Astral by Viola Grace Read Free Book Online Page B

through him, only a hint of the tingle she normally felt ran into her.
    She followed her connection to her body, chatting and whistling on the psychic plane so that she could keep Arci following her.
    It was a strange thing and a few people walked right through her in their rush to get out of Arci’s way. Apparently, glowing red eyes were not considered a good thing on this world. She glanced back at him a few times and the blank determination on his features was enough to keep leading him to the place where she was being held.
    When the door was locked to their entry, he blasted it into cinders before passing through.
    Four young men sat around a table and one became physically sick when he saw Arci.
    “Avatar, it was not my idea. I only mixed the knockout gas. That is all.” The man grovelled and one of his companions struck him with a fist.
    “You can play with these boys, or you can come and get me. It is your choice.” Dina tried to get Arci to focus on the task at hand.
    He asked the young men, “Why did you take her?”
    The leader stood up and jerked his chin in the air. “You tax us to death and you want to know why we took her?”
    Arci tilted his head. “I do not tax those in my star system. I never have. I am a star, I need nothing.”
    The boys looked confused. “The prefect says that you are demanding tithes that cripple the population. We have starvation and you merely give us the weather to provide you with more.”
    “Bring my bride to me, or I will incinerate you where you stand and we will never get to the bottom of this.” The reverberation of his voice was intense.
    Two of the lads scrambled into a hatch in the floor and Dina rejoined her body, because she really wanted to know what was going to happen next.
    The moment that hands lifted her out of the goo, she breathed in and said, “Put me down and get above. I am not going to be seen like this.”
    The young men stared at her as she began to glow and then scrambled up the ladder that led out of the hatch.
    She flashed her power over and over until the goo was gone from her body and her clothing. Dry and relatively happy with her appearance, she smiled at the touch of Arci’s mind.
    Are you going to join us?
    “On my way.” She levitated up and out of the cellar, moving directly to Zakkar and enjoying his embrace.
    Dina breathed deeply before she remembered that she didn’t need to breathe. The feel of Zakkar was enough. “I am sorry that I breathed in that gas. I forgot I don’t need to breathe anymore.”
    He ran his hands through her hair and kissed her deeply, unconcerned with the would-be terrorists in the room with them.
    “I was worried. You are not quite complete yet and they were able to play on your vulnerability.”
    The men blinked at them and she leaned against her mate. “So, your prefect is bleeding the people dry and blaming Arci? That is not very nice.”
    The leader paled. “How do you know that?”
    “I was here. Don’t think that because you have my body, you also have my mind.” She released Zakkar and scowled at her kidnappers. “That was really low by the way. Why didn’t you just talk to me?”
    The leader looked harassed. “We were assured that you would not be cooperative.”
    Laughter was not polite, but she couldn’t resist. “Who told you that? I have been talking to everyone and I have to say that your people can really hold their liquor.”
    The leader looked horribly embarrassed. “The prefect warned everyone that you were delighted with your elevated status and would have no interest in our plight, that you were in search of the profit to be made from our people.”
    She laughed. “I have a very nice nest egg from my service to the Alliance. I have enough money to live on for the rest of a normal Terran lifespan. As an avatar, I don’t need money, I don’t even need atmosphere and if I had remembered that your gas wouldn’t have worked…”
    Zakkar was behind her, Arci at the forefront