His Human Possession (Zandian Masters 8)

Zander readied all his weaponry.

It was time to go home.

Paal laid the torpedo near an air vent to the mine. They were miles from the mine’s entrance, but this was the slope Lamira had described, with the exact scar on the side. Fluut was directly beneath them now, if Lamira’s sight could be trusted.

“This is the spot,” he murmured, keeping his voice low even though no one appeared to be in the area. They’d hiked for hours to get there, and he’d had to take turns carrying both the torpedos to give the humans a rest.

“Now what?” Lily asked, wiping sweat from her brow.

Paal stared down through the vent into the abyss. “Now we drop them down. Simultaneously, if possible. And then we run like hell.”

The females nodded. They arranged the two torpedos side by side near the edge of the vent and positioned themselves behind it. “On the count of five.” He bent down and placed both palms on the bomb.

“Five?” Cambry asked.

He couldn’t hide the flash of irritation at the question. “Yes, why?”

She grinned. “Humans say three.”

“Aw. Five is a sacred number for us. On the count of five. One...two…three...four...five!” He pushed hard and his torpedo toppled over the edge. He started running the moment the job was done, waiting only to make sure the females got theirs over the lip of the vent.

All three of them ran hard and fast down the slope of the mountain. They ran and ran until he realized something surely should’ve happened by then.

“Hold up.”

The three of them slowed to a stop and stared at one another, panting.

He cursed. “Stay here. I’m going back.”

“What are you going to do?” Lily asked.

He pulled the laser gun from his belt. “Shoot it.” He jogged back up the hill to the vent, half expecting the bomb to go off any moment, but it didn’t.

Peering down, he had no idea where to shoot—all he could see was inky darkness. He positioned himself on his belly, letting his head hang into the crevice and blinking as his eyes got used to the lack of light.

After a few agonizingly long moments, shapes came into focus. He spotted one of the torpedos where it had landed on a ledge not far down.

Well, it was better than nothing. He aimed the laser gun and fired, holding his finger over the trigger for continuous stream of laser light. The crystals in the mountain served to reflect the laser, lighting up the entire crevice.

And then it blew.

For the second time that day, his body flew through the air.

His back hit a tree trunk and he dropped to the ground, unable to move.

The entire mountain shook, explosions and tremors running through the earth, shaking the trees, the rocks, the dirt.

He attempted to move again, but couldn’t draw a breath, couldn’t make his body respond.

The two humans crouched beside him, speaking words he couldn’t hear, tugging at his arms, trying to get him to move.

The land slid beneath them, sending them skiing down the slope as parts of the ground simply fell away, crashing in on the mine.

“This way,” Cambry yelled, angling them down and away from the site of the explosion. At least he heard her this time. “Move, Paal, before we’re buried!”

As if he wasn’t trying. His limbs wouldn’t respond.

“Paal, if you want to see your female and meet your baby, you need to move!”