Deathstalker 04 - Deathstalker Honor

words, but pressed on. “The Wolfe’s crazy, but there’s always a method to his madness. He must have had a reason. Or else why bother refrigerating them?” “Knowing Valentine, it’s probably a very disturbing reason.” Owen let his breath out in a long sigh, and his fists unclenched. “I say we find the bastard and ask him. And if I don’t like his answers, I’m going to bounce him off the castle walls till his ears bleed.”
    “Sounds like a plan to me,” said Hazel.
    Owen led the way to the back of the flyer cave, and opened a hidden door in the wall to reveal a narrow stone passage leading upward. Lights came on in the tunnel, showing the way. Hazel was quietly impressed. “It leads to another secret door in what used to be my old bedchamber,” said Owen. “From there we have access to all the main areas of the castle. Internal security is mostly human rather than tech.
    Aristocrats don’t like being spied on. Keep your hand near your sword, but leave your guns alone. The sound of a gun would bring guards running from all directions. And I don’t want a war. I just want Valentine.”
    Anywhen else, Hazel would have snapped at Owen for lecturing her on something so obvious, but she kept her peace. Talking helped distract him. She followed him into the tunnel, and the door swung shut behind them. Their footsteps seemed very loud in the quiet. And then Owen stopped suddenly, turning his head back and forth.
    “What is it?” Hazel said quietly.
    “Something’s wrong,” said Owen.
    Hazel looked up the tunnel. “I can’t see anything.”
    “Neither can I. But I can feel it. Can’t you?”
    Hazel concentrated, trying to reach out in the strange directions her mind was capable of, and then Owen grabbed her roughly and threw her to the floor. She landed hard, driving the breath from her lungs.
    Owen hit the ground beside her a moment later, one arm flung across her to hold her down. And from every side disrupter beams filled the tunnel from hidden gun ports. If they’d stayed standing, they’d have been shot to mincemeat.
    “So much for your secret passage, Deathstalker,” Hazel hissed, trying to burrow down into the solid stone floor.
    “They must have got it out of David before he died,” said Owen. “Try to wriggle backward toward the door.”
    “Hell with that,” said Hazel. “I have my dignity. Wait till the beams shut off, and then we’ll make a run for it while they’re recharging.” “One, they’re staggered. They’re not going to cut off. Two, the beams are angling lower. Now wriggle, dammit.”
    They moved back down the tunnel to the door as fast as they were able, the disrupter beams passing barely an inch or so above their bodies. The lowering energy beams seared through the air just above them, filling the tunnel with the stench of ionized air. Owen’s clothes rucked up around him as he crawled backward, slowing him down, and he could hear Hazel’s many guns and ammo belts scraping along the floor. He risked a glance at her, just in time to see a disrupter beam clip her raised elbow, vaporizing the sleeve and burning the exposed flesh. She grimaced, but didn’t make a sound, and kept moving. The smell of burnt meat mingled briefly with the ozone.
    Owen redoubled his efforts, scrambling backward as fast as he could force himself. He could almost feel the energy beams cutting through the air directly above him. And then he lurched to a halt as his feet slammed up against the closed steel door. He pushed against the door with all his weight, but it wouldn’t budge. Owen’s temper flared, and he kicked out with both feet. The heavy steel door flew open, half torn off its hinges. He looked back at Hazel again. She’d raised her head slightly at the noise, and a disrupter beam was heading right for her forehead.
    For Owen time seemed to slow and stop, the energy beam crawling slowly through the air. And it was the simplest thing in the world for him to lunge forward and thrust his golden Hadenman hand between Hazel and the beam, and the disrupter beam ricocheted harmlessly away. Time crashed back to normal.
    Owen grabbed Hazel and then threw himself out of the tunnel and back into the main cave, dragging her with him. They hit the floor hard and rolled away from the opening, putting as much room as they could between themselves and the deadly tunnel. They lay together for a while, getting their breath back, and then rose just a little shakily to their