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)
It was a tiny café with just two tables—a place that specialized in the mood-boosting thresh that nearly everyone on Portex Three was mildly addicted to. Sky had already had a cup this morning, but that wasn’t really what she was after.
“Hey, where are we? This isn’t the way to the tube station,” Commander Torin growled, looking at the two tables and the small hut across from them.
“Have you ever had thresh?” Sky asked him.
“No, and I don’t want any now.” He looked irritated at the delay—clearly he was itching to get to the crime scene. Sky was too, but this lesson came first.
“This will just take a moment—my treat,” she said coolly. “Two iced thresh with cold kichi foam,” she told the little male who skittered out of the small hut across from the tables. That should take some time—kitchi foam was notoriously difficult to make. The server nodded swiftly and went back inside.
“What’s this about?” Commander Torin was looking at her again. This time his eyebrows were lowered, his brow was wrinkled, and the corners of his mouth were turned down.
A threatening or angry or upset expression, Sky thought. She had vague memories of her mother making that look when she was unhappy with something Sky had done. She kept her own features carefully neutral, so as not to tip her hand.
“You look strong,” she said, not answering his question. “And big—are all Kindred males as large as you?”
He shrugged his massive shoulders.
“Not many, actually. I’m a Hybrid—a mixture of Beast Kindred and Giant Kindred. That’s where I get my size and my skin coloring.” He nodded at his muscular arm, which was the color of gray marble.
So he actually was half giant—no wonder he was so ridiculously big and muscular, Sky thought!
“How strong are you, though?” She took a seat at one of the tables and Torin—reluctantly, she thought—sat opposite her.
“Strong enough,” he rumbled in that deep voice of his that felt like it was vibrating her bones. “Why do you ask?”
“I was thinking of challenging you to a little wrestling contest.” Sky placed her right elbow firmly on the table and held out her hand. “What do you say?”
Torin scowled—she thought that was the name for that face he was making.
“Look, Darlin’—I know I’m on your turf. We don’t need to get into a pissing contest to prove who’s in charge. I’ll follow your lead if you want—just let me look at the evidence.”
Sky raised her eyebrows.
“A ‘pissing’ contest? What’s that?”
“Never mind.” He shook his head. “The point is, I don’t want to hurt you. You’re tall for a female and I’m sure you’re strong too, but well…” He shrugged again, as though to indicate that fact that he was a head and shoulders taller than her and doubtless much stronger as well.
This rankled Sky even more, but she kept her face calm.
“Come on—it’s a tradition around here—a contest of strength between new partners,” she told him. Which wasn’t exactly a lie—though the contest was almost always a friendly affair and she didn’t mean for this to end in a friendly way at all.
“Well…I suppose if you have to learn the hard way…”
Commander Torin sighed and put his own elbow on the table. Reaching forward, he enclosed Sky’s hand in his own much larger one.
“Good.” Sky tightened her grip, trying not to notice how warm his long fingers were. His heat was surprising to her but then, she was used to being around Serpentines all the time and their body temperature was many degrees below her own—not surprising since they were a cold-blooded species.
“You ready?” Commander Torin asked, raising his eyebrows. “I’ll try to go easy on you, Darlin’.”
It was the second time he’d called her that demeaning nickname—it only made Sky want to teach him a lesson even more.
“Oh, I’m ready,” she assured him.
“Count it down then,” he offered.
“To the ready then,” Sky said, leaning forward as though she was about to give her best effort. “On your mark…get set…Go!”
But as she uttered the word, “Go!” she slipped her hand out of the big Kindred’s grasp and came around behind him in one feline-quick move. Reaching down with a fluid motion, she drew the short, sharp dagger she kept in her boot and plastered herself against his broad back. One arm went around his thick throat and the point of the knife ended up just below his right ear.
Torin froze.
“What the fuck, Darlin’?” he said in a steady voice. “What in the Seven Hells do you think you’re doing?”
“Teaching you a little lesson,” Sky breathed in his ear. “Listen to me and listen good, Giant—you might be bigger and stronger than me but you’re in my territory now and this is my case. That means my reputation is on the line and I’m not going to let you screw it up.”