Venom Trilogy 01 Venom & Vanilla by Shannon Mayer

Author:Shannon Mayer
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Fantasy
ISBN: 9781503938359
Publisher: 47North
Published: 2016-11-01T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

“I think you have the wrong house!” Roger yelled from the top of the stairs. “We gave at the office.”

I twisted around to glare at him, wondering what I’d ever seen in him. Spineless twit. No wonder he couldn’t even manage a cash register.

“You the Drakaina?” a deep voice asked.

The question turned me back to face the things in the lower foyer. Men from the waist up, bulls from the waist down, which included hairy legs, cloven hooves, and oversized bull bits. Each of them had a strap across his chest with an emblem engraved in gold. One that looked suspiciously like Achilles’s chiseled jaw.

“What’s a Drakaina?” Barbie whispered, and the Bull Boy at the front pointed his sword at her.

“Back away, puny human. The Drakaina is a dangerous beast full of poison.”

“Actually, poison is not quite right. Venom would be correct if you’re referring to my fangs.” I took a breath and backed up a step.

Bull Boy raised an eyebrow at me. “You the Drakaina?”

I shrugged as a niggling fear began to gnaw at the base of my neck. Achilles had sent his goons after me. I went with coy. “Maybe.”

“What do you mean, maybe?” He pointed his sword at me.

“She’s a human, not some draco thing,” Roger said, though his words wavered at the end. “Right, Alena?”

Bull Boy grinned up at me. “That’s her. Alena. Boss said it was her name.”

He took a step, his large hooves tromping onto the bottom stair. The wood groaned and I lifted an eyebrow. “I don’t think that was a good idea.”

“Drakaina, we’re taking you to Achilles.”

I glared at him. “What is it with all the men in my life trying to make me do what they want?”

Barbie snickered. “Because you haven’t learned yet to make them do what you want them to. Idiot.”

I didn’t want to think she had a point. But maybe she did.

Bull Boy let out a snort, leaned forward to step up . . . and went straight through the stairs, the old wood busting out underneath him with a monstrous screech of breaking lumber and rusted nails letting loose all at once. His hands flung up as he went down, and he bellowed as the house seemingly swallowed him whole. The remaining six Bull Boys stared at the hole, their hooves shuffling on the wooden floor. Their furry legs twitched as they backed away from the pitch-black hole.

“You’d better leave. I can’t guarantee the rest of you will make it out alive.” I took a step forward. They backed up farther, their eyes trained on my every move.

They were afraid of me.

A wild urge gripped me, a power like I’d never known. Not magic, but the realization that just by existing, I frightened them. Gathering myself, I leapt the rest of the way down the stairs and over the hole the lead bull had opened up in the floor. I landed in a crouch on the main floor. Achilles’s goons scattered to one side, the clatter of the hooves filling the air.

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