Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 94582 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94582 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
“Give Shazzer the blaster, girly!” he snarled, reaching with his free hand to try and grab it from Sky’s grip. “No more play time—fuck time and dinner time now!”
Sky kept her blaster, but everything was going gray around her. Her vision was winking in and out as it got harder and harder to stay conscious.
Grimly, she fought to stay awake. She couldn’t give in to weakness! She had to—
Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice—but it was so distorted with fury, she almost didn’t recognize it.
“Let her go right now or die, you fucking Trollox!” it roared.
Forcing her eyes to focus, Sky saw a familiar figure to go with the voice—it was Torin…but Torin as she had never seen him.
The big Kindred’s golden eyes had gone blood red and they were glowing in the darkness. Also, he seemed bigger somehow—almost as big as the enormous Trollox which still held her.
“Tor…in,” she gasped, his name wheezing out on a breath of air she didn’t have to spare. “Can’t…breathe!”
“Let her go—she’s MINE!”
The last words were a roar so loud that Sky wished she could clap her hands over her ears. But when she lifted her hands to try, she remembered she still had the blaster in one hand. Dizzily, she tried to point it at the middle head’s one remaining eye but then the Trollox’s grip on her tightened yet again. The warm trickle of blood down her inner thigh had become a river and huge black flowers were beginning to bloom in her line of sight.
“Torin!” she gasped again and then everything went black.
TWENTY
TORIN
Torin hadn’t liked letting her go alone. Call it sexist if you wanted to, but he didn’t think a female—no matter how well armed she was—ought to venture out into the streets of the bad part of Opulex by herself. There were too many angry males who hated females out there, roaming in gangs and hoping to catch some Mistress—or any female really—alone and unprotected.
He’d just been telling himself he shouldn’t have let Sky’lar go—no matter what she said—when he heard shouting and then shooting.
“Goddess damn it! I knew I should have gone with her!” he growled and then he was off the ship and running as fast as he could, hoping he could get to her in time.
He took several twists and turns, following Sky’lar’s sweet, feminine scent easily but then he smelled something else—the dirty odor of unwashed males. And then he heard them shouting.
There was a group of them gathered at the mouth of an alley and they were yelling and cheering something that was happening—something Torin couldn’t see because it was just around the corner in the depths of the long, narrow alley.
Then he heard Sky’lar’s voice, gasping something and deep, grinding tones answering her. All his senses were suddenly on high alert—whatever was with her in the alley, it was no fucking joke.
Drawing his hand-cannon, he rushed into the knot of males gathered around the alley mouth. They barely had time to turn before he was taking them out. He didn’t bother shooting, though—he was saving the charge on his cannon for whatever had Sky’lar. A few well-placed punches cleared the lot of onlookers and he was finally able to see into the alley.
What he saw made his blood run cold—then hot with anger. An enormous Trollox was holding Sky’lar above its three heads, crushing her waist and ribcage in one massive hand. She had her blaster in one hand but she’d been wounded—Torin could smell the hot, coppery scent of fresh blood mixed with the rancid musk of the Trollox.
Suddenly, his vision was stained with red and he felt a low, possessive growl building in his throat.
Torin dimly understood what was happening, though it had never happened to him before. The sight of the female he wanted and was beginning to care for in the clutches of this fucking monster was driving him into Rage—the state of berserker fury all Kindred warriors go into when a beloved female is hurt or threatened.
I’ll fucking kill him! he thought as the fury poured through him like a river of blood and fire. I’ll tear every one of his heads off and fuck his skulls with the muzzle of my weapon until his brains leak out his ears!
He snarled at the Trollox to let Sky’lar go, hardly knowing what he was saying.
“She’s MINE!” he heard himself roar—staking a claim he hadn’t meant to take. But the second the words were out of his mouth, he knew they were true. He hadn’t known Sky’lar for long, but he already wanted her—wanted to Claim her, even though as a Hybrid, he couldn’t Bond any female. Nevertheless she was his and he was damned if this dirty fucking Trollox was going to have or hurt her!
With another roar, he rushed forward. The Trollox turned to face him, an ugly look on all three heads. Sky’lar had shot out one of its eyes, but she was now hanging limply from its enormous hand.