Head enforcer Kren Bolep and his partner
Arga have cornered a creature they’ve never seen before.
“She can’t be as helpless as she seems,” Kren
said. “No creature develops without some sort of natural defenses.”
Arga looked as
flummoxed as he felt. “There’s one way to find out.”
“Right.” Kren came
to a sudden and probably stupid decision. He grabbed the creature.
As he yanked her
against his body, she shrieked. He winced and folded his ears against the
piercing sound. Her hands closed in fists and she pounded against the hard hide
of his chest. She cried out again, this time in agony. She wrung her hands and
tears streamed down her cheeks.
Kren’s shoulders
hunched. Damn. He’d hurt her. It had been her fault for hitting him when he was
armored, but he still felt bad. Every tear streaking from her extraordinary
eyes was a stab to his twin hearts.
He restrained the
urge to shake her for being foolhardy. “Damn it. Why did you do that, little
girl? Here, let me look.”
He unwrapped his
arms from around her body to take her hands in his. He fussed over the delicate
digits of her fingers—it seemed she preferred to keep four to a hand along with
her thumbs—checking them over to make sure she hadn’t done damage to herself.
He rubbed his thumbs over them in turn, frowning to feel hardness beneath the
skin. Fingers with bones? Could that be right?
He uttered cooing
sounds, as his guardians had done when he was a small boy and had hurt himself.
As he tried to soothe her, her sky eyes stared up at his face. She looked
terrified, but Kren fancied he saw a trace of hope in her expression too.
He couldn’t get
over the softness of her skin. When he’d grabbed her close, her motherly
breasts had mashed against his chest, molding her pliable body to the hard,
armored planes. The sensation had been unsettling.
Trying to quiet his
confusion, he glanced at the watchful Arga. “She’s soft. Fragile. I think I
could crush her if I’m not careful. What is she? How can she exist with no
defenses?”
Arga’s heavy brow
had descended over his eyes, silvery orbs in the dark. “If I had to guess, I’d
say she’s a Monsudan experiment. Although their monstrosities are usually
nasty. This is—well, she’s cute. Like something you’d take home and tame for a
pet.”
Kren looked her
over carefully. She peered up at him with those frightened eyes, but at least
she’d calmed down. High, delicate cheekbones, tiny pointed chin…a being of
astounding beauty for all its alien peculiarities. Kren found it hard to
believe that the Monsuda, which shared the planet of Risnar, could make a
creature so lovely. Yet Arga was right. It was the only explanation that made
any sense. Legends of the terrifying Tysu notwithstanding, there was no such
being as this native to Risnar or any of the planets known to its people.
So damned lovely.
Knowing what would happen to the creature if it was a result of Monsudan
biological engineering tightened Kren’s chest with hurt. There was no help for
it, though. The law was the law. Monsudan lab creations were destroyed without
prejudice.
With regret, he
jerked his head in the direction of the dartwings. “Let’s get her back to the
station. Nex can have a look at her first. If he’s got no idea and we’re sure
she poses no immediate danger to our people, the biologists at the temple can
figure out what she is.”
Arga opened a pouch
on his belt, the one article of clothing he wore on his armored hide. He took
out a length of flex strapping and unrolled it as Kren spoke in his most
soothing voice to the pale animal he held.
“It’s all right.
This won’t hurt you. Hold still, little—thing. Little Tysu.”
“She’s not a Tysu.
The Tysu supposedly has long fangs and claws,” Arga reminded him. “It eats naughty
children who don’t listen to their guardians.”
“I can’t stand
calling her a thing, animal, or creature. She’s too pretty.” Kren held the
female’s wrists, then made her lower her arms to her sides.
Arga snapped the
end of the flex strapping with a practiced flick of his wrist. It whipped out
and coiled around the Tysu, pinning her arms in position. It kept winding about
her, fastening her legs tight together. She’d already been helpless, but now
she could neither resist nor run.
She cried out to
find herself bound and began struggling again. Her wails went straight to
Kren’s hearts. He hated to see any vulnerable being as scared as this Tysu was.
He imagined Arga
found him ridiculous as he hummed calming noises and petted her long hair.
Patches of it were silky, like the magnificent nikwen that roamed in herds on
the distant plains, but much of it was matted and tangled. Monsudan created or
not, she’d been living wild for several days. She needed a good washing and
grooming. He wrinkled his nose. Maybe it would help the somewhat unpleasant
odor coming from her too.
To Kren’s surprise,
Arga joined in the attempt to quiet the Tysu. His partner awkwardly patted her
shoulder and said, “Easy. Easy,” in a rough voice. “Don’t cry, little pretty.
We’re not going to hurt you.”
Arga tended to put
on a tough front, but he treated the Tysu with nervous care. Kren tried to not
smile, and succeeded for the most part, but Arga noticed his amusement and
shrugged. “Laugh, but I know you feel the same as I do.”
“Like the world’s
biggest jerk for scaring her? Yeah. If we could get away with it, I’d set her
loose. But if she’s of Monsudan origin—”
“Contain and destroy.”
Releasing tomorrow, the latest in the Warriors of Risnar series:
She
escaped from a cult. Fought in Afghanistan with an Explosives Ordinance
Disposal unit. Was discharged from the Army after a court martial. Fired from
her latest job. Selena ‘Boom-Boom’ Baumer is no stranger to conflict. However,
diving into an interstellar war on a planet she’s never heard of is pushing the
limits, even for this rebel. It’s only temporary though, and in the meantime,
the striped alien men are easy on the eyes. Helping them defeat a monstrous
race of invaders can’t be a bad thing, right?
Arga
Bolep, war commander of the planet Risnar, needs an explosives expert, and
Selena comes highly recommended. He’s not sure what he’s supposed to do with
this blue-haired, naughty-limerick singing, hardcore partier, but he knows one
thing’s for sure: he’s not about to fall in love. Not when he’s too aware of
how gut-wrenching loss can be. Despite his fascination with Selena, he’ll keep
their relationship as professional as her outrageous personality will allow.
When
the enemy race of Monsuda launch a surprise attack, threatening both Risnar and
Earth, Selena and Arga are forced to depend on each other just to survive. A
reckless plan to defeat the enemy could spell doom for the reluctant lovers—but
the more impulsive feelings they have for each other try their hearts and
souls.
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