Heart's Lair Read Online Free Page B

machine!"
    A malicious smirk stole across his face. "Not that you'll live to see it, of course. You've more than served your purpose. At sol rise, we'll finish you off, once and for all."

    The sky was a leaden gray. Dark clouds, heavy with moisture, covered the horizon like angry monoliths. In the distance thunder reverberated, jagged lightning illuminating one cloud then another with its sickly yellow brilliance. Fierce winds groaned through the trees, stampeding the electricity-charged clouds before its awesome force. The midsummer storm would be here in but a few moments, Liane realized from her place on the fortress parapets, and with it the heaving torrents of rain.
    Rain, she mused, watching the scene below of a bound and drugged Cat Man being led outside the city walls to his execution. Rain would feed the thirsty land and nourish life, but that same rain would fall on a man's lifeless bodya man unjustly executed because he dared defy the enslavement of his planet. With a shudder, Liane shook off the traitorous thought.
    Why should she care what happened to the Cat Man? He was an enemy to her people. That much had been evident in his crude conduct toward her. Why, he'd all but mentally raped her during the mind seek, then nearly killed her with the force of his own psychic powers. Yet the surprising pleasure of his mental touch at the forest pool lingered with a strange, aching sweetness.
    Perhaps the true source of her frustration lay in the fact that it didn't really matter what she felt or thought. He would die, and there was nothing she could do about it, except be witness to his death. She wondered if he even knew she' was hereor cared.
    The wind was whipping the trees of the nearby forest to a surging frenzy. Thunder boomed closer now. The Bellatorian guards swung Karic around toward the fortress of Primasedes to face his executioners. Karic thought he caught a glimpse of a slim, dark-haired femina high up on the parapet, then the press of curious onlookers on the walls blocked his view.
    No matter. In but a few moments he'd be dead, seared to a smoking pile of charred remains by the lethal blaster guns. He struggled to rise through the tranquil, drug-induced haze.
    Curse the Bellatorians! If he were to die he wanted to die clearheaded and defiant, not like some docile pack equs.
    With an effort, Karic shrugged off the hold of the two guards, his stance widening to support his sudden dizziness. A gloating chuckle reached his ears, and his head swung up in angry recognition.
    Necator had arrived to lend official witness to the execution. "Not so brave nor proud now, are you, Cat Man?" he snickered. "Most men aren't when death is but a few secundae away. Are you already regretting your decision?"
    Karic glared at him.
    His enemy gave a mock sigh. "Too bad. You sealed your fate when you tampered with my machine."
    "You won't win," Karic rasped, "no matter what you do to me. Someone will always rise to fight you and your kind." The wind whipped around them, nearly knocking both men off their feet. A blinding flash of lightning exploded above their heads, followed a split secundae later by thunder. The air crackled with electricity. With a wild cry, the gathering outside the walls fell to the groundeveryone, that is, but the Cat Man.
    The sudden advent of the lightning boded his hope of salvation. He wheeled about, his heavy lethargy washed clean in the surge of excitement left in the lightning bolt's wake. Though his arms were securely bound behind his back, his legs were free.
    Karic used them to full advantage. He sprinted across the open field that lay between Primasedes and the forest, agilely weaving back and forth in a zigzag fashion to avoid the blaster guns he knew would be swiftly aimed at him.
    His quick reaction gained him a few precious secundae before the Bellatorians reacted to his escape. With a shout of outrage, Necator directed the guards to shoot. Bursts of blue fire exploded around him as Karic