Desolation Crossing by James Axler

Author:James Axler
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Worldwide Library

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

The Past

His head hurt. Badly.

As J.B. opened his eyes—as slowly and carefully as was possible—the slightest hint of light made him want to close them again. The light was like needles in his eyes. Bastard stupe phrase—how did you know what needles in the eyes were like unless some coldheart had plunged them in? In which case, the light wouldn’t mean anything to you anymore.

Wandering—his mind was wandering, and he needed to concentrate, so he could at least remember where the hell he was.

Well, he could remember where he had been, if nothing else. The woman who had been haunting him for the past few days, the gaudy slut…No, wait, she wasn’t that. He could remember her saying something about a husband who never paid her any attention. Shit, some crazie with a blaster coming after him because his wife had been bedded by another man was all J.B. needed. Hell, he was confident he could best anyone in Hollowstar in a one-on one showdown. The trouble was, it wouldn’t stop there. Trader would get involved, that fat bastard Baron Emmerton would stick his flabby paws in, and it could turn into a real situation.

Wait, Dix, he cautioned himself, don’t get too carried away with the possibilities yet. Try and piece together what actually happened.

It came back to him, hazy at first, but starting to make sense as he was able to put pieces together. She’d asked them if they would buy her a drink.

Them?

Shit, he was supposed to be babysitting Hunn, seeing that she didn’t get out of hand. Trader would have his ass for that.

It had been early, the bar hadn’t been full. He could feel Hunn itching to get at the woman as she had come over. Hunn offering her whatever she wanted in a voice that made it clear she wasn’t talking about brew. Hunn making no effort to show her displeasure when she was lightly rebuffed and the woman had introduced herself to J.B.

“Sorry, sugar, but when I was asking for a drink I was kinda looking at the one with the dick. I’m just not that kind of a girl. But, hey, I can’t just call you the one with the dick, can I? So what does everyone else call you?”

J.B. smiled—the effort making his face hurt—as he remembered Hunn shaping some smart-ass answer before his eye caught hers.

So the Armorer had introduced himself, feeling less at ease than at any time he could remember for a long way back. That was one of the reasons he’d drunk so much. Why, when he’d faced more situations of danger than he could think of, should talking to a beautiful woman have caused him so much anxiety?

Because she was beautiful. Because she liked him. And maybe because he was aware of Hunn simmering in the background, getting more and more drunk, more and more bellicose with each round that slipped down her throat.

Her name was Laurel, and she had a voice like molasses—dark, low, slow and smoky with a sweetness laying over it all.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.