Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 119846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
Burn’s growl rumbled out, low and possessive.
“You’re a gorgeous, Mature Elite—and as long as we’re together, you’re ours.”
“Exactly,” Bright agreed.
“Besides, baby,” Burn growled softly. “You weren’t acting like we weren’t together back on that auction stage.”
“Burn!” Bright chided him, shooting him a warning look. “She didn’t have a choice—she had to do… what she did.”
“You mean she had to suck our cocks,” Burn said bluntly. “Yes, but she did a damn fine job of it.”
“You’re going to make our lady feel uncomfortable,” Bright warned, but to his surprise, Noelle shook her head.
“It’s all right, Bright—I don’t mind. And… I didn’t mind what I did at the auction, either. I think…” She bit her lower lip, her cheeks blooming and going dark. “I think I actually wanted to do it.”
Gods, she’s brave. And so damn beautiful when she blushes like that. Bright squeezed her hand again, feeling a warmth spark between them, despite the cold metal at their throats.
“Mmm, I thought you were smelling hot, baby,” Burn rumbled, grinning.
Her blush deepened.
“I was hot. I don’t know why. My body feels… different ever since that awful fertility and rejuvenation treatment I had.”
“Maybe it changed your body chemistry somehow,” Bright speculated, though he hated the idea of anyone—especially Lupin—changing Noelle in any way.
She was perfect before. She’s perfect now.
“I don’t know, but whatever it did—” Noelle started to say, but at that moment the shuttle lurched, slowing to a stop. The floor vibrated beneath their feet, and a heavy CLUNK sounded as the engines shut down. The back doors hissed open, bathing the compartment in cold blue light and the overwhelming stench of the Trollox’s breath.
The middle head leaned in, yellow eyes gleaming.
“Now then, my little piggy-wigs,” it chortled, voice thick with glee. “We’re here at your new home. Why don’t you come and see?”
Bright felt a knot form in his stomach, hard and heavy as a stone. He squeezed Noelle’s hand, forcing a smile.
Whatever happens next, we face it together.
With Burn at his side and Noelle between them, he stood, head held high, and stepped into whatever nightmare awaited them.
38
NOELLE
The moment the three of them stepped out of the shuttle, Noelle felt like she’d wandered straight into a nightmare fairytale—one of the old, scary ones she’d read as a child, where giants ate people and castles had teeth.
The Trollox’s “house” wasn’t just big—it was monstrous.
The structure loomed above them like a fortress built for gods—or for things that had once devoured gods and left their bones scattered in the back garden. Massive stone pillars lined a broad walkway paved with stones the size of hovercars. The front door alone was three stories tall, carved from a single slab of dark wood, etched with swirling runes she didn’t recognize. The door handle was as large as a Kindred torso.
The grounds were equally oversized. What she had first mistaken for long rows of decorative hedges were actually towering bushes twice her height, their leaves as big as dinner plates. Strange flowers—huge, pulsing blossoms the size of serving bowls—unfurled in the dim evening light, releasing scents that made her nose twitch as she breathed in the fragrance of sweet sap, damp earth, and something musky and alien that made her cheeks feel warm.
Even the stepping stones on the garden path were each large enough to serve as a table for six. She felt tiny walking beside Burn and Bright, as though she had shrunk.
But the exteriors weren’t half as intimidating as the Trollox himself.
He lumbered ahead of them, his three heads bobbing like grotesque, shaggy jack-o-lanterns.
“Come in, come in, my piggy-wigs,” he called, each head speaking a fractional beat out of sync. His huge feet—each one about half the size of a twin mattress—thudded against the stone steps as he approached the colossal doorway.
Burn pushed ahead first, shoulders tense and jaw set. Bright stayed close to Noelle’s right side while Burn guarded her left, and she walked between them like precious cargo they refused to let the Trollox touch. Their protective closeness made her feel safe…but it didn’t erase the fear trembling through her bones.
Inside the house, the scale only grew more surreal.
Everything—everything—was twice as big as anything Noelle had ever seen.
The living area opened before them like a cavern. A couch stretched along the far wall, its cushions as wide as queen-sized mattresses. Noelle thought a single Kindred could curl up in the corner of one cushion and still have room to spare. A matching chair sat nearby—more like a throne—with an ottoman larger than a Kindred bed.
Huge tapestries hung on the towering walls, their embroidered scenes showing battles between creatures even larger than the Trollox. The images were unsettling—beings ripped in half…flames raining down…massive alien beasts with multiple heads or writhing tentacles fighting each other, bleeding and dying.
“Welcome to my humble abode,” the Trollox middle head said with a bow that made the floor tremble. “You may sit on the furniture, little piggy-wigs. Just don’t make a mess with your shoes.”