Invasion of Her Heart (9 page)

A large Bull Thistle bush blocked her view. Venus brushed the shrub down with her hand and snapped her mouth closed when two of the thorns sank into her arm.
Damn!

With a sigh, Venus crept forward a few more feet. No Bone Eaters were in sight around the stream, but there was a buck drinking at the bottom of the bank. Its large antlers jutted through the air like branches as the deer drank, its ears flicking back and forth, trying to catch any sounds. Very slowly and quietly, Venus lifted the crossbow off her back and nocked an arrow against the string. She took aim as an ancient hunter would have done aeons before.
Father, guide my arrow to its target.
The hiss of the bolt slicing through the air was the buck’s only warning of impending death.

The arrow entered the deer’s side right through the lungs. The animal fell to the ground. Tonto ran around the watering hole, sniffing the area behind the deer.

With his ears back and his tail between his legs, he growled. Ino and Ka rushed at him. Two Bone Eaters slowly moved out from beneath the trees.

“Shit! You’re not stealing my damn deer from me!” Venus yelled and jumped up.

A whirring sound and sharp flickers of light danced around her. She spun around toward the noise and illumination

Volund appeared next to her, his weapon drawn as he scanned the area. He fired at the two Bone Eaters before they advanced any further. “My scanner isn’t picking up any other Bone Eaters.” Volund’s voice came out as a snarl, which sent a shiver down Venus’s spine.

She nodded, reached down, and grabbed her knife from her boot. Cautiously, she crept around the small water source and knelt next to her kill, removing the tainted part of the deer. The buck had to be over two-hundred pounds. There was no way she could carry it back to the bank building.

She glanced up at Volund, who stood guard. “Can you lift this and carry it back?”

He nodded. “I only need to touch it, and it will come back with us.”

“You can’t take all of us back, can you?” She pulled a rag and her canteen out of her pack, poured water over the knife, wiped it down and then placed it back into her boot.

“No, it’ll be pushing the limits to take both the buck and your pet with me.” Volund grabbed her arm and turned it over. “You’re hurt.”

“It’s nothing, just a couple of thorns. I’ll take care of it as soon as we get back.” Venus glanced around the watering hole. “I want to take some samples of the water back with me to test. Why don’t you take the deer and Tonto back? I’ll wait here for you.”

Volund pulled the thorns out of her arm before she could say anything. “This needs to be treated.” He removed a small tube from his pack. Once he’d opened it and squeezed a few drops out, he smoothed the gel over the cuts, which stopped the bleeding along with the sting. “I’ll be right back with Jaxxon. Don’t move. I don’t like leaving you here, but you’re right. I can’t take everything back with me.” Volund called Tonto to his side and glanced down at Venus.

“When we get back, we’re all going to sit and have a talk.” He leaned down, touched the deer and Tonto, and disappeared with the slain buck.

Venus grabbed two small metal test tubes from her hunting pack, filled both with the water, and then shoved a rubber stopper into the end of each one. Ino and Ka stood next to her as she tucked the tubes away. “I guess Volund would’ve brought his mate back from the time before she was killed if he could have, right, Ino?” Venus sighed, rubbing her hand through the fur of the creature’s head.

Minutes later, both Jaxxon and Volund appeared next to her. “I’ll take Ino and Ka, and you bring Venus back.” Volund reached to touch Ino, but Venus put her hand on his arm.

“Volund, I’m sorry. About taking off, I mean. I was wrong to get mad at you, but the thought of seeing my mother and father…. Well, it gave me hope.” She sighed heavily and blinked back the prick of tears. “I know if there was a way you could have done it, you would’ve brought your mate back immediately after you lost her.” She blinked up at him. “Forgive me.”

Without saying a word, Volund nodded and disappeared with the animals. She glanced at Jaxxon, who wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her nose. “Don’t worry about Volund. He knows all of this is hard on you. We’ll talk about everything tonight, but right now we need to get you out of the sun.” He traced his finger down her nearly bare chest. “Your skin is burning.”

Venus didn’t have time to say a word. Her body warmed, zaps of some kind of strange current surged through her body, and her senses began to spin. Her grip tightened on Jaxxon as the buzzing in her head grew louder, and she moaned.

“Easy. I know the first time can be uncomfortable, but we’re back. You can open your eyes.”

Her eyes snapped open, and she laughed. They were standing on the ground floor of her bank building. New boxes, equipment, and things she couldn’t even describe filled the sprawling banking section. “Boy, you guys have been busy. I take it you’re setting up camp here?” Venus moved between the containers and stopped at a large table that she ran her hand over. “What’s this used for?”

Jaxxon chuckled. “That can be used for many different things such as strapping down someone for interrogation, or to give a certain mate much pleasure.”

Although Venus would’ve thought it impossible, her body heated even more, the warmth flooding her face. She knew her face had to be bright pink. “Um…interesting, I think.” She turned to explore more items when Volund slid an arm around her waist and pressed against her.

He swept her hair out of the way and kissed her neck. “I’ve already taken care of the game, and the meat is packed and ready for whenever you need it. Right now we all need to discuss a few matters.” He picked her up and kissed her lips lightly. “Up we go.”

Venus moaned as they teleported up to her quarters. She opened her eyes and then laid her head on his chest. “You do know I can climb the stairs, right?”

“Why would you do that when we can get here faster?” Jaxxon sat on the couch at the same time Volund reclined with her in his arms. He took her weapons from her and carefully placed them on the floor. She remembered the leather pouch she’d taken from her dead doctor friend.

Venus reached for her pack, but Volund carefully pulled it up and placed it beside them. He removed the satchel and took out the diary and the two metal vials and handed them to her. She set the beakers aside and opened the journal. “I want to find out why Dr. Zeon was on his way back here.” Venus peeked up at Volund, who nodded. She flipped to the last page.

I’ve managed to escape Randle’s group of Bone Eaters with two vials of antidote for the females. However, I believe I’m being followed. I need to warn Venus of Randle’s plans for her. Thomas and Dell have already been killed in our journey back to Venus’s stronghold. I should be there within two days. I pray she is still alive.

Venus’s hand trembled, and one tear dropped onto the journal, followed by another.

Volund lifted her chin with his finger. “What is it, Venus?” He leaned close and kissed the tears that trickled down her cheeks.

“My friend was returning to warn me. Randle, the man who hurt me, is coming for me.” She shook from head to toe. A cold chill drifted up her spine, forcing her to tremble harder, and a small whimper slipped from her. “If he….” Venus rubbed her arms.

Volund embraced her, and she rested her head on his chest. Quiet filled the room as both men rubbed and kissed Venus, reassuring her. Regardless, she sensed something was wrong. What did Dr. Zeon mean by
Randle’s
Bone Eaters? She had to know more.

Venus pushed their hands away and flipped through the journal’s pages until she discovered Randle’s name again.

Somehow Randle has managed to gain control of the male Bone Eaters who reside here. We’ve chosen a different safe house since Randle knew about our other one and attacked us, killing four men and two women before we could escape.

Venus jumped up from Volund’s lap and started pacing. “This isn’t good! How the hell can that fiend control the Bone Eaters? Damn it, if Randle controls those monsters he can get by any security system by using them to bust through it.” She whirled around and ran to the control box that housed her security system and turned everything on.

She sensed something horrible, felt it in her bones. Randle was close.

Chapter Nine

Jaxxon didn’t like the sensations flowing from Venus to him. He sensed fear, worry, disgust, and hopelessness. He glanced at his brother, who, in return, shot him a helpless look.

“Who is this Randle you speak of?” Jaxxon asked.

Venus strode to the window and looked down at the street. Her body blocked part of the sunlight and created a long, willowy shadow across the floor behind her. “Randle Nyerscot was the head assistant in my parents’ laboratory.

Sometimes, when my mother and father had no need of Randle’s help, he’d aid Dr. Zeon, but most of the time Randle worked closely with my father.” She turned and walked back to stand in front of Jaxxon, hands on her hips. “After my parents died, Randle thought he owned me. I always knew he was interested in me, and he did ask me out a couple of times—”

Frowning, Jaxxon questioned, “Asked you out of what?”

With humor in his voice, Volund answered, “You should’ve been more diligent in studying the latest lexicon of the English language on our journey here, brother. Asking someone out means to pursue him or her in a slow manner. That way, the two involved can determine if they will engage in a true courtship.”

“Oh.” Jaxxon looked up at Venus, who offered him a fleeting smile. “So, he wanted you for his mate?”

She nodded. “He wanted me, but not as a mate you would love. He was determined to own me, to use me any way he desired, because Randle has no respect for the female gender.”

“What happened when you refused his advances?” Volund asked. He scooted to the edge of the cushion. “I sense it did not end well.”

“No, it didn’t,” said Venus, a tremor in her voice. “Randle jumped me one night as I entered the laboratory to collect some of my parents’ personal things. He pinned me to the floor and tried to rape me.”

Furious, Jaxxon leapt to his feet. “He tried…consummation…without your consent?” As he placed his hands on the rounded part of her shoulders, her skin overheated beneath his palms. “I will kill him!”

“That is if I don’t find the man first!” Volund snarled and rose to stand next to Jaxxon.

“I’m afraid killing him may be the only way to handle the situation.” Venus wrinkled her nose in distaste and then looked at something to her right, her gaze distant. “You see, I…uh….”

A pink not of sunburn flowed up her neck to settle in her cheeks. Perplexed, Jaxxon grasped her chin and forced her to look at him and his brother. “What happened, Venus? Tell us.”

“I had a scalpel in my hand when Randle grabbed me,” she began, her voice low.

“Scalpel?” said Volund.

“It’s a knife used to dissect or perform surgery.” Venus drew in a deep, shaky breath. “I dropped it, but luckily, when he wrestled me to the floor, I was lying on the instrument and managed to retrieve it. When Randle freed his…” She glanced down at Jaxxon’s crotch. “When he got it out of his pants, I sliced him with the scalpel.”

“And?” Jaxxon urged as anger coursed through is body.

“I sliced one of his testicles off.” She looked down at the floor, her face flaming red.

Volund howled with laughter, and Jaxxon looked from him to Venus before the reason for his brother’s humor penetrated his brain. He chuckled, too.

“What is so funny?” Venus demanded, hostility flashing in her light-colored eyes. “Until that moment, I’ve never harmed another person in my life!”

“It’s the fact that the human got his comeuppance in the most fitting manner.” Jaxxon took her in his arms, her body so very hot to touch, and kissed the top of her head. He inhaled the aroma of her own personal scent, a curious blend of pure woman and warm sunshine. His sapin twitched beneath his tilk, but he willed it to abate. “It is not good to hurt another, but defending yourself is another matter. In your case, you couldn’t have done a more just action.”

Once Volund managed to compose himself, he said, “We should contact the Ruling Body of Planets. I think our base here needs bounty hunters for such rogues as this Randle. Such men will aid you in your job over Security.”

“Agreed.” Jaxxon looked down at their new mate. “Let us worry about this man, little warrior. We’ll request that Oshki and Miln’s presence be more than just settling here with us, finding mates, and bearing offspring.”

“Good idea,” his brother said. “Those two were bounty hunters on Azutu, so it’s a fitting profession for Earth as well. We need all the help and protection we can get for our life here and the endeavors we will undertake.”

“Oshki and Miln?” Venus echoed. She glanced from Jaxxon to Volund. “Can these two men really help us? And besides, won’t it take too long for them to reach Earth in time to aid us with Randle?”

“Oshki and Miln were sent on their way here a few days after we left Azutu for Earth,” Jaxxon explained.

Volund added, “All we need to do is contact their ship and request that their assignment be updated.”

“But what about these two Azutuans finding mates?” asked Venus. She stepped away from them and sat so suddenly, Jaxxon sensed her legs had actually given out on her. “I’ve not seen another woman in this area for years, unless you count my reflection.”

Jaxxon smiled at her sarcasm. “Your Dr. Zeon said two women had been killed in Randle’s attack on their new safe-house, correct?”

She nodded, her eyes questioning. “Then there must be other females.”

“My brother is right,” Volund agreed. “My guess is that wherever Dr. Zeon had been hiding out must be an area with more game for food and better living conditions.”

At Jaxxon’s words, Venus’s eyes brightened. “Oh, it will be so nice if it is true! I remained here so I could be near my parents’ home and laboratory, but to actually talk and spend time with another woman would be wonderful. It has been ages since I’ve had feminine company.”