Page 51 of Prince of Storms
He choked out a gasp of pain, doubling over, while I darted past him for the doorway. They werenotgoing to get Mia Cherrysonthateasily, that was for sure!
I reached the busted door, only to backpedal frantically as a second behemoth came through it. He was huge, bigger even than Tor, to the point he had to bend slightly to fit under the doorframe. His biceps were the size of my legs, each of his pecs big enough to be a tiny house.
“Eep,” I squeaked, still moving backward as he drew himself up to his full height.
“Enough,” a voice said from behind me a moment before my shoulders hit something firm but warm. Hands gripped my shoulders, fingers digging in deep enough to be painful.
I squealed as his right hand found my bruises from the seatbelt of Tor’s car, my legs buckling as tears sprang immediately to my eyes. “Ow! Ow! You’re hurting me!”
He loosened his right hand, then grabbed my upper arm instead. “Come with me.”
“To where? Your spaceship?”
“We don’t have spaceships. We’re not aliens,” the man grunted in exasperation. “And your ass is safe before you start shrieking about that as well, goodness.”
I frowned, trying to figure out what it all meant. The man propelled me out of the room and down the stairs. We paused at a blank piece of wall. He reached over and placed his palm against one of the stones. There was a little flash of light beneath his hand. Then the wall slid open smoothly and silently.
Beyond the door was a straight hallway with smooth, steel-paneled walls and ceiling. Lights flicked on as we crossed through the hidden doorway.
“Secret passageways. Those are always fun unless you’re being dragged through one against your will.”
“Do you ever shut up?”
“Do you ever eat fatty foods? No, seriously, you all have the bodies of gods. It’s not fair. Like, I could probably count each one of your abs individually. All sixteen of them. Or however many there are, I don’t even know. Eighteen? There’s a lot, and I could probably see most of yours if you had a shirt off. But it’s not really even your body, is it?”
“How did you know?” the man asked, surprised.
I stiffened. “So youarealiens.”
“She has no idea what she’s talking about,” the biggest alien said from behind us. “Just let her talk, don’t indulge her.”
“Whatever you say, Temp,” my captor said with a grunt, falling silent.
“Where are you taking me?” I finally asked as we came to a stop halfway down the hallway.
In response, the man pushed open a door, the thick steel swinging wide without a squeak, indicating very well-oiled hinges.
“A jail cell,” I said, answering myself. “How original. Where’s the operating table? Are you going to cut me open, study my guts? Or maybe make a battery out of me? Do you have a cookbook on how to prepare humans?”
“Whatever it is you do in your spare time,” the one named Temp said, “you do too much of it. You should cut back.”
“Never tell a lady how much to read,” I said, the last word coming out as a half-grunt as I was shoved into the cell. “How long are you going to keep me in here?”
“Until we figure out what to do with you,” Temp replied. “And figure out what you stole and who you told about it.”
“I didn’t steal anything! No crime was committed here.”
“You were in a part of the manor you shouldn’t be,” the man growled. “That is a crime.”
“Ah, right, that. Well, it’s not a law by human standards. Since you’reonEarth. Therefore, I’m innocent, ipso facto, by de Juris, you should let me go, mea culpa.”
“You’re just saying words now. None of that makes sense.”
“Damn. Okay, just let me leave, will you?”
“No,” Temp said, pulling the door closed. “You will await the mercy of the Prince-Assumptive, and then we’ll decide what to do with you.”
The door clanged shut.
