Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 66405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Oh, thank goodness! Addie nearly melted with relief when she saw the big Drake Kindred shoving his way angrily through the crowd. As tall as he was, he was head and shoulders above the other males and she could see the red glare of Rage glowing in his eyes.
“Step back—she’s mine!” he snarled at the guards who dropped Addie’s outstretched arms and backed hastily away.
“Oh, Drago!” Addie gasped as he put his arms around her and shielded her nakedness with his big body. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re here!”
“Come on, baby,” he growled. “I’m taking you home.”
“You cannot do that, Kindred.” Ls Prissa’s voice rang above the murmurings of the assembled men and the other women from the Choosing Ceremony. “To take your lady now would be to profane our holiest ritual.”
“I don’t give a Goddess-damn about your fucking ritual!” Drago snarled, his eyes glowing red as he glared at the older woman. “Addison is my Fated Mate and I’m taking her back to the Kindred Mother Ship right fucking now!”
"I don't think so. Guards!" Ls Prissa made a motion and the two guards who had been holding Addie came back—along with about ten others. All of them were holding lethal-looking blasters in their hands.
“Oh, no!” Addie shrank against her Protector’s side. She was desperately afraid that this was one battle Drago couldn’t fight his way out of—he was outnumbered and unarmed.
She could feel the big Kindred tense with anger but to his credit, he didn’t go barreling ahead into the small army of armed guards. Instead he stood his ground and continued to shield her with his body.
“You’re making a big, fucking mistake here,” he growled, speaking to Ls Prissa though he was keeping his eyes on the blasters leveled at their heads. “The Kindred High Council doesn’t take acts of aggression against their emissaries lightly. Addison is an extremely important social scientist—if you harm a hair on her head you’ll have the entire Mother Ship bearing down on your little moon.”
“Now, now, Commander Drago…” Suddenly Lx Sambla stepped forward from the crowd. “I think there’s been a misunderstanding,” he said smoothly. “We don’t wish to harm Addison—only to honor her. She has been chosen to be this year’s Queen of Night.”
“Right—honor her by stripping her in front of a bunch of horny males? I don’t think so!” Drago snarled. “Fuck you and your ‘honor!’”
“You might not be so eager to take back your ‘Fated Mate’ once you get a better look at her,” Ls Prissa remarked, coming forward to stand beside Lx Sambla. “She’s changed, you know—quite dramatically.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Drago growled.
“Show him, my dear,” Ls Prissa urged. “Show him your markings—show him your teeth.”
“What markings?” Drago demanded. But the older woman was already brushing Addie’s long hair aside to bare her back. When he saw the spider web, the big Kindred sucked in a breath. “What the fuck, Addison?” he muttered. “When did you have time to get yourself inked?”
“It’s not ink—not a tattoo,” Addison admitted. “It’s a marking that came from the spider venom they made us drink last night. Only they called it ‘The Bounty of Sheelash.’”
“That is not the only effect the Bounty of Sheelash has upon the chosen,” Ls Prissa remarked. “Go on girl—open your mouth and let him see.”
Addie didn’t want to. She looked up at Drago and her eyes filled with tears but she kept her mouth shut.
“What is it, baby?” he asked, cupping her cheek gently. “Whatever it is, you can show me.”
“Yes, show him! Let him see what you have become!” Ls Prissa exclaimed. “Or do I need to have the guards shoot your Protector to convince you to obey?”
That did it—Addie knew she didn’t have a choice. Trying to hold back the sobs that threatened to overtake her, she opened her mouth at last, baring the two long, razor-sharp vampire fangs.
Drago’s eyes widened in shock and went from blazing red back to his usual gold.
“Goddess above!” He sounded bewildered. “What happened to you, baby?”
“I don’t know.” Addie shook her head. “Or, yes, I do know—it was that damn spider venom! It changed me. I woke up like this.” She gestured at her new fangs. “And now I don’t know what to do!”
“What you’re going to do is honor Sheelash as the Queen of Night,” Ls Prissa said firmly. “But first we must choose four strong young men to Quench your Thirst and breed you. Now then—who wants to volunteer?”
“I will, Mother.” Lx Sambla stepped forward.
“No!” Ls Prissa shook her head. “You’re too young!”
Sambla shook his head.
“I have been celibate long enough—let me do my duty and give the ultimate sacrifice to our Goddess, just as you did three years ago when you Quenched your Thirst with my father and bore me.”
Even in the midst of her emotional turmoil, this caught Addie’s attention. Was Sambla saying he was only three years old? But he looked at least thirty-five! What the hell was going on around here?