Army of the Goddess: A Bona Dea Novel (Stormflies Book 2) by Elizabeth N. Love

automatic safeguard for Quinn's mental faculties. Most people produced a similar emanation in order to protect themselves from unsolicited psychic contact. The safeguards had evolved over the centuries, especially when humans with similar abilities began to bond together in communities instead of hiding their innate talents. The abilities and the natural defenses were passed down among the offspring, creating the subspecies of human beings on Old Earth that was labeled an abomination and therefore needed to be sterilized, thus prompting thousands to flee the planet, leading to this point, to her existence.
    Breathing deeply, Axandra allowed the dream images to fade out of her mind. This left behind only the remnant pain of her wounds, for which she asked Quinn to provide one of the useful little green pills that subdued the nerves into a false sense of stillness. She understood why the pills were under Quinn's control rather than her own, as the effect was highly addictive for an individual dealing with chronic pain. In her forgetful and beleaguered condition, she would quite possibly take them continuously without concern for the risk of overdose or dependence. Instead, she forced herself to ask for one only when the pain became nearly unbearable, or when the discomfort prevented sleep or much needed concentration.
    Chewing the sweet tablet and chasing the fragments down her gullet with a glass of water, she assured Quinn she would return to bed as soon as she relieved herself and washed her face. Providing privacy, he closed the bathroom door, but lingered just outside, ears focused for any unusual or alarming noise. Shoulders drooping, she regarded her disheveled appearance in the wide wall-mounted mirror. She straightened the nightdress evenly on each shoulder, combed her fingers through her tangled hair, and used a soft cloth to wash the salty trails from her cheeks.
    You have to believe that this isn't the end of happiness,
she thought to herself.
You can be happy. You can feel safe. You don't have to be afraid anymore. You already beat them once.
    You almost lost
, a voice reminded her, the voice of doubt hiding in a small dark closet in the back of her mind.
    But I didn't. I'm here. And I'm not alone.
    Rolling those pale shoulders back to straighten her spine and lift her chin, she returned to her bed to sleep with confidence.
    +++
    20 th Unimont
    Tyrane stretched his long neck to the right in an attempt to ease the ache of his head upon his shoulders. In the centuries of training the Protectresship Heirs in the art of harboring the Stormfly, he had heard described the sensation of a heavier head, an increased weight that caused physical suffering. He had always assumed this a figment of the imagination of young girls burdened with a destiny beyond their comprehension. He understood now that the Heirs spoke the truth. The weight brought with it invasive, physical pain.
    The Goddess, the queen of the parasites, resided in his physical body. He accepted the role of carrying her forth in hopes of renewing the truce and saving the humans so long under his protection. Instead, she imprisoned his soul. He had little control of his limbs, only those menial functions beneath her capacity to understand or tolerate, such as voiding his bladder and consuming food. She controlled everything else. He and the other Prophets hid here, in this dark cave beneath the hills, waiting, collecting the other Stormflies, providing sustenance, housing the parasites within the human bodies they kidnapped from the bus route. He attempted to refuse the act of the abduction, but he had no control in the matter, nor did any of his subordinates. The Goddess enacted her plan without care for the humans she damaged.
    Resistant moans emanated from the mouths of the unwilling. Without proper preparation, the installment of the creatures caused immense anguish. Adequate training ensured that a body could carry one of the creatures with little distress or