Obfuscate by Killion Slade Page A

in hell he would take from that gawd-forsaken place—especially something that I would want to remember.
    He leaned forward wincing and whispered close to my ear. “It’s in my satchel, but I don’t think you should take it out in here. Just open it.”
    Intrigued and a little worried, I was hoping it wasn’t a severed head of a Rakshasa. I picked up the leather satchel stowed under his bed, carefully looking for any puddling body fluids. When the bag seemed innocent enough, I brought it up top and unbuckled the leather strap containing the elusive contents.
    My eyes narrowed in disbelief. My hand flew to my mouth and immediately the pace of my heart jumped tenfold.
    Khaldon covered my other hand with his and squeezed. His quiet reassurance helped me to catch my breath. “I noticed for some reason it glows more when it’s close to you, so I snagged it.” His devilish grin revealed secret mission accomplished all over his face.
    Inside the bag, the green orb from the staff I was carrying in the cave was wrapped in an oil cloth. The staff had snapped in pieces, but the ornate carvings in the wood held the orb in place. I stared at Khaldon in disbelief. He guided my hand to touch it and I ran my fingertips across the runes carved in the wood. A zing of tingle rippled across my fingers when my hand caressed the cool gem. The warm green glow of the orb purred a connection between us. I could feel it humming.
    Removing my hand, I re-covered it with the oilcloth. I hissed in a rushed whispered and looked around the room hoping nobody was paying any attention to us. “Are you insane? Haven’t you ever watched Heavy Metal? ” I quickly closed the satchel and stowed it back under the bed. “That thing could represent all the evil in the Universe and be the demise of us all!”
    He smiled as best he could and pulled me in close. “Who knows, maybe you’re the new Taarakian, ready to defend and protect us against the evil of the Loc-Nar.”
    I shook my head again in disbelief that he would remove such a relic from their island. “In your dreams, Bucko. You must be feeling better.” I grinned a small smile and my heart sighed a tiny amount of relief knowing, in time, he was going to be just fine. “I think you just want to see me dressed up in red, thigh-high leather boots.” I checked his eyes for acknowledgment and they beamed with devious intent. “What in the world am I going to do with that thing? We have no idea what it is. Seriously, you may have just opened up the wrath of Sekmet or something on us.”
    Khaldon made an erotic, appreciative noise in the back of his throat. “Right, leather boots … I think you should dress as a Taarakian for the next Comic Con.”
    I would have punched him in the arm if we all weren’t still in so much pain.
    “But not to worry your bonny head, since Sekmet is my direct ancestor, you needn’t worry about her wrath anytime soon.” He sat up a little straighter on the bed. “If you want, we can keep the orb at my house. I’m just trying to think how I’m going to get it past customs.”
    “Yeah, well I’m just waiting for the Rakshasa to crash through those doors to recover their ancient relic.” Feeling an imminent sense of foreboding, I peeked over my shoulder toward the door. Just in case.
    “I’ve the perfect place for the orb next to our crossbow bolts. I’ll hang it next to the one I dug out of my shoulder in the Civil War.”
    “Our bolts?”
    “Indeed, m’lady.” He flipped a bolt into the air and caught it. “This is the one I dug out of Torchy’s side and through your calf. I guess technically, the bolt is both of yours.”
    He picked up the dragon scythe and pointed it at me. “That silver thermite arrow will make an excellent addition to my gallery.”
    A humble smile emerged through the pain as flakes of ash fell from above his eyebrow. “Keeping mementos like these helps me to appreciate the days when life is simple.” He whisked away the ash