Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 66904 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66904 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!” The word comes out of me in a panicked series of curses. I turn and I run, even though there’s no point. His legs are almost twice as long as mine. He overhauls me easily, grabbing me by the back of the suit, and swinging me up off the ground. The back of this thing is getting ragged from the number of times his claws have rent through the back of it, but I know it will hold strong enough that it won’t give way and give me another chance at escape.
Shan gives me a little shake.
“What are you doing, and how did you get that suit back?”
“I got it out of the safe.”
“How!?” He sounds astonished. “That’s not possible.”
“Of course it is. I did it.”
I don’t mean to sound rude or curt in my response, it’s just that it’s a very simple matter. If I have the suit, it’s because getting it was possible. I know that these saurians think very highly of themselves, but you’d think they’d be capable of basic leaps of logic like that.
He snarls, a sound that goes right through the core of me.
“I don’t want attitude, human.”
I shrug, which doesn’t help the situation at all. I don’t know what to say, so I’m left with physical gesture.
“I said, I don’t want attitude. When you speak to me, you call me sir, and you keep a respectful tone.”
I liked him better when he was stern and taciturn, and barely said anything to me. This new lecturing iteration of what seems to me to be a very military type saurian does not gel well with me. I might be a quiet, mousy pirate, but I am still a pirate. And pirates don’t hold with law and order and calling people sir.
“Do you understand?” He twists me around in his grip and gives me a hard, dark stare, his eyes narrowed in a way that does not bode well for me.
I say nothing. I don’t want to open my mouth. I know that no matter what I do, there’s going to be a problem.
“What’s going on out there, Shan?”
Shan grabs me again and drags me into the presence of the saurian he was speaking to before. I was right. It is Avel.
I see a massive purple creature with big wings closed behind his shoulders. My eyes widen as I recognize him. I have seen this saurian so many times before, both in footage and in the confines of my mind. He is much, much bigger than I realized. When you see a saurian on camera, they seem large, but between the two of them, I am absolutely dwarfed.
“You have Captain Raine. I’d like her back,” I say, my voice strained with the effort of trying to be polite.
The saurian stares at me. “How do you know that?”
“Because I saw you fucking her on the roof of that house made of bones.” I blurt the answer way too bluntly, then clap my hands over my mouth in pure horror at what I just said.
A burst of pain explodes across my ass. It feels like something just detonated against the seat of my pants, which is wild because I am still wearing my suit and I shouldn’t feel anything through it. Shan just spanked me so fucking hard I don’t think I would be able to take it if it weren’t for military grade impact protection.
“I told you to speak with respect!” Shan lectures me harshly. “This is Enforcer Avel. He is one of the highest ranking saurians in Grave City. You will speak only when spoken to, and when you do speak, you will speak with respect.”
“I wish you’d stop speaking,” I mutter under my breath. I’m being much sassier than I was before. Maybe that’s because I’m acting up in front of Avel. Maybe it’s because unpleasant memories have resulted in unpleasant feelings. Or maybe I’m just getting braver as I get used to being captive. Who knows.
In spite of the fact that I mumbled, Shan hears me.
“You little…”
He growls the words, and I know he is going to smack me again. This time, however, I am finally ready. I don’t have to fear his punishment because I have my suit.
BANG!
My smoke grenade goes off in a flash of light, followed by thick plumes of smoke. They’re purple. A personal touch. Most go for a simple white, or maybe an ominous black, but I like the extra disorienting effect of a color nobody expected.
I attempt to dash past Avel. That seems like the way out. The only way out. But I don’t get more than a few steps before I’m grabbed again.
“How!?” I exclaim in annoyance.
The saurians are coughing and spluttering, understandably. I have the mask filter from my suit pulled up over my nose and mouth, so I am immune to the effects of my own smoke in the meantime.