Total pages in book: 165
Estimated words: 159487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 797(@200wpm)___ 638(@250wpm)___ 532(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 159487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 797(@200wpm)___ 638(@250wpm)___ 532(@300wpm)
“Oh, shit!” Cassie breathed. Her legs felt like they had turned to water as she looked around desperately for a place to hide or run to.
The land around the Crystal City was littered with junk—hovercars that had crashed and been left to rot and a land road that was clogged with ground traffic which was in a similar state of disrepair.
She supposed she could try to hide in one of the vehicles, but if the Infected saw her go into one, they would gather around it and either tear it apart to get to her or—if they couldn’t get in—would simply wait there until she died of thirst and hunger.
Never had she regretted her choice to marry and move to a whole different planet in a whole different galaxy more bitterly. But it was too late now—all she could do was run and hope to God she found someplace to hide that the Infected couldn’t follow. It was going to be nightfall soon—maybe the darkness would help her.
Since they had already seen her, she took off at a dead run. But she wasn’t exactly dressed for exercise. When the mandatory meeting had been called, she’d been wearing nothing but a nightgown, which barely came down past her thighs. She’d thrown a matching silky robe over it and put on some slippers, but she hadn’t had time to change into decent clothing before the guards demanded she and Skkarn come out to attend the gathering.
Cassie didn’t even like the nightgown and robe combo—even if she hadn’t been running for her life in it. One of the aggravations of living on Visslick Prime was that there were no Earth Clothes to be found. All of the outfits for women had a hole in the back for a tail to go through. Or the hem was so high it showed her lady bits. The Visskous had sex organs that were completely internal and hidden by their scaly skin, which was why it wasn’t considered improper to go around flashing your crotch.
Cassie’s visible sex organs—her breasts and pussy—had been a source of excitement for Sskarth when they first got Joined. However, he gradually lost interest and ever since she’d started having hot flashes he had made several remarks about how distastefully “hot and wet” she was between her legs. Apparently, Visskous females had nothing but a dry, sandy slit which later turned into an egg-carrying pouch where they incubated their eggs.
Which was a round-about way of saying that Cassie was flashing her ass as she ran because she was wearing a nighty made for a lizard woman with no visible sex organs. And why in the world were such inane thoughts running through her head while she was running for her life? Cassie didn’t know—maybe it was her mind trying to fend off the panic that was threatening to swallow her whole. Or maybe—
Her thoughts cut off abruptly as she dodged around a fallen hovercraft and found herself face-to-face with a huge, ugly Infected.
It was a male Visskous—she could see that because he didn’t have a leathery crest on his head. His eyes were milky white and glaring at her—or at least one of them was. Horribly, the left side of his face had rotted and the left eye was hanging from its socket, bouncing against the rotted flap of a cheek where sharp teeth were visible through the disintegrating flesh.
Cassie stopped, stunned for a moment but the Infected didn’t pause for a moment. He lunged for her, his long teeth snapping.
“Get away!” Cassie shouted and threw up her left arm to ward him off.
She meant to knock his head aside and dart around him, but the Infected male bit her—sinking his long fangs into the flesh of her forearm, right below the elbow.
Pain lanced through her as blood ran down her arm and she screamed breathlessly as she tried to pull free.
He’ll give it to me—I’ll become one of the Infected too! her mind was yammering. Or else he’ll kill me and eat me. He’ll tear me apart! Oh God, please no—please save me! Help me get away—send me help!
She didn’t know if she was really praying or even who she was praying to but suddenly an enormous fist came down on top of the Infected male’s head.
The force of the blow caused the teeth that had been clamped on her arm to open and the Infected male fell to the ground, his white eyes rolling up in his head.
“Oh, thank you so mu—” Cassie began, but the words died abruptly in her throat when she saw her rescuer.
He wasn’t a Visskous and he wasn’t human either—he was a Kindred warrior and he was absolutely huge.
Cassie stared up at him—way up. The warrior had long black hair and blazing golden eyes that had been dimmed by a white film. She felt her heart freeze in his chest—was he infected too?