Savor Me Slowly (Alien Huntress #3)(29)
Author: Gena Showalter

Golden hair swayed as Eden nodded. “Oh, yeah. Bitch shot me in the leg.”

“Then that bitch is going down,” Lucius muttered, and Eden’s golden lips lifted in a slow, satisfied smile.

Dallas thought of the brunette in his vision. “What does this Le’Ace look like? A rockin’ brunette who likes to cut and shoot things?”

“She’s a blonde,” Mia said at the same time Eden said, “She’s a redhead.”

“Obviously she changes her appearance,” he replied dryly. But he’d bet his savings Le’Ace was the woman he’d seen. With the Estap connection, Dallas doubted it could be anyone else.

“Obviously.” Eden cuddled against her man’s side. “Your brunette. Does she have tattoos up her spine that cover surgical scars?”

“I don’t know. I only got the barest glimpse of her face and it was perfection.”

One of Eden’s seemingly delicate shoulders lifted in a shrug. “That sounds like her.”

Wait. A niggling thought struck Dallas. “How old is this woman? If she was Mia’s instructor when Mia was a teenager, she’d have to be pushing, what? Forties? Fifties?”

“Yeah, but age doesn’t matter. She doesn’t age physically,” Eden said.

His brow wrinkled in confusion. Everyone aged. Well, Kyrin didn’t. Damn. “Is she alien?”

“No. I don’t think. I can’t explain what she is. Science was never my thing.”

“Why’d she shoot you?” Dallas asked.

“Don’t know that, either. We were on a mission. One of many that we’d been paired together for. We were on the same team with the same objective.” Eden frowned. “Don’t ask for details because I can’t give them. Anyway, we were successful. On the drive back to headquarters, she pulled over, shot me, and left me to die.”

Lucius’s arms banded around the Rakan’s waist and squeezed tightly. He kissed her temple, even ruffled her hair. While his actions were gentle, Dallas could see the lethal gleam in his dark eyes. Yeah, the Le’Ace woman was going to suffer for her past sins.

“She’s hard-core,” Mia said.

Eden gave another nod. “She’ll kill anyone. Age, race, gender, nothing matters. Nothing bothers her.”

Great. Most likely, Jaxon was with the little viper. “Either of you happen to have her address?” Dallas asked.

“Do you have a map of the city?” Eden asked, rather than answer him.

“Course.” Dallas pushed to his feet, strode out of the living room, and into his office. Not much of a trek considering how small his apartment was. After he found the holocam, he strode back into the living room. He placed the small black box in the center of the coffee table and pressed the series of buttons required.

A large blue glowing triangle crystallized above it, multicolored lights pulsing within. Red lines indicated streets, while tiny black balls indicated houses and buildings. They had only to tap a certain place on the seemingly liquefied screen to highlight and magnify it.

Everyone crouched around the table.

“All right. Here, here, and here,” Eden said, tapping as she spoke. “Senator Estap uses all three locations in this city as safe houses. There’s probably more, but those are the only ones I’ve visited personally.”

“An apartment downtown, a compound on the outskirts, and a flat stretch of land in the middle of nowhere?” Mia asked skeptically.

Eden snorted. “Believe me, the land isn’t flat and it’s in the middle of more security than you’ve ever encountered. It’s a laboratory.”

“Guess we’re splitting up, then.” Dallas rubbed his temples, the dull ache from earlier returning. And growing.

“Think Jaxon is being kept under lock and key because he’s infected?” Eden asked thoughtfully.

Could be, and the idea scared him shitless. “Did you say only infected women died on Raka?”

“You wish. Some of the men did, too.”

Lucius shook his head. “Remember, baby. Only a few men actually died from the disease. Most died because the infected women ate them.”

Mia’s jaw dropped. “Ate them? As in, had them for a meal?”

“That’s right.” Eden clapped her hands as the memory slid into place. “The girls became cannibals and the men became food.”

Just got better and better. “That little gem would have been nice to know earlier.” He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying without success to ward off that ever-intensifying ache.

“Are you all right?” Kyrin asked him, his tone concerned.

“I’m fine.”

“You look pale,” Mia observed.

“I’m fine. Just worried about Jaxon.”

There was a pause. Dallas doubted they believed him. He sounded weak, even to his own ears.

Kyrin was suddenly at his side, gripping his shoulder as he toppled over, unable to stop himself. Dizziness washed through him, a river that flowed from his mind to his feet, and only Kyrin’s hold kept him upright.

“May I speak to you privately?” Kyrin asked him.

“No.” Come on. Be a man. He planted his heels into the stone floor and pushed until he found purchase. “Let’s gear up and go get our boy.”

Another pause.

“Dallas, you will escort me to the kitchen and we will chat privately.”

The command slithered through his mind, and Dallas’s feet were moving before he could stop them, obeying of their own accord. Like falling, he couldn’t stop himself; all he knew was that the ache in his head eased with every step.

Fury took its place.

When they reached the kitchen, Dallas whirled on the otherworlder. “What the hell was that about?”

Unrepentant, Kyrin shrugged. “You have my blood. Therefore, I am your blood master.”

Hell, no. He opened his mouth to snap a reply, but Mia stormed into the kitchen, doors waving behind her. Dallas pressed his lips together. Like he wanted a witness to this master-slave shit.

Kyrin faced her, expression resigned. “Mia.”

“The word leave escapes your mouth and we’ll throw down.” She hopped onto the counter and glared over at them. “Pretend I’m not here if it makes you feel any better.”

“Women,” Kyrin muttered, turning back to Dallas.

Fine. Mia wanted to watch, he’d let her watch. “You are not my goddamn master, ass**le. You were given human blood to save your life. Does that mean you have a blood master?”