Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 101280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Also, I couldn’t afford one of the ultra-expensive off-planet tickets they sold at the spaceport, even if there was a ship heading for Earth, which of course there wasn’t since Earth was what they called a “Closed Planet.” They—
“Oof!” My train of thought was cut off suddenly as I slammed into a brick wall someone had put in the middle of the tunnel. I had been looking over my shoulder to see if R’xs and the asshole wanna-be rapist customer were following me—(spoiler alert, they most definitely were)—and I hadn’t even seen it. But what was a wall doing in the middle of the way?
I looked up at the wall…and up and up. Because it wasn’t a wall at all—it was an enormous Naggian male standing over me and frowning warningly. But no—not fully Naggian, I saw. He had fangs like a Naggian, but he also had curling horns sprouting from his temples and there were curving blue tattoos covering his bare, muscular arms and the sides of his thick throat.
Suddenly, I recognized him. I had only seen him in person once or twice from a distance but I’d seen countless holo-images of him in the gossip mags the other Blood Whores liked to read.
“Oh my God,” I gasped, staring up at him. “Are you…are you the Baron? Baron Vik’tor?” It was like meeting a rock star in person—or some billionaire tech giant you’d only ever read about on your newsfeed.
“That’s me, all right. Up you get, little girl,” he rumbled, reaching down to pull me to my feet. One big hand wrapped around the furry sleeve of my coat and he pulled me up as though I weighed no more than a feather. He looked at the sigil I still had clutched in one hand and shook his head. “So it’s true—somebody told me you’ve been taking my name in vain.”
“I…I can explain!” I stammered, though I didn’t see how I could. What could I say—that the sigil came with the coat and I had just decided to make use of it? I doubted the Baron would be very sympathetic to my plight. After all, he was at the very top tier of Naggian society and I was on the very bottom.
“There you are!” R’xs and the asshole customer had caught up to me at last. Then both of them saw who was with me.
“Oh, Your Lordship!” R’xs began, licking his thin lips nervously. “Please forgive this insolent little slut for using your sigil. I’m her pimp but I don’t know where or how she got it—possibly she robbed a customer for which I promise you she will be severely punished!”
But it wasn’t R’xs the Baron was looking at—he was frowning at the asshole customer who suddenly had a sheepish expression on his face.
“Azz’lx,” he said. “Thought I might find you here. Why was the girl running from you?”
“Why because she…she didn’t want to give up the sigil!” the customer, whose name sounded like “Ass-licks” blustered. (I thought the name suited him extremely well.)
“More like I didn’t want to get raped,” I snapped back. I was probably going to die for what I had done, I thought, but I refused to go down without a fight.
“Raped?” The Baron’s brow furrowed into a frown. “Azz’lx, I never took you for someone who would take a female against her will.”
I looked at the asshole customer, wondering if he was going to try to deny it. Instead, he tried to play it off.
“I mean…what’s the big deal?” he protested. “She’s nothing but a Blood Whore, after all—you can’t rape a whore. And I was going to pay her pimp for her services.”
“Those particular services are not for sale—which I told you last night!” I said tightly. “I only sell my blood—not anything else.”
“And I told you that you’ll sell whatever the hell I want you to sell, girly!” R’xs snarled. He grabbed me by the wrist, his long fingers biting into my already bruised arm and making me wince in pain. “Begging your pardon, Your Lordships,” he said to the Baron and Azz’lx. “I promise this little slut will pay for her impertinence!” He glared at me. “Now give the Baron back his sigil and let’s go!”
“No!” I yanked back against his grip. I knew if I let him drag me off down the tunnel I was done for—R’xs would kill me slowly and probably enjoy every minute of it, the sadistic bastard!
To my surprise, the Barron said,
“Let her go.”
“I’m sorry—what, Your Lordship?” R’xs didn’t seem to understand him.
“I said let the little female go.”
The Baron’s face was like a thundercloud as he glared down at my pimp. Since he was at least seven feet tall, he towered over R’xs, even though the pimp was usually the tallest guy in the room.
“But Your Lordship, I own her,” he whined, still not letting go of my wrist. “She’s one of my girls—I’ve been running her for six solar months now, ever since she first came to O’nagga Nine!”