Page 17 of Dark Rebel’s Reckoning (The Children Of The Gods #93)

17

MAX

M ax waited until the last woman was scanned and had boarded the bus before motioning to Yamanu to follow him back into the jet.

He'd asked Okidu to keep the bus windows opaque so the women wouldn't see them transporting the Doomer to the van to get scanned. They had been through enough at the hands of this scum, and he might stress them even when in a body bag.

Yamanu lit a match to the trashcan containing what the women had been wearing when they'd found them, not because they feared any of those threadbare shifts could hide trackers but because it just felt good to burn those things.

Once the flames rose high, Yamanu turned around and strode toward the plane. "Let's get this over with. The faster we get rid of him the better."

They weren't getting rid of him. They were taking him to the dungeon, but Yamanu's job ended at the airstrip, and he would never have to see the vermin again.

Max, on the other hand, was looking forward to spending many satisfying hours with the monster, demonstrating how it felt to be helpless and abused by someone with no mercy.

"Payback is a bitch, motherfucker," he murmured under his breath as he followed Yamanu to the aircraft's cargo hold where they'd stashed the Doomer.

They worked quickly but carefully, maneuvering the dead weight down the cargo ramp.

Julian directed them to lay the bag on the foldable table he'd set up in the hangar. "I need him undressed before we load him into the scanner. You can leave the underwear on provided it doesn't have any zippers."

Yamanu chuckled. "I've never heard of men's undergarments having zippers."

Julian shrugged. "You never know. I don't want any surprises."

Max's lip curled as he unzipped the bag. The Doomer's face was slack in stasis, but Max could still see the arrogant sneer that had been there during the fight. He started unbuttoning the black jacket that was made from an exceptionally fine fabric.

"These aren't standard Revolutionary Guard uniforms," Yamanu commented, helping to work the jacket off the unconscious Doomer's shoulders. "Custom made, probably."

"Everything about him screams ego." Max yanked at the boots next, expensive leather, probably crafted by some Italian designer. "The monster was playing dress-up while torturing women."

As they stripped off the uniform pants, and Max started on the shirt, his hand brushed against a thin chain that was around the Doomer's neck. Frowning, he loosened the collar and pulled out an amber pendant.

His breath caught. "This is Kyra's. This is what she said was taken away from her. The bastard was wearing it like a trophy."

The amber stone was exactly as she'd described it, wrapped in an intricate setting that spoke of age and craftsmanship.

He removed the chain from around the Doomer's neck, careful not to break the links.

Yamanu peered at it. "Interesting piece. Not pretty, but somehow meaningful, right? Can you feel it?"

Max nodded. "Kyra was devastated when she thought she'd lost it. She said it guided her."

Tucking the pendant in his pocket, Max smiled as he imagined the joy on Kyra's face when he returned it to her.

Yamanu helped him maneuver the dead weight onto the scanning bed. "He probably doesn't have any trackers on him. Navuh tried that experiment once, but after their bodies rejected the implants, he gave up on the idea."

"If I learned anything about Navuh over the years, it's that he never gives up on ideas or anything else. He's a patient bastard, and he waits until the technology catches up. We need to check every Doomer before we bring him into the keep."

"Was there anything interesting in his wallet?" Yamanu asked. "You should give it to Julian to scan as well. Just in case."

Max had taken it when he'd initially gone through the Doomer's pockets after incapacitating him, but it hadn't contained any clues.

Grunting, he pulled the sleek leather wallet out of his pocket. "Lots of cash in various currencies, but no ID and no credit cards. There is nothing to indicate who this bastard is."

"Professional," Yamanu muttered. "Would have loved to get our hands on his phone, but it wasn't worth the risk. Who knows what kind of tracking or remote access the Brotherhood might have had on it."

"William's team could have probably cracked it," Max said, "but we never take phones unless we have the right equipment on hand to block signals, and we didn't have it." Max kicked the pile of expensive clothes aside. "Look at this shit—designer everything. Guy really thought highly of himself."

Julian looked at them from where he was sitting in the van. "You sure he's not one of Navuh's adopted sons?"

"I don't recognize him from any of the portraits that Dalhu drew of Navuh's top command." Max frowned. "Though it's been a while since I looked at them. My memory could be off."

"I took photos," Julian said, pulling out his phone. "Give me a second." He stepped out of the van and the two of them looked over his shoulder as he flicked through the images.

"I'm not seeing anyone looking anything like this guy," Yamanu said after they'd gone through the whole collection twice. "Not even close."

Max shook his head. "He could be a newly ascended commander, someone who has proven himself more useful than the others. Or maybe he's just an ambitious underling trying to move up the ranks while experimenting on the side."

When the dude was down to his fancy boxer shorts, Max and Yamanu lifted him into the van and put him inside the scanner.

The machine hummed, and while Julian did his thing, Max put his hand in his pocket and rubbed his fingers over Kyra's pendant. It was cool, inert, and he wondered whether it reacted differently to her touch.

"He's clean," Julian announced after a few minutes. "I mean of the devices on his body. I'm not commenting on his personal hygiene, which is not on par with his clothing."

"That's not surprising," Yamanu said. "You could put an evening gown on a pig, but it would not turn it into a lady."

Max snorted. "In this case the analogy should be a tux on a crocodile that wouldn't turn him into a prince."

"That's an insult to crocodiles," Julian murmured. "They are just dumb reptiles. This creature is pure evil."