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I turn a corner and run straight into the big dark form of a man. As I do, the sirens stop. The lighting returns to normal. Peace asserts itself aggressively, but wrongly.
“Hey there, little lady.”
It’s Sheriff Starlight. Not exactly who I wanted to see, but better than an outright enemy. In the bright fluorescent light of the Fleisch laboratory he looks even more outlandish. He’s still wearing fucking spurs, as well as a waistcoat and oilskin overcoat. I should have left Katya to his not so tender mercies.
“They lied. She lied,” I tell him. “This was a trap.”
“We know. We’ve been right behind you since you left. Don’t worry. It’s all under control.”
“Where’s Cosmos?”
“He’s busy doing what he does. I’m here to get you out. Let’s go. This way.”
I almost follow him, but then I remember my previous conclusions about not making decisions or trusting anyone. Starlight is not exactly a known quantity. He showed up at the same time as Katya did, more or less. Maybe he’s on her side. Maybe this double cross is actually a triple cross.
“I’ll wait for Cosmos,” I say, stalling.
“There’s no time. Come with me.”
“No. Thank you.”
Starlight grabs me by the arm and tries to pull me along. I sink my teeth into his hand hard enough to taste blood. He retaliates by scruffing me like a wild cat.
“Little lady, your husband isn’t here, and I’ve been itching to do this since I laid eyes on your impudent angelic ass. Thing about your kind is a tendency to arrogance. Comes from the blood. You never really get away from it.”
He’s bending me over his leg as he speaks, and a second later, his big Texas hand is beating a tattoo on my ass. I scream at the top of my lungs. He has no right to do this to me. The shielding is still in place, and that means I can’t cut him the fuck up with my burning sword of fire, but the second we’re out of here, I’m going to fillet him. I swear it on my husband. Where the fuck is my husband?
“You can yowl all you like,” he tells me, every slap landing firmly across my ass, making me ache. It’s very different from being spanked by Cosmos. It’s not hot. It’s just painful. It’s just some big asshole deciding he has the right to teach me a lesson because I’m not leaping to obey him.
“You’re a piece of shit,” I tell him. “And when my husband gets here, he’s going to cut you into a thousand pieces before he lets you die. You’re going to regret this, Starlight!”
“You know what all this mouthiness tells me?” Starlight speaks casually. “Tells me I’m not tanning your hide hard enough.”
With that, he starts spanking me even harder. True to his word, I can’t form sentences anymore. I can only screech and curse and kick and fight, none of which do anything because he has me held firmly, using his thigh to keep my hips out and my butt in his firing line.
“You’d do well with a stint at my facility,” he says. “We know how to handle mouthy little angels who disobey their handlers. You’d have your bottom spanked twice a day, I reckon, probably more given the way you act. And you’d be taught proper respect, the kind that puts you on your knees before your handler and teaches you to serve. Your husband has spoiled you, let you be a headstrong little minx…”
I never find out what else Starlight thinks about Cosmos, because at that very moment Cosmos comes arcing through the air like a lithe and furious panther, the hilt of his sword held in two hands. The sound it makes as it contacts Starlight’s skull is one of the most supremely satisfying sounds I’ve ever heard.
“Cosmos!” I scream his name and grab for him, which gives Starlight an unearned reprieve. I don’t care. I want to hug my husband. I want to feel that he’s okay. He is okay. As always. He’s bloodied, though I don’t think it is his blood that’s now coming off on me. Why can’t we take a trip anywhere without ending up covered in sanguine essence?
Cosmos wraps one arm around me. “It’s alright,” he says. “I’ve got you.”
The tip of his blade is pointed at Starlight, who has gained his feet, but looks unsteady. That’s going to be one hell of a concussion.
“You think you have the right to put hands on my wife?” Cosmos gently disentangles me, puts me behind him and advances on Starlight.
“Gotta tell you buddy, I assumed you were dead. The fighting was fierce. Couldn’t get you out, so I came for her.”
“Right,” Cosmos says, stalking toward him. I am about to watch this guy get his fucking ass handed to him and I can’t wait. My ass is aching, my pride is bruised, and I want to see some carnage.
