Hive Queen by Sinclair, Grayson (positive books to read .txt) 📕

“I’m part of the team. Though I don’t know your part in this, I’m sure we’ll manage if you want to walk away. Though you would greatly displease our employer, and none of us want that, do we?”

Orryn blanched slightly, paling as he stroked his beard. “All right, ya bastard, no need to get nasty. I just wasn’t expecting ya is all.”

Fluttering from behind me caused me to turn my head. Tel had climbed out from behind her bar and was dancing elegantly our way with a tray of drinks. She stopped and sat them down before leaning over and giving Orryn a peck on the cheek.

“On the house. This one was a gentleman,” Tel said, thumbing back at me.

Orryn nodded and ran his hand over Tel’s lower back. “You’re a doll, Tel.”

She smiled and left, back to man the bar, leaving me angry that we’d been had as soon as we stepped foot inside.

“Tel’s your frontwoman, making sure we’re clean.”

Orryn just gave me a toothy smile. “Love that woman. Vicious, and sweet as syrup. Now we can get down to business?”

Raven coughed, speaking up. “What we need has already been discussed and payment made. We also need a place to set up for a few nights. For an additional fee,” she said, palming a small bag that clinked ever so slightly as she slid it to Orryn.

He didn’t so much as glance at it before stowing it in a pouch by his waist. “Understood. I have just a place in mind, made with humans in mind so it won’t even be cramped. Now that our business has been sorted, I was told to introduce you to the team you’re going to be working with,” Orryn said.

He placed his fingers in his mouth and whistled sharply, breaking through the clamor of patrons. Footsteps sounded off the stone outside. Three men, from the sounds of it. The way this job’s gonna go, I’ll take whatever help I can get.

The men were all human, scruffy and scarred from years of hard service and questionable decisions.

The two in front were both nondescript, brown hair, one long and wavy while the other was short, nearly buzzed to his scalp. The longer-haired man had bloodshot blue eyes and the other brown. I took them in. Decent leather armor, but worn and scratched, which formed into a rich patina. They had swords belted at their hips, but they weren’t the highest quality.

I promptly discounted them. They were nothing but fodder, maybe level forty at best, with mid-tier gear. They wouldn’t be worth much.

The third man, however, was a different story entirely.

He was tall and thin. Old Japanese heritage gave him a nearly lanky appearance, but there was too much lean muscle cording down his warm cedar skin. Thick veins writhed to the surface as he clenched his hands tight, flushing the color from his knuckles.

His long, jet-black hair was pulled back in a topknot out of his once-soft face that had been chiseled in recent years as his skin stretched thin over his cheeks and slim, hard-set jawline.

The man locked eyes with me, and cold fury stoked the warm brown in his iris as he strolled across the tavern.

“Mika─“

His fist slammed into my nose before I could even rise from my chair.

Chapter 12 - Bittersweet Blood

My head snapped to the side as the cartilage in my nose burst and spilled red hot agony over my lips. I careened out of the chair and landed hard on my side before sprawling across the floor.

I braced myself for a beating, but nothing more came my way. Mika hadn’t moved from where he’d knocked my block off. I stood and picked up the chair before I looked at my old friend.

The tension in the air changed drastically with that singular punch. Raven reacted harshly, sprouting her midnight wings and claws. The others reacted to her and drew arms while I threw my hands up in a panic.

“Hold the fuck up! No one move!”

Though we could’ve heard the drop of a pin, if anyone had dropped a pin, we’d have torn each other apart just out of pure reaction.

The other patrons of the bar saw the writing on the wall and beat a hasty retreat, leaving only the seven of us.

Raven grimaced, nearly snarling at the others while they stared wide-eyed at her expansive wings and wicked talons. “That man assaulted you. This breaches the contract. Why are we just standing here?”

“Because,” I said, brushing the blood off my mouth and spitting what dripped into my mouth on the floor, “I deserved that.”

“At least that. But that settles our score,” Mika said, cracking a smile as the fire faded from his eyes.

“It’s been a long time, old friend.”

“Too long. Now you gonna get over here and hug me, or do I have to break your nose again?”

I crossed the room and clapped the man who’d once been a brother to me on the back. Mika wore shadowsteel, like me, which made our hug awkward to say the least, but the meaning behind it was clear.

I let go of him and stood back. “I’d recognize Thrayl’s work anywhere, but c’mon, Mika, you look like a damned samurai from the movies back on Earth.”

“Even have the katana, though it’s certainly an upgrade from the original Takamikazuchi back in the Swords, eh? I call it Taka 3.0.”

His armor was black shadowsteel, but his sword was shiversteel. Its silver blade accented by the black tsuka ito wrapped around the handle, it was certainly a beautiful sword, on par with any hero-tier weapon. Might even give my new blade a run, though shiversteel would chip and crack, even as it bit through my