Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 101280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
“I’ll chop her up and feed the chunks to the wild bandars and farnexes,” R’xs promised coldly. “No one will ever see hide ‘nor hair of her again, your Lordship—you have my promise on that.”
“Very well. See that you do it quickly then,” Ass-licks snapped. “I’ll meet you later with the payment.”
“Just make sure you have the proper amount,” R’xs told him. “I would hate for it to get back to the Baron that you’ve had his favorite little Blood Whore killed.”
“Don’t you dare threaten me! Just do as you’re told!” Ass-licks nearly screamed at him.
There was a click and the communications device in R’xs’ hand abruptly went dark as the holo disappeared.
“Well, well…” R’xs put the device back in his pocket and stared thoughtfully between me and the long, silver knife-blade he was still holding in his other hand. “Seems like it’s the end of the road for you, little hsh’frux,” he said to me.
“R’xs, please…just…just think about this.” My voice wavered as I worked more desperately than ever at freeing my hands. The right one was almost free—if I could just slip it a little further through the loop of rough rope I could at least get out of the chair.
“Ain’t nothing to think about.” R’xs shrugged his bony shoulders. “You turned a good profit for a little while, but now you’re worth more to me dead than alive. So that means you have to die, Natalie.”
“Please, please don’t!” I begged, tugging desperately at my hand. My heart was racing so hard it felt like it was trying to burst right out of my chest. I had to get out of here! If I could just somehow dodge past him and get out to the main tunnel, I might have a chance. If only…
R’xs came forward, holding the knife in front of him. It glittered menacingly in the dim green glow of the emergency lantern.
“Let’s see now—how should I begin?” he mused, grinning at me ghoulishly. “Since his Lordship is so keen that nobody ever finds the body, I’ll need to carve you up. And of course, when I’m carving, I always like to start with the face…”
Leaning forward, he placed the tip of the blade against my sweating forehead and I felt the cold metal bite into my flesh.
“No!” I shrieked. With a last, convulsive jerk, I managed to free my right hand, though it felt like half my skin was torn off in the process. I ducked away from the knife and twisted to one side.
Since the chair was still tied to my left hand, I found I was suddenly holding it in front of me—it made a good make-shift shield, though I would rather have been free of it altogether so I could run.
“Hey now, what do you think you’re doing? Get back here and behave yourself!” R’xs demanded.
“So I should come back and hold still like a good girl so you can carve me up? I don’t think so!” I shouted at him. My blood was pumping so hard and fast I was actually beginning to feel hot, despite the extreme cold of the tunnel. I waved the wooden chair at him, trying to be menacing, though it was hard to see with the blood that was now running in my eyes. “You stay back or I’ll shove this right up your ass!” I told him.
R’xs’s face darkened.
“Always knew you were trouble—right from the start,” he spat. “Well, you’re not getting between me and a triple-contract payday, you little hsh’frux bitch! I’ll kill you and carve you up if it’s the last thing I do!”
And he jumped suddenly so that he was between me and the narrow doorway.
“Now are you going to behave or not?” he demanded, waving the silver knife at me.
“I’m guessing that would be a ‘not,’” a deep, growling voice said from behind him.
And then Vik’tor appeared.
TWENTY-FOUR
NATALIE
Vik’tor looked angry—no, enraged was the word I was looking for. His glowing blue eyes were blazing in the darkness and his mouth was twisted down in a sneer of pure fury. His muscular bulk seemed to have doubled in size so that he filled the whole narrow doorway and he was breathing hard, as though he had run all the way here. His eyes flickered to my face and then back to R’xs.
“You fucking bastard,” he growled, his voice thick with rage. “You cut her!”
“Hey now, wait a minute now, your Lordship!” R’xs exclaimed, going pale in the sickly greenish light. “This is all a big misunderstanding!” As he spoke, he fumbled for the blaster on his belt.
“Watch out, Vik’tor!” I shouted. “He’s got a blaster too!”
But as it turned out, R’xs didn’t get a chance to use either the blaster or the knife. Vik’tor lunged forward and punched him in the face so hard the pimp fell backwards to sprawl across the table, where Gr’ub and Bugger were lying dead. It was getting pretty crowded in the small space, especially since two of the crowd were corpses and it looked like a third was about to join that exclusive club as well.