John Ringo - East of the Sun, West of the Moon

This time he hadn’t got it embedded in the floor and he twisted it out, dropping the poison sack, and went to the mattress.

“Meredith?” he asked in a worried tone.

“What took you so long?” she asked pointedly, tossing the mattress off of her. She stopped when she saw him and grinned. “Is that a club you’re carrying around or are you just happy to see me?” she asked in a throaty voice.

Herzer’s mouth opened and closed and he shook his head at a shout from the corridor.

“I don’t have time for this,” he said, moving to the door. All he could hear was confused shouting so he went to the hole in the wall and gestured for the two women to come into the room.

“This lock still works,” he said, shoving the empty bedframe against the door and a bureau over the hole in the wall. There was nothing to do about the window. “Get in the corner with Meredith.”

“What about Ashly and Mirta?” Megan said, then closed her eyes and muttered. “Oh, God…”

“What?” Meredith asked.

“Never mind about Ashly,” Megan said, softly. “Mirta is outside the building, across the street. There’s nothing around her. She’s alive. Two scorpions alive. One in Ashly’s room, the other in Mirta’s. There’s…” She paused and frowned.

“Herzer!” a voice shouted from the corridor.

“Cruz?” Herzer yelled.

“Yeah,” Cruz said from outside the door. “Where in the hell is Countess Travante?”

Herzer opened his mouth and then paused. How much did he actually trust Cruz? Finally he decided.

“In here,” he said, hefting the sword.

There was a pause from outside the door and then Cruz chuckled.

“Thanks, buddy,” he said. “I already had a crack at one Key and gave it up. We’ve taken down the rest of the assassins. But we haven’t entered any of the rooms except yours. Which, by the way, were our standing orders. Protect the Key-holder. Remember?”

Herzer winced at the sarcastic tone and shrugged.

“Two more bugs, one in Ashly’s room, one in Mirta’s. Ashly appears to be dead.”

“Okay, we’ll clean ’em up,” Cruz said. “Stay there until it’s all clear.”

Megan took one look at what had once been her social secretary and then turned and threw up in the corner.

“She shouldn’t have had to go that way,” she gasped, spitting on the floor.

“Nobody should,” Herzer said, pulling a blood-stained sheet over the mess on the bed. “But that’s what happened to the rest of the team.” He’d retrieved his trousers but was still barefoot and shirtless.

“Were they after Megan, because she’s a Key-holder?” Meredith asked. “Or do they know you and she are forming the next team?”

“Good question,” Herzer replied. “And one I don’t think we’ll have the answer to any time soon.” He noticed that Meredith hadn’t been sick. Shanea, surrounded by guards, was well on her way to getting passed-out drunk in Megan’s apartment.

“Why were you outside the apartment?” Herzer asked Mirta.

“Because I couldn’t stand the thought of getting trapped inside by whatever was scuttling on the roof,” Mirta said. “I was not a part of this. There was one of those things in my room, too!”

“Herzer,” Megan said sharply.

“I’m sorry, Mirta,” Herzer said, shaking his head. “I’m seeing assassins in the shadows. I didn’t even trust Cruz when he arrived with the reinforcements.”

“It’s okay,” Mirta replied. “Who says I trust you?”

Herzer snorted and shook his head, gesturing at the door.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said. “There’s nothing to be done.”

“Except get rip-snorting drunk,” Mirta said.

As it turned out, it didn’t take much to get that way for any of the girls.

Herzer was nursing his first drink but Mirta had sat the others down and had them slam a shot of vodka apiece. That had led to the corn liquor and in short order, they were all drunk as loons.

He shouldn’t have been surprised. None of them had done much drinking since escaping from the harem and from the little he’d heard there was no hard alcohol allowed there. So they had a low resistance and none of them were exactly heavy.

Shanea was sitting on the floor, shaking her head from time to time and occasionally sobbing.

“It was a…” she kept saying. “All I could think to do was hide under the bed. It kept moving around and I’d move over to the other side and those… those claws …”

“Hell,” Mirta slurred. “I thought they were going to chase me down the alley. I was just hoping there were some guards left alive. I was planning on running right past them and if they followed all I had to do was outrun them. They were in armor; it should have been easy…”

“You missed the best part,” Meredith said. She’d hardly said a word during the whole drinking, just downing her shots and chasing them with very little water and another shot.

“Wass ’at?” Mirta asked, looking at her blearily.

“Herzer nekkid,” Meredith said, then giggled, slapping a hand over her mouth.

“Really?” Mirta said, her eyes widening.

“Nekkid,” Meredith repeated. “Unclothed.”

“Oh, yeah,” Shanea said and hiccupped. “He’s hung like a… like a… one of them things you ride… pulls a cart…”

“Horse,” Mirta said.

“Yeah,” Shanea said. “One of them.” She leaned over onto Herzer’s leg, slapping him on the upper thigh. “He’s my buddy . He pulled me out! Killed the scorpion! Thass wha’ it was. Scorpion ! Big, horrible, scorpion an’ Herzer beat it to death with his giant cock !”

“Thank you,” Herzer said, prying her hand off of his leg. “But I killed it with a sword.”

“And what a sword it was!” Meredith said and giggled again, slapping her hand over her mouth. “Whoops. Nice sword. And a very nice club, too!”

“And all mine,” Megan said, leaning over and pulling his mouth down on hers, her other hand sliding up his leg.

“Meanie,” Shanea said, pouting. “Shared Paul!”

“Mine,” Megan repeated when she’d drawn back from the long kiss. “Come on, Herzer you big stud,” she said, using his shoulder to get to her feet. “We were just about to find out if you fit or not.”

“Megan,” Herzer said, shaking his head but getting to his feet. “You’re a little drunk.”

“I’m a lot drunk,” Megan said, nodding her head sharply. “S’why I’m gonna jump your bones. Come on.”

She dragged him out of the room as the other three watched sadly.

“There’s all these guards and things, around,” Shanea said, thoughtfully.

“You go ahead,” Meredith replied, lying down on the couch. “If I can’t get Herzer, I’m just going to lie here and pass out.”

“S’good idea,” Mirta said, slumping in her chair.

“Wimps,” Shanea muttered, clambering to her feet. “There’s a whole platoon of guards here. Making me do all the work. Just like always.”

“You go right ahead,” Meredith repeated, closing her eyes and then opening them. “Mirta?”

“Yeah?” the woman asked.

“Why’s the room spinning?”

“Because you’re about to throw up.”

Sergeant Sirous came to attention as the door to the councilwoman’s chambers opened and stopped himself from shaking his head at the sight of the Key-holder’s extremely drunk maid.

“Miss Shanea,” he said, formally. “Given the circumstances, all of you should remain in the councilwoman’s chambers.”

“’M goin’ to my room,” Shanea said, holding onto the doorframe for support. “S’right there,” she added, pointing in the general direction. “There’s s’ big scorpion in it. But iss dead.”