Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 88048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Miri pushed between her two Monstrum, her chin raised.
“I am being guarded by my two new Monstrum bodyslaves who are going to escort me to the Leadership Meeting tonight,” she said in a loud voice. Raising her chin imperiously, she did her best to imitate the unbearably stuck-up Yonnite Mistresses she’d been dealing with ever since she’d come to Opulex to take her Aunt’s place. “So please inform Mistress Bloodmuch that I have all the help I need. The four of you…” She waved a hand at them. “Are dismissed.”
The look in the leader’s face darkened.
“My Mistress isn’t accustomed to her orders being ignored. I was supposed to bring you to her so that she could help get you ready for the meeting tonight.”
Miri felt a cold fist clench in her stomach. Was it going to come down to a fight? Not if I can help it! she told herself grimly.
“How dare you contradict and threaten me!” she exclaimed, glaring at the huge leader. “And what right does Mistress Bloodmuch have to tell me where to go and who to go with? Have you forgotten that I am the Ruling Member of the Sacred Seven? If I wish, I can strip your Mistress of all her titles and land and have her cast out of Opulex! Is that what you want?”
“What? Oh, no…no, of course not!” Captain Furx exclaimed, his eyes going wide. “I never thought—”
“No, you didn’t think!” Miri snapped. “If you had, you would never have accosted me in this insulting and threatening manner. Go back to your Mistress at once and leave me and my bodyslaves alone. If you bother me again, your Mistress will forfeit her title and all her possessions. Now go!”
The four men looked at each other uneasily and then began backing away, as though Miri was holding a bomb in her hand. As one, they all turned and began to lumber down the street, their huge bodies, swollen with muscle, moving in an ungainly way.
“Well…” Lynx turned to Miri. He was still half-Shifted but she could see the respect in his golden eyes even though he now had the face of an animal.
“Way to go, little Mistress—that took real courage,” Saxon growled. He didn’t seem to have any trouble speaking, despite the fact that he, too, still had the head of an animal—a large black wolf. “You really put those fuckers in their place,” he said.
“Who is Mistress Bloodmuch anyway?” Lynx asked, frowning—an odd expression on the face of a big cat.
“I don’t actually know her personally because I’ve done my best to stay away from her,” Miri said. “She’s this horrible woman who made a lot of her wealth by strip-mining some of Yonnie Six’s most beautiful natural habitats for Dream Gas.” She shivered. “She cares more about her personal wealth than anything else—I can’t stand her.”
“Well, it seems like she thought if she could get you under her thumb, she might be able to get some of your power,” Lynx said.
“Yeah. I doubt she wanted to bring you to her place just to help you pick the right fucking dress for the meeting tonight,” Saxon growled.
“You’re probably right.” Miri made a face. “But if she thinks she’s going to get onto the Sacred Seven, she’s dead wrong. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather work with less.”
“Well, let’s get you to your own place so you can find the right outfit to tell her to fuck off,” Saxon suggested.
Miri couldn’t help smiling. She liked the blunt way the Lykan Shifter put things.
“Yes, let’s get out of here,” she said. “I’ve had enough of this part of Opulex to last me a lifetime!”
“Come on then, my Lady.” Lynx made a courteous gesture towards the golden ship, which still sat waiting patiently for them. “Let’s go.”
Miri was happy to agree. Though she had to admit, she wasn’t looking forward to seeing Mistress Bloodmuch tonight at the Leadership Meeting.
NINETEEN
MIRABELLA
“No…no…no…” Miri combed through the rows and rows of dresses in her aunt’s enormous wardrobe area, shaking her head at each one.
Aunt Razmataz had been both taller and thinner than her, but she’d been hoping to find something that might work, now that she had lost a little weight. But all the clothes were hopelessly out of date and since Yonnite Fashions changed so often and so drastically, she knew she wouldn’t look right in any of the dresses hanging in the huge walk-in closet, which took up three whole rooms.
“What’s wrong, my Lady?” Lynx asked patiently, as he paced beside her, watching her search for the perfect outfit. He and Saxon had both shifted back to their more human-like visages, which meant that all their fur was gone and only the hair on their heads remained.
Miri wondered where the fur went when they Shifted back to human form? Did it all suck into their epidermis, waiting to sprout out again once they decided to Shift? Also, how did their faces morph so easily and quickly from human to animal? Was it scientific…or magical?