Page 24 of Asmodel

Looking at them both, the only thing Izzy saw were two sentient beings of the same race who looked like the large cats on Earth, but walked on two legs instead of four. They were both wildly pretty while imposing at the same time.

Izzy shrugged. “No offense, but I can’t see anything different between you—” She gestured at them. “—except for what I said before.”

Jaltaar’s chin jutted and his lips pulled back, exposing his upper fangs. “I cannot believe you don’t see the major difference between us.”

Talira crossed her arms and nodded to the male beside her. “Look closely at our fur.”

Squinting, Izzy stepped closer. Both had thick, glossy coats she’d love to pet under other circumstances. “You’re both absolutely beautiful.” She fisted her hands to stop herself from reaching out to stroke either of them. It’s not like they’d appreciate being treated like pets or anything.

“No!” Jaltaar barked with a strangled laugh. “Look at us! Closer.”

Closer? Well, okay. Izzy shrugged and walked around them. Both had to be excellent examples of their race. Tall, lean, and muscular, with the most interesting tails imaginable. Her mischievous side poked up. How great would it be to have something like a tail to create a playful puppet on the ends to entertain the children on reading day at the library? Ooh, maybe they could hold things with those strong-looking appendages. Think how easy it’d be to shelve books! Like having three hands instead of two.

Izzy cocked her head and watched Jaltaar’s tail. It had a ball of fur like a dandelion at the end. “Is it because you have fur at the end of your tail and she doesn’t?”

Said tail thumped as Jaltaar spun around.

Talira laughed. “Oh, I think she and I are going to get along just fine.” She smiled, exposing her upper and lower fangs. “Izzy, can’t you see I have gloriously long fur and he goes around practically naked with his minuscule excuse for a pelt?”

“Hey!” Jaltaar’s tail wrapped around Talira’s waist and brought her close to nuzzle her snout. “You stroke my minuscule excuse for a pelt every chance you get.”

Talira purred and twined her tail with his. “Yes, I agree with the human. You are quite beautiful.”

Izzy frowned. “The Alpha Regent wants to kill you because your fur is longer than his?”

How crazy was that?

Chapter Five

Ablockawayfromthe Grub & Grog, Asmodel spotted the building Raxx had described. It was slightly larger than a shack, and its color was a deep, thick brick-red, reminiscent of congealing blood. But the neon image of an outlined three breasted sexbot was hard to miss. Especially since it throbbed on and off with mind-numbing consistency.

There. Raxx leaned against the dilapidated wall with one leg bent, his foot planted on the planks, staring off as if lost in thought.

The whispering sounds of the citizens moving about in the shadows were nonthreatening as they gave the strangers a wide berth.

Even though Asmodel didn’t make a sound, Raxx jerked and looked their way. He shook his head as his lips curled in mirth. With a brief nod, he headed toward them with a swagger, as if he didn’t have a care in the world. He approached Asmodel with a confident tilt of his head.

“Damn. Glad to see you've made out it of there in one piece.” A hint of amusement laced Raxx’s voice. “I gotta tell ya, I’m really impressed with you getting out of there.” He narrowed his dark eyes and gave him an up-and-down look. “And nary a scratch, too.” He held his hand out, his eyes glued to the side of Asmodel’s chest where Echo lay. “You got my baby in there? She okay?”

Asmodel reached into his pocket and placed the oval device in Raxx’s outstretched hand.

He brought Echo close and whispered soothing, soft words, stroking the top of the AI’s metallic body. “You bodacious love o’ mine. Come to Daddy.”

Asmodel’s eyebrows rose. The slang the man used wasn’t like anything he’d heard since being brought into the future. He narrowed his eyes. There had to be more to this guy than he previously thought. “JR13?” He whispered to his bot as Raxx continued to speak to Echo in a soothing, singsong tone.

“Yeah, organic man?” JR13 sat in his favorite place on Asmodel’s left shoulder. The bot lifted his chin.

“See if you have anything in your database about Raxx Jorlen, would you?”

The spider-shaped droid snorted. “I already did that.” He lifted his right foreleg and waved it around. “In the general database, he’s a blank slate. But I’ve asked Dad to look further into him.”

It took a moment before Asmodel remembered JR13 called JR10 his father. He grunted. No doubt the older bot had vast resources, between Earth and Akurn at his disposal. Not to mention the resources from the Federation Consortium he had access to.

“Good. Let me know what he finds out.”

JR13’s only reply was another dismissive snort.

“How’d you get away unharmed?” Raxx clasped Echo back to the harness on his belt. “Everybody knows they are ruthless, bloodthirsty mercenaries who’ll take any job as long as the price is right. One person against a group of them doesn’t normally stand a chance.”

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