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It occurred to Lili that she really might die trying to get one of the famous Blind Turtle cocktails, but she pushed the grim thought away. The man from the hotel bar was gone now—she could find her way in peace. Or maybe just go back to her hotel—if she could find it now that she was all turned around. She’d never had a very strong sense of direction and this was her first time in Tampa.
She had come down for a conference that was being hosted by the Kindred at the Tampa Human/Kindred Relations building for Women in Academia. The alien race of seven-foot-tall warriors were known for being feminists—they honestly believed that males and females were equals—which was a breath of fresh air, considering how most human men treated women.
The Kindred often sponsored academic research done by women which was wonderful, since often getting funding and grants could be difficult on Earth, where men mostly controlled the purse strings.
Lili had an extra edge—one of her best friends, Rachel Durant, was already married to a Beast Kindred warrior and living aboard the Kindred Mother Ship. Through her, Lili had been able to start a correspondence with one of the most elusive alien art collectors in the galaxy. Their name was f’loon and they were renowned for their massive collection of extraterrestrial art.
Lili held a unique degree—a PhD in Xeno-Art History. It was an academic study which had only become possible after the Kindred had come to Earth some fifteen years ago. They had opened whole new worlds of study by allowing humans to access alien races.
Being a curious person who loved to learn and see new things and places, Lili was eager to travel off-world and meet some of the alien artists she’d been studying for most of her academic career. So when the Kindred had offered this conference, she’d been eager to go. Her best friend, Rachel, had promised to get her a meeting with Commander Sylvan—the head of the Kindred High Council—so she could ask about going to meet f’loon in person.
It would be amazing to get to study their vast collection up close instead of just reading about it and seeing the few pieces they had allowed to be photographed and recorded on-line, Lili thought as she made her way down the dark alley towards the next lighted street. She could write papers about it for the rest of her life—in academia it was always “publish or perish” and she was hoping that such groundbreaking work might finally earn her tenure at the small, liberal arts college she taught at. She?—
“Got you, bitch!”
A big hand wrapped around her arm, pinching so hard it hurt and suddenly the big, burly man from the bar was leering at her from the darkness.
“Hey! Let me go!” Lili gasped, trying to pull away from him. She could see the lights of the main Ybor strip, just a few yards away! If she could just get loose…
“Don’t think so. Uppity bitches like you need to get taught a lesson and I think I’m just the one to teach you.”
The man started dragging her away from the light, towards the deeper shadow cast by an open dumpster. Lili could smell the sour stench of rotting food and garbage—it turned her stomach. Her impractical shoes slid over the dirty asphalt as she fought and struggled.
“Let me go!” she gasped again. “My…my boyfriend is looking for me! He’ll be here any second!”
“Yeah, right,” her attacker sneered. “You nasty bitches always say you have a boyfriend. Stop lying and take what’s coming to you!”
Lili gave up trying to reason with him.
“Help! Help!” she shouted as loudly as she could. “Help me—someone help me!”
“Scream all you want—nobody’s gonna hear you, bitch.” Her attacker leered at her. “In fact, I kind of like it when they scream—so go ahead, knock yourself out.”
Lili felt sick—from the way he talked, it was clear this man was a predator, maybe even a serial rapist. Or worse, a serial killer! She was horribly afraid he was right about her screaming being useless. Just a few meters away in the lighted street she could hear a bunch of drunken partiers shouting and whooping—nobody was going to hear her over all that noise!
They say that when faced with danger there are three possible responses—flight, fight, or freeze. You don’t really have a choice in how you react when attacked—it’s completely involuntary. Luckily, Lili fell squarely into the middle classification.
She stopped struggling and turned to face her attacker. Aiming a kick right at his crotch, she managed to nail him squarely with the pointed toe of her impractical but extremely sharp stiletto.
“Arrgh! You bitch!” the man gasped and for just an instant his punishing grip on her arm loosened as he grabbed for his crotch.
Lili pulled free of him and ran for the light, her heels clattering frantically on the asphalt. Her heart was drumming in her chest as she finally reached the lighted street and plunged into the crowd gathered outside a rowdy nightclub.
But though the crowd of drunken revelers offered some camouflage, it also slowed her down.
“Excuse me…excuse me…pardon me,” Lili chanted as she pushed her way through the laughing, shouting people.
When she finally got free of them, she cast a glance over her shoulder. To her dismay, she saw the man who had attacked her was still coming. He had an angry scowl on his face and he was also pushing his way through the crowd, just as she had done. But he was moving much faster than she had been able to go, due to his huge size and the fact that he could just shove people out of the way.
“Hey, man—watch it!” she heard someone say as he pushed roughly past them.
Lili felt her stomach drop to her toes. God, wouldn’t he ever stop? It was like being chased by the freaking Terminator!
She must have only struck him a glancing blow with her kick, she thought. She wished now that she would have managed to kick him with the sharp heel of her shoe instead of just the toe—skewering his balls might have slowed him down more.
But there was nothing to do but try to get away again. Where would she be safe from him, though? From the angry look on his face, he was prepared to follow her anywhere. And if she ducked into a crowded club or bar and he grabbed her there, would anyone even notice or care? Everyone she saw on the street seemed to be drunk or high—would they even bother to look in her direction if she got dragged away?
Then she saw something ahead that gave her hope. Standing in a line waiting to get into a club up ahead were two huge Kindred warriors.
