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)
Two more human males sat in chairs facing the screen—neither had heard the shot.
One turned when the door opened and frowned.
“Hey, what—?”
Taurex had already raised the blaster.
Zzzzp.
The first guard’s head snapped backward.
Before the second male could get out of his chair, Taurex shifted his aim.
Zzzzp.
The man collapsed sideways.
Taurex lowered the weapon.
Three shots. Three kills. His years serving as a warrior in the Monstrum military had not been wasted.
He dragged the first guard fully inside and dropped the body behind the couch where it wouldn’t be immediately visible from the entrance, then moved quickly toward the interior hall. He felt nothing resembling guilt. These males had participated in the kidnapping of two younglings and were armed while guarding them. Whatever choices had led them here were their own.
Cody and Lisa’s crying was louder now.
Taurex followed the sound.
The apartment was arranged around a wide central hallway with several closed doors on either side. Unlike his own penthouse, which Terra had often complained felt too empty and impersonal, Orlov’s suite seemed deliberately ostentatious. Expensive-looking paintings covered the walls and sculpted pieces of glass and metal sat on illuminated pedestals, as though the owner wanted anyone entering to understand immediately how much currency he possessed.
Taurex barely glanced at any of it. He found the children behind the second door on the right. The door was closed but not locked. He turned the handle slowly and opened it only wide enough to look through the gap.
His heart clenched at what he saw.
Cody and Lisa sat together in the center of an enormous bed. Their little wrists had been tied with rope, and they were clutching each other as best they could despite the restraints. Lisa’s face was red and blotchy from crying, while Cody was trying to comfort her even though tears were running down his own cheeks.
Taurex’s first instinct was to push the door wide, rush to them and cut them free. But somehow, he stopped himself.
There was no guard in the room, which was a blessing, but Orlov was still somewhere in the apartment. If Taurex freed the children now and one of them cried out—or if they tried to flee before he had neutralized the remaining threat—the situation could become much more dangerous.
Just a little longer, younglings, he thought. I will free you soon.
Cody looked suddenly toward the door and for a terrifying second, Taurex wondered if the boy had seen him, but Cody’s eyes passed over the narrow crack without recognition.
Taurex closed the door silently again. The act cost him a lot—every instinct screamed that he should remain with them, that he should put his body between those children and the rest of the world and never allow anything to frighten them again. But the warrior in him understood that the threat had to be removed first.
Taurex continued down the hallway. Another door stood partly open near the end and faint electronic light flickered through the gap. Taurex approached without making a sound and looked inside.
A human male sat in a swivel chair facing an entire bank of monitors. At first Taurex assumed he had found another alert guard, but then he noticed the male’s head had fallen to one side. A faint snore escaped him—he was sleeping.
Taurex’s gaze moved to the screens and his anger intensified immediately.
Several of the monitors displayed live surveillance images. One showed the exterior of Terra’s bungalow. Another provided a view of her backyard. A third appeared to be aimed directly at the front porch, close enough that Taurex could clearly see Lucy’s glowing purification plant sitting beside one of the chairs.
That fucker Orlov had been watching Terra’s home. Watching her mother. Watching Cody and Lisa. Taurex’s hand tightened around the blaster.
Then he saw another feed and recognized his own penthouse.
For a moment, he simply stared. The camera angle showed the living room and part of the hallway leading toward the office. It was positioned high enough that Taurex immediately began mentally searching his memory for where a surveillance device might have been hidden.
Orlov had been watching him too. Perhaps watching Terra work beside him. Watching them eat lunch. Watching every time Taurex stood too close to her or looked at her for too long.
The realization brought a new level of fury. This human had invaded not only Terra’s life but Taurex’s own domicile, watching them like specimens through glass while he waited for an opportunity to strike.
Taurex looked over the other screens. There were views of the building garage, several hallways and the lobby. One monitor showed the rooftop landing pad where his golden shuttle now sat. How had the operator failed to notice him arrive? Then the man snored again. Taurex almost laughed—what an idiot. A male like this would have been expelled from the Monstrum military on his very first day.
Well, now he was going to pay for working for Orlov.