Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 88048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
At the moment, Miri had a soothing undersea scene going on which showed the neon-coral reefs of Sepbula Seven’s tropical seas. The room was carpeted in short, light green comfort grass and an overstuffed and faded green sofa was the only place to sit.
“Okay—come though here,” she said, keeping them moving. She brought the two of them to her food prep and dining area and pointed to the small table in the corner which had exactly three chairs. “Sit—I’m going for my med kit.”
The two exchanged a glance and then settled gingerly on her chairs—probably because they were old and rather small for two such large, muscular warriors. Well, they were solidly built—they should hold. Hopefully, Miri thought.
She ran to her bedchamber and got her Med Kit, glad to be able to use it again, even if it was on the dark, growly Monstrum. She’d missed practicing her healing art since she’d been sucked into the situation in Opulex. She wished that she could have refused her Aunt Razmataz’s call to come be her heir, but she’d always been fond of the older woman.
Aunt Raz had backed Miri’s mother in her decision to move to the other side of the planet and Join with her bodyslave even though it was something that Yonnite Mistresses simply didn’t do. It had been a terrible scandal in Opulex but Aunt Raz had never wavered in her support of her younger sister.
She’d always been kind to Miri too, sending her elaborate birthday gifts and inviting her to spend the summers in her luxurious mansion. She had been a kind soul, despite living in dissolute splendor, so when she’d called on Miri to be her heir, Miri hadn’t felt like she could refuse.
I should have refused, she told herself now as she gathered her kit. Should have politely asked her to choose someone else.
If only she’d turned down her Aunt’s wealth and position, she could have avoided the situation she was in now—hiding like a frightened mouse from a deadly predator who was determined to kill her. To cut her to bloody ribbons just as he had done to Mistress Mapletaste while she screamed and screamed—
No—stop it! Stop it right now!
Miri pushed the horrible thoughts and memories away. She refused to think about any of this—she would only give herself nightmares…again.
Keeping her thoughts firmly on the present, she carried the Med Kit back to the food prep area…but stopped short, just outside the doorway as she heard the low rumble of male voices.
“…a beautiful little female, isn’t she?” That was Lynx’s voice—deep and purring like a big cat.
“I hadn’t noticed,” came the reply. Those deep, growling tones were Saxon, the dark one who had been a kind of half-wolf before he had changed back to looking human again.
“Oh come on, Brother—don’t lie to me,” Lynx said. “I felt your interest through our bond. I haven’t felt anything like that from you in years. Not since—”
“Don’t say her name,” Saxon interrupted.
“Why not? Why can’t we at least talk about her? We both loved her!” Lynx protested.
“We killed her.” Saxon’s deep, growling voice was flat. “We should have waited.”
“She was ready!” Lynx said. “Hell, we all were! We’d been waiting two years at that point!”
Waiting? Miri wondered. Waiting for what? And who had the two of them killed? And how?
“We loved her,” Lynx said again, since Saxon hadn’t answered him. “And she loved us. Why can’t we ever even talk about her? If you would just—”
“You’d better shut your mouth if you want to keep our business private,” Saxon growled. “The little female we’ve been sent to guard is right around the corner—I can hear her breathing.”
What? How can he hear me? Miri held her breath reflexively. What should she do? Would they be upset if they knew what she had heard? Honestly, she still wasn’t sure what they had been talking about. It sounded like they had loved the same woman and had somehow killed her—which was frightening.
Better not let them know what you heard. Just pretend everything is normal, she told herself. Yes, that was probably the best thing to do.
Heart pounding, she strolled around the corner as though nothing had happened and came to stand in front of the two of them. They were both so tall that even with them sitting and her standing, they were all still nearly eye-to-eye. But Miri refused to let their height and huge, muscular bodies intimidate her.
“All right,” she said, plunking her Med Kit down on the table between them. “Let’s see your wounds—both of you,” she added, looking at Lynx as well as Saxon. “The Cast-offs have some nasty weapons and sometimes they put filth on them on purpose to cause infection.”
“That sounds like the fuckers we ran into,” Saxon growled, turning to present his wounded upper arm. He and Lynx were both wearing black leather trousers and boots along with leather vests, which made his shoulder easy to get to, Miri noted.