Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 89162 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89162 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
But her whisper turned to a scream when a heavy thud shook the wooden door and it rattled in its frame.
“Come out here, you bitch!” shouted Pate and there was another thud! “If you won’t come out, I’m coming in! You have a fuck of a lot to answer for!”
Molly sank down beside the toilet, trying to make herself small. Her vision was blurry and her eyes were stinging but she wasn’t even aware that she was crying.
It didn’t even occur to her to call for help through the TET link—she was too far gone for that. In her mind she was back in the bathroom at Zach’s mansion—the first home he’d bought when he had started getting rich from his apps and games. Instead of the would-be reporter, she heard the angry shouting of her ex—Zach screaming her name and cursing—telling her she’d “better fucking get out here” unless she wanted an even worse punishment…
“You’re gonna get it now, babe! You’re gonna fucking get it if you don’t get out here fucking now and take what’s coming to you!” Her ex’s angry voice echoed in her head, blurring the past and the present as the door continued to rattle in its frame while a heavy male shoulder rammed against it. Thud…Thud…THUD! “Get out here! Get out here NOW!”
“No!” she cried again, putting her hands over her ears as she drew her knees up to her chin and squeezed her eyes shut. “No, leave me alone! Just leave me alone!”
33
TORUS
Torus began to feel like something was wrong halfway through ordering breakfast.
“Two café con leches and…” he trailed off.
“Yes, Sir?” the café worker asked respectfully. She was a small human female—even smaller than Molly. Her blue eyes had gone huge when Torus had first ducked into the door of El Guyo de Orro—The Golden Rooster—but she hadn’t asked any questions except what she could get him.
Now, however, Torus was finding it hard to concentrate. Something was wrong—he could feel it in the back of his head. It was like an alarm going off faintly but growing in volume little by little.
“Will that be all?” the café worker asked, looking up at him.
“I’m sorry—give me a minute please.”
Abruptly, Torus turned and walked out of the small café, ducking his head as he went through the door to avoid a collision with the doorframe.
Once outside and away from the loud Latin-flavored music that had been blaring in the café, he was able to concentrate and “hear” more clearly. Yes, something was definitely wrong. He could feel a sense of something coming from Molly—a sense of what, though? Whatever it was, it wasn’t good, Torus thought. He was too far from her—right on the edge of the TET’s range—he needed to get closer to feel what was really going on.
Rapidly, he walked down the beach away from the colorful little shack that housed the café. As he headed towards the bungalow, the feeling of unease got stronger. The closer he got, the stronger it grew. Something was wrong with Molly!
As soon as he got within sending range, he started trying to contact her.
“Molly, can you hear me? Little bird, are you all right?” he sent as loudly as he could. But he couldn’t hear any reply from Molly—nothing but the sense of wrongness that was growing every moment with every step he took closer to the bungalow.
The little Cuban café was only about a mile down the beach from their bungalow—a short walk for someone with legs as long as Torus’s. He had been moving swiftly but now he began to run—his strides eating up the distance rapidly.
As he ran, he kept calling.
“Molly? Molly can you hear me? Answer me, sweetheart—please!”
But there was no answer. In fact, he got a strong feeling that she had retreated somehow—maybe back behind the mental wall that Commander Sylvan had instructed them to build when he had first fitted them with the TET devices. The sense of wrongness, however, grew ever stronger until it was eating him like acid. Words were pounding in his brain with every step he ran.
Something’s wrong with Molly! Why can’t I reach her? Oh Goddess, let me get to her—let her be all right!
Torus saw the open door of the bungalow and heard the shouting of a human male’s voice almost at the same time. He put on a burst of speed and rushed into the cool dim exterior of the small house, determined to find out what was wrong with his Mate.
“Get out here, you bitch!” The male’s voice sounded familiar. There was a thud! and the sound of a door rattling in its frame. “Get out here and answer my questions!”
Torus felt the Rage come over him at once as he realized what was going on. Some human male had Molly trapped and he was trying to get to her—trying to hurt her or wound her in some way!