?"

"We ran out of darts after shooting the first wave of defenders. We had to either shoot or quash the rest. The bastards kept fighting until they were knocked out."

"They didn't have a choice," Kian said. "It was the compulsion."

On his other side, Turner shook his head. "It's not just the compulsion. It's their tradition. They fight to the death."

"Wasn't that outlawed?" Onegus asked.

Turner shrugged. "What we know, we've learned from Emmett, Vrog, and Aliya, who repeated what they were told. I would love to hear what Jade promised to tell Toven. When that conversation starts, I want to be part of it, and I don't care what time it is."

"Same here," Kian said. "It's not that I don't trust Toven to tell us everything, but like Turner, I prefer to hear it as it is told by Jade."

"I'll let Toven know that you asked that. Are our four compellers ready to assist him?"

"They are all on standby," Onegus said.

Kian turned to the chief. "Can you put everyone on the com? I want to thank them for a job well done."

Onegus nodded. "Go ahead."

"Great job, everyone," Kian said. "You all did your part admirably. I want to thank Kalugal's men for volunteering their help, and special thanks to Toven and Mia, who’ve agreed to undertake the monumental task of freeing the minds of everyone in Jade's compound. We still have a long night ahead of us, and Igor is still out there. Hopefully, he will be apprehended when he returns to the compound and brought to justice by those he enslaved and whose families he slaughtered."

68

TOVEN

By the time the van with Mia and Sofia arrived at the compound, the Guardians had removed the bodies of those killed. There hadn't been many; five purebloods had died at Jade and Kagra's hands, and the sixth had been dispatched by Kalugal's lieutenant when he'd saved Kagra from the male.

There were several injuries, though, with Kagra's being the most severe.

She and Jade had fought with swords, probably because those were the only weapons they'd had access to, and the last pureblood Kagra had taken on dealt her a blow that would have been fatal to a human. He was about to finish the job when Kalugal's lieutenant leaped and smashed his exoskeleton's reinforced fist into the male's head, saving her life and killing the pureblood.