Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 88235 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88235 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
She’d piled her hair up on top of her head and now she leaned back against the towel she’d placed to cushion her neck, looking at the rainbow lightshow still going on above her. Slowly, she began to relax.
She had no idea how much danger she was in.
Chapter Five
Chain saw the multicolored lights of the T’lix-Kruthe glowing in her window long before his nose told him he was anywhere near the little Earth Female. The brilliant rainbow pattern flashed out into the night, almost as though she wanted to be found.
He cursed under his breath and pulled his head back inside his small ship, which transformed to look like an Earth vehicle called a car. Damn it, what was wrong with her? How had she activated the artifact in the first place and why was she letting it flash out for all the world to see? The Varians would be on her in a heartbeat if she wasn’t careful!
Just as the thought entered his head, he heard a low whooshing in the air above him. Looking up, Chain saw a sleek, dark shape cruising silently just above the treetops—the Varian ship, no doubt. Damn it all to the Seven Hells, they’d spotted the lights too! And they were going to be on the little Earth female in a moment if he didn’t somehow get to her first.
But how could he? His own craft was land-bound at the moment and unable to drive as fast as the Varian ship could fly. He’d been tracking her by scent and that was much easier closer to the ground where scents tended to linger.
Well, there was no need to search for her by smell any longer. She had practically put out a billboard advertising her presence.
Punching a few buttons and grabbing the steering yoke, Chain took off and lifted into the dark night sky. It was going to be a race to see who could get to the Earth female and the T’lix-Kruthe first.
It was a race he couldn’t afford to lose.
Chapter Six
Vicky had finished her half glass of wine and was debating with herself if it was worth it or not to get up and pour another when she heard the strange sounds outside in the back yard. She frowned. Probably just the wind.
Her neighborhood, Trellis Lakes Estates, was far back in the woods and there were no houses behind hers. Instead, she had a lovely nature preserve with a miniature lake and a stand of tall palm trees.
The perfect little area was just outside the master bathroom and it was lovely in the morning to watch through the bay window beside the bathtub as the Sand cranes and egrets picked their way around the marshy edges of the little pond, looking for their breakfast.
At night, however, the scene outside the bay window could be a bit spooky. Sometimes the wind whipped through the long, thin fronds of the palm trees and made the weirdest noises—like it was now.
Uneasily, Vicky peered out of the bay window. She had blinds on it, of course, though she usually kept them open to let in the natural light. The fact that there were no neighbors around her ensured that she had perfect privacy, so she never felt the need to close the blinds.
Now, however, she felt the need.
Reaching up, she grabbed the long stick which twisted the Venetian blinds open and closed with one wet hand and gave it a firm twist. The blinds closed, shutting out the darkness outside and making the rainbow display the alien artifact was still putting on seem even brighter somehow.
Sighing, Vicky sank deeper into the tub until the scented water was up to her chin. Closing her eyes, she tried to meditate, thinking about nothing at all and taking long, deep breaths in and out. But the colored lights still bothered her—why were they so bright? She could even see them on the insides of her closed eyelids!
Annoyed, Vicky opened her eyes just long enough to throw her fuzzy pink towel over the blinking artifact. She closed her eyes and sighed in relief. There—that was better. Closing her eyes again, she tried once more to meditate, to lose herself in the stillness and warmth of her bath…
But she didn’t get to lose herself for long. Suddenly, the night erupted into noise and violence as her bay window shattered inward and something—or someone—landed on the far edge of the bathtub across from her.
Vicky screamed as she felt a lot of sharp-edged objects fall into the tub with her. They were glass shards—not many but enough to cut her arms and legs when she thrashed. Her instinct to close the blinds was probably the only thing that had saved her from being cut to ribbons, since they had caught most of the glass, but she was in no mood to feel grateful at the moment.