Page 2 of Venomous Lust
“Then we will have no choice but to take you inside. Perhaps a night in a cell will adjust your attitude.”
The Eok’s voices weren’t so dull anymore. They were brisk and irritated. She understood. A minute with Bobbie was enough to make anyone grind their teeth. And if Bobbie weren’t careful, he wouldn’t have any of those left, because she didn’t need to see them to know the Eoks could break every single one in one blow.
Please do it. Punch him for me and then drag him away.
But the Eoks didn’t punch Bobbie, didn’t drag Bobbie away crying like a little girl. Because Bobbie was a coward who only started a fight when he knew he could win. When he knew he was the one landing the blows and not the one receiving them. As Hazel thought about Bobbie’s fists, the sharp pain in her side came back to life, blooming across her ribcage in a vivid memory of what he had done to her.
“One day, humans won’t listen to your orders anymore.” There was defeat in Bobbie’s voice—defeat and the morose bitterness of one who knew the fight was lost before it had even started. “I don’t even care that that little whore is out there.”
“Is there a human female out here, alone?” The Eok’s voice was full of concern and Hazel cursed internally. Those big blue aliens might be brutes, but they were so protective that they wouldn’t leave if they thought some defenseless female was out and about, all alone.
“She is,” Bobbie spat out. “She’s a sneaky little bitch, that one. You’d better go after her before she gets too far.”
“As soon as we get you back to the Tower, we’ll go looking for her.”
Large bodies moved beyond the bushes; tall and broad. Inhuman. Hazel held her breath as they flanked the much smaller shape of the man and walked away. Then Bobbie and the Eoks were gone. Hazel kept her back pressed against the wall until the sound of footsteps faded to nothing and the only thing she could hear was her own jagged breathing.
Shit. Now what?
She didn’t have much time. They would be back, and there was no question that they would find her. Eoks had an unsettling sense of hearing, could smell her from an ungodly distance, and saw in total darkness as well as in the daylight. Trying to hide from them was like trying to hide from the sun in a prairie, or run from the wind: useless and destined for failure.
Hazel cast a frantic look around, her entire body trembling as she stepped away from the wall.
Where can I go?
Going back to the Tower was out of the question. She was done with Bobbie. Done with his fists and his cock, done with his lies.
Her eyes raked across the flat land around the Tower, her mind in a haze of confusion and panic. Then she spotted Knut’s old mansion, standing like a malevolent giant in the distance. That was where most of the Eoks lived when they stayed on Aveyn. That was where Commander Khal lived, ruling over the humans’ lives with an iron fist.
I can’t go there. They’ll just send me back.
But there was nowhere else to go. The crop fields stretched into the distance and then, Aveyn’s thick, wild forests covered the rest of the land.
I need to get to Earth. I need to get to Sally.
But there was no way. That was when her trouble had all begun, anyway. That was why she had been putting up with Bobbie in the first place—because she had been stupid enough to believe him when he’d said he could put her on a shuttle to Earth.
Voices rang out from somewhere far away. Alien voices, calling out in loud, anxious tones.
Her time was up.
Then Hazel’s gaze landed on the shining surface of the long, sleek spaceship that waited in front of Knut’s old mansion. There was the Myrador, the jewel of Commander Khal’s fleet, a wonder of technology she couldn’t even begin to understand. It stood all alone, without any guards, because there was no need for guards. Not when the only troublemakers around were humans who didn’t respect the curfew. As she stared at the shuttle, Hazel bent over like she had been hit as an idea took root in her head.
It was a stupid, stupider than stupidity itself idea. An idea likely to get her into trouble, but she was already in so deep, it didn’t even matter anymore.
Fear took hold of her limbs and her head felt like it was about to explode, but Hazel crouched low to the ground and half-ran in the awkward position as pain shot through her ribs, flashing white hot and deep with every breath she took, but she didn’t stop. Finally, she was covered by the shadow of the looming shuttle. It was big, sleek and dark. A monster made of metal and alien technology.
She turned, wrapping her body close to the pillars bracing the weight of the Myrador on the ground just as two tall, broad figures emerged from the corner of the Tower. They were more than a hundred yards away, but she knew they could spot her anyway.
“Hazel!”
Shitload. They know my name!
She was out of luck as well as out of time. They wouldn’t stop hunting her until she was safe and sound in her room in the Tower. At the mercy of Bobbie and his friends. Hazel bit her lower lip so hard, the coppery taste of blood spread on her tongue. She had nowhere else to go. No options left.
All that was left was Bobbie and bruises in the dark. As silently as if she were no more than a mouse scurrying along the walls, Hazel backed up between the rows of tall metal containers destined to be loaded onto the Myrador.
Maybe I can hide in there?
