Invasion of Her Heart by Trinity Blacio, Ana Lee Kennedy Page A

“Let’s play.”
     

Chapter Ten
     
    Jaxxon materialized next to his brother in the center of the bank’s lowest floor. Six Bone Eaters, all female, stood just inside the entrance, their attention on the jumble of boxes. Immediately, Jaxxon and Volund dropped into a squatting position behind a low wall with strange box-shaped cutouts where writing implements gathered dust.
    Volund tugged his Slicer from its holster and pointed to the circular setting on the weapon. Understanding his idea, Jaxxon did the same.
    Ready ? Volund mouthed to him. Jaxxon nodded.
    One , Volund mouthed.
    “Two, three!” Jumping to his feet, Jaxxon fired his slicer the same instant Volund’s discharged.
    Two bright balls of light zipped across the lobby, spinning at high speed. Each one flattened into a thin, glowing band and issued a low hum. Volund’s shot detected the Bone Eaters to the right and turned, splitting all six creatures’ heads from their shoulders as Jaxxon’s energy bolt circled to the left and sliced through the monsters just above their crotches.
    Both shots speared through the Bone Eaters as if they were no more than jelly. The severed bodies and heads collapsed onto the hard, shiny floor in a shower of spurting blood and ichor. The sound of the body parts splatting against the stone tile sickened Jaxxon. As he stared at the pool of fluids spreading to the door, he didn’t know how Venus could stand fighting and killing such foul beasts on a regular basis. The revelation gave him a new respect for their little warrior.
    The aroma of the kills reached Jaxxon, twisting his stomach yet again. “By the Twelve Galaxies, those things reek!”
    A distasteful expression swept over Volund’s face. “The clean-up is going to be disgusting, that’s for certain.”
    “I’m sure more of those things will be on their way, so we better head back upstairs and check on Venus.”
    “Agreed.” Holstering his Slicer, Volund looked at Jaxxon. “I have an uneasy feeling.”
    “I do, too.”
    Thinking of their mate, Jaxxon concentrated on Venus’s quarters. In moments, his equilibrium turned upside down and then righted again, the sensation of time and space displacement skewering his guts. He opened his eyes only to stare in horror at a man about Venus’s size holding a huge knife to her throat. Behind him, two female Bone Eaters guarded the door.
    Fury and protectiveness blasted through Jaxxon. How dare he put his hands on Venus! He wanted to rip the stranger’s throat out, but he had to be cautious. One wrong move could cost them their mate’s life. Next to him, he sensed the anger and tension rolling off Volund.
    “Ah, the cavalry has finally come home,” the man stated with sarcasm. He stared back at them from beneath a disheveled mop of sun-streaked, chocolate brown hair. His eyes, black as the hearth fuel stone used on Azutu, met Jaxxon’s with assurance. He kept one sinewy arm across Venus’s breasts. “So you two are the warriors my servants have been talking about.”
    “Randle, I presume?” Jaxxon gauged his chances of rushing the fiend before he could hurt Venus.
    The man offered him a wide, somewhat maniacal smile. “Maybe you do have feelings for me after all, my sweet.” He kept his voice smooth and even. No hint of wariness or tension resided in it. He nuzzled Venus’s ear, who grimaced as if she were about to vomit. “You must think about me often if you’ve told your friends about me.”
    “Let go of her,” growled Volund, his voice full of menace. “Don’t make us kill you.”
    Randle burst out laughing, the sound deep and genuinely amused. Crow’s feet deepened around his eyes. “You? Kill me? I don’t think so, especially not with a razor-sharp blade to your lover’s throat and two Bone Eaters at my back.”
    As Jaxxon studied his opponent, he noticed the top of a strangely shaped pack on the man’s back. Is that another weapon? Slowly, Jaxxon lowered his hand to the Slicer at his hip and