Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 69936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
“Ex?” Sheila called out, slamming me against the car once again.
“Where is it?” Twink called out.
“On my left,” I replied as I recovered from the assault. “I didn’t see exactly where it went.”
“Great,” Eric muttered as they began searching around.
I continued addressing Sheila: “I left you, and you clearly knew that’s what I wanted. That’s why you sabotaged my ship.”
She laughed before elbowing me in the gut. “Do you like this planet? I thought it would be a great place to start our new family.”
“A new family? Here?” I asked, horrified at the nightmare that would have to unfold for her to seize control of Earth.
She grunted as she struggled against my hold. “Yes, and these creatures can wait on us hand and foot. And then do whatever I want them to do to your lover, you cheating bastard!”
Twink and Eric helped Powerbottom around, like he was injured, as they hunted for the syringe. I imagined if they were overhearing us, speaking the Vorcons’ language at such an intense volume, it must’ve appeared as though we were in a battle to out-scream one another—certainly nothing that would have made sense to any of them.
As I secured my hold of her, she attempted to pull me away from the car. She jerked forward, twisting and jumping before using the force to bring me back down onto my back, with her on top of me. Despite the intensity of the blow, I managed to keep my hold on her.
“And now what do you plan to do?” she asked. “You can’t hold me here forever.”
It was a good point.
“You think it went in there?” Powerbottom asked, indicating a trash can.
“We’re not doing that,” Eric insisted before Twink groaned and braved a search.
A familiar fragrance filled my nose. I knew what Sheila was doing.
“Stop it, Sheila. That won’t work on me anymore. I found a way to prevent you from controlling me.”
She snarled. “Bastard! I made your life so easy. I was good to you. Fed you. Kept you safe from our children. Why would you refuse such a life?”
“Because you forgot to give me the one thing I really needed. Freedom.”
Despite how firm my hold was, Sheila was tenacious, and I found my strength waning, while hers never wavered, and she chuckled, I was sure because she knew that eventually she would wear me down.
“Found it!” Twink called out, rushing over.
“Don’t come too close,” I warned him. “Just toss it!”
Twink followed the instruction, and I figured I could spare one tentacle for the task, but it was enough to give Sheila an advantage, and she pulled free of the others before spinning around and decking me in the face. “How are you preventing me from controlling you?” she pressed, clearly mostly annoyed that her old tricks weren’t working.
I didn’t bother to respond, only went for the attack, but Sheila was too quick for me, seizing my tentacle holding the syringe, though I moved just as quickly in passing it to another before sticking her in the thigh and emptying it into her.
She stared at where I’d punctured her before looking back at me, that rigid jaw softening as she looked at me with those gorgeous eyes, as though she was making one last heartfelt plea for me to do her bidding.
“I’m not yours anymore,” I reminded her. “I’m Twink’s.”
Her eyes bulged, and she flashed her teeth. The tranquilizer hadn’t kicked in yet, since she still had enough strength to headbutt me. My skull slammed against the asphalt, and she used my moment of disorientation to gain her freedom and rush Twink.
“No!” I called out, grasping for her with a tentacle, but she was already out of reach.
Twink didn’t even have time to react, just standing there, stunned, before something moved quickly, grabbing Sheila and tearing across the street.
Once I’d recovered, I checked the other side of the street, where this large brown-gray mass had Sheila pinned to the wall of a building before pulling away. She tumbled to the sidewalk.
She was done.
The brown-gray mass had legs and tiny arms, and it steadily shifted until it became a blue Furker. His appearance suggested he was from the same generation and species as myself—the result of Furkers mating with Darbons on our home planet. The Furker fidgeted with his arm cuff, and a black sphere rushed to his side, floating midair. It opened, and the Furker reached inside, retrieving two bands and restraining Sheila.
“You are hereby under arrest by orders of the Intergalactic Justice Department,” he said before issuing her rights in her tongue, which I didn’t really see as by the book, considering she remained unconscious.
Twink hurried to my side, his arms around me in no time. Fear still coursed through him, his eyes glistening as he said, “Are you okay?”
I set my hand against his cheek, stroking my thumb across his flesh. Seeing him, feeling him, reminded me that despite how terrified I’d been of what Sheila may have done to him, he was safe, which was all that mattered. “I’ll be okay. Did she hurt you?”