Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 124077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 620(@200wpm)___ 496(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 620(@200wpm)___ 496(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
Cody and Lisa were somewhere below him and he was going to get them out.
Taurex used his exclusive access key to call the golden elevator, then rode it down one level to his penthouse first. The doors opened onto the familiar foyer, and he moved quickly through the silent rooms toward the locked compartment where he kept the weapons he normally carried when conducting business on less civilized worlds.
There were several choices available to him—short blades, pulse weapons, and a compact Kindred blaster he had acquired years ago through legitimate military channels. Taurex chose the blaster immediately.
It was not without risk. The weapon was Kindred technology and any forensic examination of the damage it caused might eventually point investigators toward someone with access to off-world arms.
Taurex didn’t particularly care about that at the moment, but he cared very much about getting Cody and Lisa out without alerting every armed male in the suite below. Human projectile weapons were loud. They were primitive, violent things that announced every shot with an explosion and sent metal fragments tearing through flesh and walls alike.
The Kindred blaster was nearly silent and right now stealth and speed mattered more than anything else.
Taurex checked the charge, slid the weapon beneath one side of his dark jacket and returned to the elevator. His reflection stared back at him from the polished golden wall as the car descended a single floor—a huge horned male with golden eyes gone cold and flat, all traces of the businessman who argued with Terra about filing cabinets replaced by the warrior he had once been.
The elevator doors opened soundlessly and Taurex stepped into the hallway.
The coordinates had narrowed the location to the largest apartment on the floor. It wasn’t a true penthouse—his own residence occupied that designation—but it was large by human standards and shared the same expensive finishes as the rest of the building. Cream stone floors gleamed beneath recessed lighting, and decorative panels of dark wood lined the walls between doors.
Taurex walked toward the unit at the end of the corridor. Before he reached it, he heard something—a child crying.
The sound was faint enough that a human probably wouldn’t have caught it through the thick apartment walls, but Taurex’s sensitive Monstrum ears picked it up instantly. A high, broken sob followed by another softer sound—someone trying desperately not to cry.
Lisa.
His blood went cold—the Goddess had been right.
Taurex stopped outside the door and forced himself to breathe through the surge of Rage that threatened to overwhelm his judgment. Charging inside roaring might satisfy every protective instinct he possessed, but it could get the younglings killed. He had no idea how many males were inside or where they were positioned, and until he knew, he had to move carefully.
He knocked.
For several seconds nothing happened. Then Taurex heard heavy footsteps approaching from inside.
The door opened perhaps four inches, restrained by a security latch. A human male peered through the gap. He was broad through the shoulders and wore a dark T-shirt with a gun-shaped bulge beneath one arm, but Taurex dismissed the possibility that this was Orlov almost immediately because there was no white stripe in his hair.
Terra had described Viktor Orlov’s appearance several times without realizing how useful the information might someday become. Slick black hair with a distinctive white streak on one side, pale gray eyes, expensive suits and the oily confidence of a male who believed currency placed him above consequences.
This male had close-cropped brown hair, so not Orlov—one of his guards.
“The fuck are you?” the human demanded, staring up at Taurex’s horns.
Taurex kept his expression calm.
“Taurex, of Intergalactic Imports.” He drew one of his business cards from his pocket and held it where the guard could see it. “I have business with your employer. I was told he might be interested in acquiring rare blue diamonds from the Kuiper Belt.”
The guard stared at the card without taking it.
“From the where?” he asked, frowning in confusion.
“The Kuiper Belt,” Taurex repeated patiently.
“Never mind.” The human shook his head. “He ain’t seeing anyone.”
He started to close the door and Taurex moved.
He caught the edge of the door before it could shut completely. At the same instant he drew the blaster, slipped the muzzle through the narrow opening and pressed it against the guard’s forehead.
The male’s eyes widened.
“What the—”
Taurex squeezed the trigger, and the blaster made a sound like, Zzzzp.
The sound was barely louder than an insect buzzing, and the guard went limp immediately as a steaming hole the size of a golf ball appeared in his head.
Taurex caught him before his body could hit the floor, released the security latch from inside, and pushed his way into the apartment while supporting the dead male’s weight against one shoulder.
The living area beyond was nearly as opulent as his own penthouse, though perhaps half the size. Cream-colored leather furniture surrounded a wide glass table, and an enormous entertainment screen covered most of one wall. Floor-to-ceiling windows looked out over downtown Tampa, offering a view that under other circumstances might have been impressive.