The door opened as a vehicle pulled up to the side entrance. A large EMV slowed to a stop, and I watched as two guards exited the transport center, checked the vehicle and driver before leading the three females, the consort and the rest of the guards inside. The shuttle was large, but fast, moving past me in a blur as I threw my tracker into the air. The small, autonomous drone would fly just out of sight above them and allow me to follow their every stop and destination through the computer, displaying coordinates I could follow easily.
Racing to my own EMV, I quickly followed, frowned when I spotted a second drone tracking the shuttle. Lord Jax’s vehicle was much faster than mine. Much more expensive. My soldier’s wages didn’t allow for such luxuries, nor did I care for them as long as the EMV took me where I needed to go. I was not frivolous. Depending on how far they traveled, I could remain right behind them, or be twenty minutes delayed.
The assassins, however, would surely have the very best EMV money could buy. They needed to monitor their prey, know exactly where they were headed. Follow. Attack. Kill.
Fuck. I tapped my comm and placed a call to Thordis Jax. His bleary-eyed assistant answered the call.
“What is it? It’s the middle of the night, sir. Who are you and why are you calling me?”
“I need to speak directly with Lord Thordis Jax. It’s an emergency.” I flicked a gaze from the drones to the rear of the Earth females’ EMV.
“Hummph. No, it is not. Lord Jax is asleep, and I assure you, whatever your emergency, it can wait for a decent hour.”
“Listen to me,” I countered, tipping my tone low. “Wake him. Tell him his special guests have assassins following them.”
“Who are you?” he asked instead of taking my command seriously.
“It doesn’t matter. Wake him the fuck up and give him the message.”
The older gentleman snorted again, rubbing his eyes, and I slammed my hand on the comm to end the call. Idiot. I didn’t have time to argue, and I wasn’t about to tell him who I was. Especially when I didn’t know if this seemingly innocent old servant was, in fact, feeding information to Prime Nial’s enemies. Prime Nial himself had said to trust no one.
I was on my own.
The assassins would beat me to their destination. Already, the EMV carrying the Earth females was ten minutes out of range. I watched as they grew farther from me on my EMV’s display. Fuck.
The assassins would not delay. They would complete their task, swiftly and without mercy, and disappear into the night. I could only hope I got there before all of the ladies’ guards were dead.
4
Trinity, The Grande Penthouse, The Mytikas Summit Housing Complex
Besides being a gigolo, Cassander was also a tour guide. On our ride, he shared details about Mytikas, the large city we were in. It reminded me of New York or Hong Kong. Sprawling. Crowded. If it weren’t for the fact the vehicle we were in was more Buck Rogers than Buick, it would seem like we were on Earth.
The same went for the hotel we’d entered. Swanky, like the Ritz. It even had a penthouse level. It seemed social status wasn’t reserved just for Earth. We were in a suite, with Vegas-worthy views. Lights and tall buildings were all that could be seen. I had no idea what time it was, but it was dark out. I didn’t feel the least bit tired, although I was sure it had more to do with adrenaline than anything else. That and the constant, aching hunger I had to be touched. I felt like an addict who desperately needed a hit. Sex was practically all I could think about. My body actually hurt.
Maybe after a few orgasms, I’d feel better and conk right out.
“There are three bedrooms to your guest quarters, thanks to your host, Lord Jax,” Cassander said, pointing to the doors off of the suite’s central room. Decorated in soft colors, creams and tans, the suite was elegant and screamed wealth. Yeah, Lord Jax was definitely working it. Artwork graced the walls; abstracts I assumed were of Aleran landscapes, but it could have been the Grand Canyon for all I knew. If it weren’t for the doors that swished open and closed automatically like in Star Trek, it felt familiar and… normal. As if Alera wasn’t as culturally different from Earth as I’d assumed. “The guards will remain in the central room, assuring our safety while we are… occupied. There is a bedroom for each of you, my ladies. You and I, Trinity, will take this one.”
Cassander was bold enough to take my hand in his and lead me in the direction he spoke. The touch was gentle, warm, but it didn’t reassure me, only made me nervous. Yeah, a gigolo to ease my Aleran Ardor. Soooo different from Earth.
Faith came over to me from the window where she’d been taking in the view. “I’ll pull one of these comfy chairs up here. Right by your door. If you need anything, I’ll be… well, listening.”
She blushed, and so did I. Like she wanted to listen to her sister having sex with a stranger. I winced, and apparently, Cassander saw my less than excited expression.
“You have nothing to fear with me. I promise you, my lady. You will feel only pleasure.” His fingertips grazed the inside of my wrist in an act meant to be seductive. Instead, I felt annoyed. My body liked it, humming to life with sudden interest. But me? The battle going on inside my head? Angry, upset, I hate this me was definitely winning.
I glanced at Faith who bit her lip. I wasn’t sure if she was trying to stifle a smile or keep from vomiting.
“Does that thing have real bullets or lasers or what? And where can I get one?” Destiny asked. Faith and I turned to see our curious—and ruthless sister—tugging a space-age weapon from one of the guards’ hip holsters.
“Um… be careful with that,” the guard warned. He was the second guard, the hot one. Or, the hottest one, because none of them were bad-looking.
Destiny narrowed her eyes and tossed her purple hair back. She waved the gun around as if she were an idiot who’d never touched a weapon before. “What, you mean someone might get hurt?”
The guard blanched and reached for the weapon.
Destiny dropped the act and aimed the gun at the floor. “Easy, soldier. I was just playing with you.” Her deft hands fiddled with it. “Stun mode. Fascinating.”
Faith rolled her eyes. “She’ll be entertained for hours.” Faith’s gaze traveled over the guards’ uniforms, taking in the array of weapons, knives, blasters, and odd attachments that Destiny would, undoubtedly, dissect like a scientist. If there was a PhD in weapons, she’d have a plaque on her bedroom wall. Shiny and silver, I could just see it surrounded by the blast of purple bedding and purple paint on the walls.
“Yeah, giving the guards heart attacks,” I countered.
“So forget about her. About us. What’s going on out here. Just… do your thing.” Faith pulled me away from Cassander, into a tight hug. Her lips were next to my ear, and her voice so low I was sure no one else could hear her. “I know you hate this. I’m sorry. But we need to find Mom, and we need you to survive long enough to help us do that. Okay. We’re right here. We got your back. You know that. We got you.”
Tears. Great. That was soooo not what I needed right now. “Thanks.”
Faith nodded and stepped away, taking up her new position in the chair, guarding the hallway that led to the fuck-den. Sheesh. Was I really going to do this? Did I have a choice? Every moment since we’d arrived on the planet had made my Ardor worse. I didn’t know if it was the alien men, the air, or what, but my Ardor had gone from the low simmer it had been on Earth to a full blown assault on my senses. I couldn’t think. Could barely breathe. I wasn’t a child. I could control myself, but I was miserable. Uncomfortable. Needy. My skin so sensitive that Faith’s hug had made my skin burn with heat.
Damn.
I looked at Cassander and held out my hand with all the enthusiasm of a criminal facing down a firing squad.
“We’ll be right here, Trin. Right here.” Faith assured me once more with a nod.
“Okay.”
Cassander said nothing but took my hand with a gentle tug. I gave up, let him lead me i
nto the bedroom. Oh, there was a big bed all right. Huge. White blankets and fluffy pillows all turned down, ready for entry. I felt like I was a virgin sacrifice as he closed the door behind us. Locked it.
“Wine, my lady?” he asked, going to a table and pouring a dark liquid into two glasses.
“Can’t hurt,” I said on a sigh, holding my hand out. I took a sip. Fruity wine burst on my tongue. It wasn’t grapes that had been fermented, but something else. Still, it tasted good and I needed some liquid courage. And to loosen up.
I took another gulp as Cassander shrugged out of his jacket. Beneath, he wore a white shirt that was trim to his body. As if it was the most natural thing in the world, he unbuttoned the shirt and slid it down his shoulders and back. He was pure muscle. Step one in his seduction plan, wine. Step two, strip tease.
And I still didn’t want him. Shit. I didn’t feel all too teased, so I had to hope he had toys in his arsenal, maybe in the bedside table, or a really wicked tongue. I took another gulp of wine, stared at the defined masses of muscle moving under his skin. He was built. Nice arms. Really nice backside. The way my pussy was pulsing and my breasts ached, I should have been all over him. I should just take off my clothes, lay down on the bed, close my eyes and let this man work some kind of magic on me.
He turned, his wine in hand and a sympathetic look on his face. Sympathy, and lust. So, I was what? I new notch on his belt? Oh, look at the famous consort who got to fuck the future queen? He didn’t know that, but I did. And I was not feeling this.
I glanced at the bed again and tried to imagine him pounding into me as I held onto the headboard. Or… put my head under a pillow? Kept my eyes closed? Turned off the lights?
I set the wine glass down on the bedside table, shaking my head. No, this wasn’t going to work. There was no way in hell I’d let this guy go down on me, no matter how skilled his tongue. It would take four days of foreplay to get my mind as ready as my body for sex. And even then, the idea of him grunting and sweating and pumping into me just made me want to gag. No. Casual sex wasn’t my thing. Never had been. So, this stupid alien body was just going to have to shut up and deal for a while.
Yeah, my girl parts were eager for a big cock. But, they didn’t rule me and they were going to have to be a little more discriminate than an alien prostitute. They’d just have to chill the fuck out.
“Look, Cassander, I’m sure you’re really great at your job. Total stud and all, but I can’t do this. I’ll be sure to give you a great review, but sometimes a girl’s just got to say no.”
He looked appalled. Shocked. Like I’d hit him with a stun gun kind of amazed. Had no one turned him down before? God, his ego must be huge.
“But, my lady—”
His wrist chimed. Glancing at it, he stiffened impossibly further.
“What’s the matter?” I asked, looking from his wary eyes to his wrist.
“There’s, um… a threat. A warning has been sent.”
I stilled, my heart leaping into my throat. He might want to bang me, but right now he was the guy who knew his way around Alera. He had a wrist thingie that sent him stuff like those fancy mini-computer watches on Earth. If he said there was a threat, I believed him. I was the visitor here and had to trust him, at least in this.
“Let’s go in the other room with the guards.” He held his arm out signaling me to precede him. “I need to give them this update.” I walked toward the door, but didn’t make it two steps before the room’s window shattered. I scrunched my shoulders up and ducked down near the door, my hands instinctively going to my head. A dark figure swung in. Covered heat to toe in black, he hung from a wire Mission Impossible style.
Holy shit.
“Run, my la—“ A blast hit Cassander in the chest and he crumpled mid-word as I scrambled to open the door. His second blast hit the door above my head and I crawled on all fours into the hallway as Cassander bellowed behind me. I heard a scuffle. Another shot. I slammed the door, screaming for my sisters.
“We’re under attack! Run!”
That’s when I saw Faith crouched down behind her chair, a dead guard on the ground next to her. Destiny was screaming obscenities around the corner, out of sight.
“Faith? What are you doing?”
Faith turned to me, her eyes round with fear. “You know I don’t kill things.”
I closed the distance as the sound of several shots were fired in the living room area. The explosion of glass made Faith cringe and she peeked around the corner. “Ouch. That was a nice table.”
“Seriously?” I pulled her back, out of my way, and took a quick glance around the corner. One guard was still alive. One. But he was hurt. Bad. Blood was pooling under his head on the nice, thick cream-colored carpet, but he was still breathing. And my sister, Destiny, was bleeding, circling, looking for an opportunity to get in a killing blow to one of the bad guys. It wasn’t the guy who came through the window after me, so that meant there was more than one. She leapt forward, locked in hand-to-hand combat, moving so fast I couldn’t keep track of her motions.
Faith peeked up over the chair next to me. “Jesus, our sister is scary.”
“Shut up and get in there.” I hadn’t forgotten about the attacker in the bedroom. And I had no idea if Cassander was dead or alive.
“What? No way.”
“There’s another one coming from the bedroom,” I hissed. Pushing to get her moving, I scrambled around the dead guard on the floor and took his weapon as we positioned ourselves on the other side of the chair. “You keep track of Destiny. I’ll watch the hall.”
Inspecting the weapon in my hands, I frowned. I knew the basics about handguns—Destiny had made us at least go to the firing range with her a few times—but this wasn’t a weapon like anything I’d ever seen before. Shit.
The bedroom door opened and I pushed Faith. Hard.
“Trin!”
“Move!”
The mask had been ripped from my attacker’s head and I could see his face. His hair was dark, his eyes a brilliant green I’d never seen before. His forehead was bleeding from a deep cut—one point to Cassander—but I wished he was still covered up because now I could see his eyes, the grim turn of his curled lips, and all I saw on his face was death. If I saw his face, that meant he had no intention of keeping us alive to identify him. I’d seen enough crime scene shows on TV to know that.
I lifted the gun and pointed it at the assassin. His eyes narrowed, but he kept walking. I squeezed the trigger, or whatever it was. Nothing. Crap. How did this thing work?
“Shoot him!” That was Destiny. How the hell she knew I was facing down a killer, I had no idea. She was a freak with eyes in the back of her head.
“I can’t get the gun to work!”
Destiny took a punch to the gut, distracted by my situation. She punched back, hard, swinging and connecting with her opponent’s jaw. “Safety on top, not the side. Orange light.”
I followed her swift instructions, or tried to, pressing on the orange glowing area. The light turned a pale, pale green. I lifted the gun again, but it was too late. He was on top of us, pulling a very big, very long knife free from the sheath strapped to his thigh. I screamed.
“Shoot him!” Faith yelled, kicking the nearest chair into him to buy us some time.
I fired. A blast of light, or laser, or whatever, shot from the gun. Direct hit in the chest. He just smiled.
I fired again. Again.
He looked amused now. Either there was some weird setting on the gun or he was wearing an alien version of Kevlar.
Shit.
The door exploded inward with a boom that made my ears scream in pain. I squeezed my eyes shut, but knew the bad guy was right in front of me. I couldn’t avoid him. Faith dropped to her knees, covering her head.
The assassin looked away from me, toward the door, and all amusement faded from his eyes. I might not be a threat to him, but whomever destroyed the suite’s entry door sure was.
5
“Shoot him!” A woman shouted on the other side of the door, followed by the sound of repeated blaster fire.
I didn’t wait, setting a charge on the locked door for three seconds. Moving to the side, I closed my eyes, weapon drawn, and counted.
Three. Two. One. Long fucking seconds.
The explosion rocked the hallway, the lights above me flickering off then back on as I burst into the room.
I took it all in with a sweeping glance.
A female—with strangely colored hair—was fighting one of the assassins.
A second assassin was dead on the ground, surrounded by four dead guards. The difference between good and bad was easy to distinguish; the guards wore identical, and familiar, uniforms, the assassins all black. Their faces were covered.
Another guard, the lone surviving one it seemed, was crumpled on the ground, trying to reach for his blaster, the blood under his head meant he’d most likely black out before he got it.
The other two females were on the far side of the room from him, crouched behind a chair, one firing a weapon on a third assassin.
He whipped his head around toward me at the sound of the blast and my entry, clearly confident the female’s blaster shots would do him no arm. Our eyes locked.
I knew that face. I narrowed my eyes at him, and he all but dared me to attack. Bastard. Prime Nial had been right to call me. I doubted either of us expected danger to come upon the females so swiftly after their arrival, nor from this band of evil. It hadn’t been more than an hour since their transport. These females held some kind of power, something very powerful people were willing to kill to contain.
“Get down!” I yelled at the females, hoping they would listen. Raising my own weapon. He wore protective armor, but that would not stop me from killing him with a precise shot to his head. I frowned when the assassin turned and ran, disappearing down the hallway where I assumed there was a bedroom.
Ascension Saga, Book 1: Interstellar Brides®: Ascension Saga Page 4