AllFreeNovel
Share Us
True to her threat, a chorus of throaty growls churned up the gravel out front. In fact, in a matter of moments, gravel was pinging with joyful abandon off every available surface in the wake of the Stellar Misfits MC’s hasty arrival. Then, just as my friend had promised, one horde of decidedly pissed off hotties in leather stormed the bar.
My already strained heart kicked up into overdrive at their proximity and my lady parts tightened with sudden awareness as my gaze locked instinctively onto three sets of blazing eyes in particular.
Sliding gracefully–inevitably–from one to the other.
Thrilling tingles of soul-deep recognition stroked my nerve endings.
I stared, struck mute and absolutely dumb-founded, while the three strangers stared right back. Their dusky skin was a strange shade of purple and seemed to throb ever-darker in the timeless moment of silence stretching between us. A deep purple, almost black mark–like a living tattoo trapped beneath the skin–bubbled up toward the surface of their necks. In the same moment, my own flesh began to burn white-hot, mirroring the strangers. It pulsed urgently, unleashing a hidden message from deep within my soul, as its mark tried to take root on my flesh for all the world to see.
I felt, rather than saw, Axle Grinder’s gaze zip toward me.
Whatever he witnessed tore an aggressive snarl from his lips, quickly echoed by the other Drakon Hunters as they prepared to fight.
The harsh chorus prompted me to slap a hand to my neck, covering the writhing mark and forcing it back down to stillness, though my eyes were still trapped in the commanding gaze of the newcomers. A delighted smile spread across the lean one’s face; a look of hungry admiration overtook the muscular pillar at the front of their triangle; and the shocked expression on the final male slowly crumpled into a fierce scowl as he clocked my reaction to the mark.
My cheeks burned as my flesh returned to its smooth gradient and the gloopy sensation of time seemed to snap back into regular motion as well.
Then my brows knitted together into a deeper confusion as I took in the newcomers’ unexpected appearance. Not just the three hotties who’d demanded my attention so completely with the ferocious light burning in their eyes, but of the room at large.
All of them–the entire fucking motorcycle club–were loaded for bear and looked to be absolutely bonkers as well. Underneath their normal biker attire, their bodies were cut. Muscular or lean, the newcomers were fit–just as Samantha had promised–and sexy as all get-out, but that was where the similarities to what I had imagined from my friend’s descriptions ended.
Because beneath all that cotton, leather and Denim, it looked as though the group were also dressed up in cosplay. Prosthetics, make-up… the lot. With all the other crazy going on, I could hardly make sense of the sight. It was as if the entire group had rushed off the set of Star Trek or something. At the very least, the Stellar Misfits MC seemed to be whole-heartedly embracing Hollywood’s very definition of ‘humanoid’.
Their skin looked thick and as tough as an animal’s hide. Some were painted silver, and others a deep gold. A few couplings and groupings were linked by a similar color–like the purple-skinned hotties who’d arrested my attention at the start–and seemed to be shining beacons which reflected their groups’ skin tone to one another from across the room.
My eyes kept darting around the room, trying to take all the details in.
Many of the males wore beards, however some were shaved clean.
Male or female, the Stellar Misfits also had subtle ridges which protruded and flowed from above their eyebrows at the top of their foreheads up and over their skulls only to be lost in the depths of those thick hairlines.
Furthermore, their pupils were slitted like a reptile’s. Prehensile tails–now thosehadto be mechanically operated–were either coiled in life-like readiness or were currently lashing at the air in a threatening manner.
In short, the Stellar Misfits MC were just as Samantha had promised.
Completely and utterlyout-of-this-worldand probably off the rockers as well.
Just what the fuck had my friend gotten herself into?
And who the hell had even heard of cos-playing bikers riding into battle ready to slay their enemies?
6
Asteroid
The old wooden homestead–converted into a Last Chance Bar on the bottom floor–was situated amongst the trees. On the down-hill side, soon after the edge of the rough gravel clearing submitted to the wild call of nature once more, the thick line of pine trees dropped quickly away giving us an unencumbered view of Valhalla’s Pass.
In their beat-up van and hurtling on two wheels up the mountain pass, the scribes had led us to this remote spot. They’d turned down a gravel road almost hidden from the road by the foreboding woods which immediately closed in around us. Clearly, this was the sort of establishment that didn’t really advertise its presence to tourists, it was meant solely for the locals.
A place to kick back and let their hair down, so to speak.
What I should have been clocking on approach was the number of bikes parked haphazardly out front in the gravel clearing so that I could better assess the nature of this threat.
I also should have been looking for a side-force of Drakon Hunters ready to ambush us on arrival. However, my hard-won battle senses must have flown right off my bike during the ride up here because instead of being on high-alert for signs of danger, my body was awash with a familiar tingling sensation which bubbled within my veins.
All my beast could focus on right now was the intoxicating scent which filled the air. It was everywhere, like stardust on the wind. An ephemeral essence whispering about the birth of galaxies.
On cue, my heart started galloping, picking up the urgent thrum of my bike’s motor.
