Alli didn’t know what to say to that. She wanted to protest that the other girl shouldn’t even think of suicide but Rachel was right—it would be a horrible life, being passed from warrior to warrior, being tortured and fed on multiple times. Especially since the Valium-like Calm wouldn’t work on her to dull the pain.
“I just think—” she began.
But just then the elevator door dinged and the silver panels slid open to reveal seven or eight large Kru’ell Ones—including one which could only be the Overlord himself.
Twenty-Seven
Kane was among the group, Alli saw with relief. He was standing silently behind the others and his silver eyes scanned the room restlessly until they found her. Alli started to go to him but a quick shake of his head stopped her. Instead of running over, she sat quietly with her hands in her lap and pasted a calm, slightly vacant smile on her face.
But it wasn’t easy to pretend to be calm—or “Calmed” as Rachel had called the hazy, drugged state—with the huge Kru’ell One warriors prowling around inspecting everyone.
The one she assumed must be the Overlord was the most frightening. He was seven and a half feet tall—a head taller than all the rest—and absolutely huge. His full black beard reached almost to his waist and it had been braided and knotted at the end with what looked like a bone. He wore a fur cape which made his broad shoulders look even wider and his eyes glinted not black and silver like Kane’s, but black and red.
Blood red, Alli thought with a shiver.
The Overlord stalked silently among the seated concubines, looking closely at each one like a man in a butcher’s shop looking for just the right cut of meat. There was a plump, grandmotherly-looking woman with him—Alli hadn’t seen her earlier, possibly because she’d been hidden behind the massive warriors.
“Is there anything in particular you’re looking for, Sire?” she asked anxiously. “A particular kind of girl I can get for you?”
Alli wondered who she was—the Madam of the Harem? Or was she just the Overlord’s personal assistant, in charge of getting him whatever he wanted—including concubines?
For the first time, the Overlord spoke.
“I’m looking for the Immune.”
Had she thought that Kane’s voice was gravelly? The Overlord’s tones were like boulders rubbing against each other in a dry creek bed.
“An Immune?” The grandmotherly lady frowned and shook her graying head. “I don’t understand, Sire. How could we have an Immune here in the Harem without me knowing it?”
“Nobody knows it,” the Overlord growled. “Except me. I can fucking smell her, though she’s shielding her mind from me. The Immune—that’s the one I want.”
His words made Rachel jump visibly and a look of terror crossed her pretty face. The next minute, though, she concealed it and looked just like all the others.
But it was too late—her sudden movement had caught the Overlord’s eye. Like a cat that catches the flutter of a bird’s wing and goes to investigate, he prowled over to the corner where Alli and Rachel were sitting.
“Hmmm…both so pretty,” he rumbled in his boulders rubbing together voice. “One of you is the Immune—I’m sure of it.” Leaning down, he inhaled deeply, as though trying to decide which of them he wanted.
Alli’s heart was pounding madly in her chest. She had to fight to keep the frozen smile on her face and not flinch back and away from the massive warrior. Beside her, she could feel Rachel doing the same.
The Overlord’s black and red eyes flickered over them both. He was so close Alli could smell him, a strange, thick, sour odor that turned her stomach and made her want to gag. He smelled off somehow, she thought—like something that had once been good which had gone deeply rotten.
His odor was so different from Kane’s warm, spicy scent that she couldn’t help longing for her Master. Her eyes flicked up to find him and she saw that he was standing just behind the Overlord, his eyes narrowed and his teeth bared.
“The one with auburn hair is mine,” he said, speaking to the Overlord’s back. “See—she wears the Peace Cloak.”
“So she does,” the Overlord gave Alli a penetrating look. “Have you decreased her levels of Calm to the bare minimum, Kane?” he asked, never taking his eyes off her. “She smells remarkably fresh. And her little mind is racing like a rabbit’s—though I can’t read her thoughts.”
“I prefer my concubines without Calm,” Kane said, his big hands clenched into fists at his sides. He looked ready to fight, Alli thought but he kept his voice calm and even. “It mutes their emotions too much. Besides, I mostly feed from pleasure which is hard to evoke once a girl has been Calmed.”
“Ah, yes—you always were a soft-hearted one. Feeding only from pleasure.” The Overlord shot Kane a contemptuous look over one broad shoulder. “Feeding from pain—ah, now that’s when you get the best flavor! The taste of a female’s screams as you skewer her on your cock—especially if she’s never had Calm or if she’s immune to it—are better than the finest wine.”