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)
“I guess I have been—I just don’t know how exactly.” Torin ran a hand through his hair again. “Am I a submissive now? Sexually, I mean?”
“Does it matter if you are?” Sky countered. “Would that really change your view of yourself that much?”
“Yes, it fucking would,” he growled, glaring angrily at the floor. “That’s not how I see myself, but from the minute I first met you, I’ve been letting you take the lead and enjoying it.”
“Is that so bad?” Sky asked. “Maybe you’ve always wanted a female to take the lead but you’ve never met one who could before. I mean, you’re a hell of a lot to take on, Giant,” she added, using her hands to indicate his huge size. “I’m not afraid of you, but I can see that most females would be.”
“I don’t know.” He shook his head. “I just don’t know.”
“Maybe we could find out together.” Sky bit her lip. “I guess this probably isn’t the time to say this, but I was thinking…hoping that we could spend some more time together after this case is over and done with. Maybe…get to know each other a little better.”
“I was thinking the same thing…before what just happened,” he admitted heavily. He looked up and gave Sky an unhappy look. “There’s no denying there’s something between us, Darlin’—I felt it the minute I saw you. But now…I don’t know. I think I need some time to think about things.”
Sky couldn’t help feeling rejected, but she refused to show it.
“Whatever works for you works for me,” she said neutrally. “Maybe it’s best if we just part ways after this is all over.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Torin rumbled. “I still don’t know if—”
But his next words were cut off by a voice screaming in terror.
“The High Priestess! She’s under attack! Help—oh, help her!”
FORTY-ONE
SKY
Before she knew it, Sky’lar’s dagger was out of her boot and in her hand and they were running as fast as they could down the stone corridor. There were Serpentine pilgrims everywhere as well as the priestesses and Shrine guards, all crowding the way.
Torin’s muscular bulk came in handy here—he pushed through the crowd easily and Sky was glad to follow in his wake. She was desperate to get to the High Priestess before she met the same fate as all the other victims.
At the end of the corridor, she saw Neen’ya running, her slitted eyes wide and her forked tongue flickering in agitation.
“The High Priestess?” Torin demanded harshly as they caught up to her. “Where is she?”
“Her private rooms, last I heard. Come, I’m going there now.”
The acolyte fell into step with them and they ran down another side corridor together. Suddenly Neen’ya pointed.
“There!”
Looking ahead, Sky saw they were late to the party—there was already a group of guards, including Lunk’or, the Head Guard—surrounding a Mammalian male with a white face.
“Attack the High Priestess, would you?” Lunk’or hissed, his forked tongue lashing from his lipless mouth. “We’ll show you how we deal with murdering bastards like you!”
And with those words, he stabbed the white-faced male in the stomach with his sword. Sky would have sworn that the blade was purely ornamental but it went through the white-faced killer easily, coming out the other side in a bloody point.
“Ahhh!” the killer moaned, wilting over the blade. “All females must die—don’t you see? Males should rule! Not…females…”
Then he choked and gurgled and a slimy trail of black liquid oozed from between his thin black lips. More black ichor seeped from the wound in his stomach and back.
“Don’t touch the black stuff!” Torin shouted, his deep voice echoing over the babble of the crowd. “It’s a deadly soul poison. Be careful!”
The guards drew back—all but Lunk’or, who still had his sword thrust deep in the assailant.
“This fucker tried to hurt the High Priestess,” he growled as Sky and Torin came up. “Is he the one you’re looking for?”
Sky scanned the white face and saw the male had black lips and deep wrinkles around his eyes, which were now closed in death. The killer was dressed in black and he was much larger than she would have expected—in fact, he was almost as big as Lunk’or himself and not nearly as thin as they had thought.
“Looks like him,” Torin said, frowning. “We’ll run tests once we get him back to the Mother Ship but I’d say yes—this is the male we’ve been looking for.” He shook his head. “I just don’t understand why he’d try such a public attack.”
“Maybe he got lazy,” Sky suggested, though it seemed strange to her too. “Or complacent. Maybe he’d killed so many women he felt invincible.”
“Well, I guess he wasn’t,” Torin said. He looked at the Head Guard. “Did you see him come in the Shrine?”
Lunk’or nodded.
“Thought he looked strange so I followed him—quiet-like, ya know? Then, the minute he saw the High Priestess, he made a run for her. So I ran after him and he got a sword though his guts for his trouble.”