Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 85794 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 429(@200wpm)___ 343(@250wpm)___ 286(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85794 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 429(@200wpm)___ 343(@250wpm)___ 286(@300wpm)
Salacious Delta was ruled by females who often kept the genitals of their “male-wives” locked in chastity cages. It was devoted to the Female-led lifestyle.
“Yes, the ‘Twisted System,’” Commander Sylvan said firmly, breaking into his train of thought.
“Excuse me, but why is it called that?” Phoebe asked, raising her eyebrows.
“I’ll tell you later,” Sirex growled.
He had no idea what planet the two of them were going to, but any of them could provoke serious problems unless he was very, very careful to keep his Scourge instincts contained.
As Commander Sylvan began to brief them on their mission, Sirex cut his eyes to the left. He examined his protégé from the corner of his eye, wondering what Phoebe was thinking…
2
PHOEBE
This could be my last chance! Phoebe thought as she cast a sidelong look at her mentor. Their eyes met and she looked away quickly, blushing. My last chance to let Sir know how I feel…to finally become more than just mentor and mentee or just two Agents working separately in the field.
As she listened to the details of their first and only mission together, she couldn’t help casting her mind back to the beginning of their relationship—back to when she’d first met Commander Sirex, the man she was desperately in love with…
It had been a rough start. Phoebe had been fifteen minutes late to their first meeting, because she’d gotten turned around at the tram station that ran the length and breadth of the Mother Ship.
Because the Kindred ship was huge—about a fourth the size of the Moon, which it orbited—taking the wrong tram meant she went in the opposite direction and then had to double back to get to the meeting place. By the time she reached the Twin Moons café, breathing hard from having run all the way from the tram station, Phoebe was sure she was going to be in big trouble.
The artificial green sun that powered the Mother Ship was shining brightly and she could clearly see the other cadets—mostly female—sitting at the sunny outdoor café tables. Most were talking to their new mentors, the senior agents who had been assigned to train them. They were all wearing the same uniform she was—a scarlet button-down blouse tucked into plain black slacks with comfortable black flats.
Only one table was empty and at first Phoebe was sure that her own mentor, Commander Sirex, had given up on her and left when she hadn’t shown up on time. Then a figure stepped out of the shadows cast by the awning at the back of the café and Phoebe’s eyes grew wide.
Her new mentor was huge.
Most Kindred were around seven feet tall but she was sure that Commander Sirex was even taller than that. Phoebe was five feet eleven inches tall herself—well over the normal height for a woman—but he made her feel positively petite as he strolled forward to meet her. His shoulders were fully twice as wide as her own and his physical presence made him seem even bigger.
Phoebe had been wondering what kind of Kindred her mentor was before this meeting—no one had told her and she supposed she would know when she first met him. After all, the different branches of the Kindred family tree were fairly easy to distinguish. Beast Kindred had golden eyes and black hair while Blood Kindred usually had blonde hair and fangs. Twin Kindred were the easiest to tell because they always came in pairs—a Light Twin and a Dark Twin.
But Commander Sirex didn’t look like any kind of Kindred Phoebe had ever seen. His black hair was cut short and his olive skin had a pearly gray sheen to it that almost made it shimmer. And his eyes…it was his eyes that caught her attention and made her bite back a gasp.
Her new mentor had the red-on-black eyes of the deadly enemy that had attacked the Earth over ten years ago—he had the same eyes as the Scourge! The whites of his eyes were pure, obsidian black and the irises were a blazing, blood red.
She stared up at him uncertainly as he came to stand in front of her, his muscular arms crossed over his broad chest. He wasn’t wearing a standard issue Kindred uniform. Instead he wore battle leathers—a black leather vest and tight black trousers tucked into high black boots. He had a blaster clipped to one side of his belt and a long, curving knife clipped to the other. Phoebe could see scars all over his massive body, as though he had been in many, many fights and his red eyes blazed into hers as he stared down at her.
Was this imposing figure who looked more like a sleep paralysis demon than a Kindred warrior really her mentor? Apparently so because when she asked in a trembling voice, “Commander Sirex?” he nodded.