Free Lovers of the Galaxy: Book Three: Raiders of the Lost Heart by Trinity Blacio

don’t like that they are out during
the day now. Their bodies must be changing, still adjusting to the
environment.”
    He bent down and looked closely at one of the Bone
Eaters. “Venus have you seen this one before? Look at how stands
back, watching. He seems to know we have cameras, look at the way
he focuses on them.”
    She leaned forward and studied the creature. “I think
I’ve seen him before, but not this close. When we get the new lab
together we need to capture a few males. If they really are
changing we need to know what’s going on.” Venus watched as Badden
and Acwel started firing on the Bone Eaters. Immediately, the one
that had been watching took off, leaving the others. Something was
familiar about him, but not.
     
    “I’m going to have Acwel bring me in one of the dead
males. I can study him over there in the corner while you work with
the females. The more data we have on them the better.” Jaxxon spun
around and left her sitting at monitors.
    Something was going on and she didn’t like not
knowing. The more she thought about it, since her men had come here
the Bone Eaters had been changing. They were acting different, and
they had become more aggressive.

Chapter Nine
     
    Venus looked at the clock and sighed. She still had
over an hour before the newest ship was due to land. Volund and
Badden were out hunting. For some reason he wanted to provide a
feast for the new men.
    Jaxxon and Acwel scouted around the city marking
where the first wall should go up. If they could secure the area,
and could get everyone to help, over time they might be able to get
rid of the trash, bury the dead, and actually clean up the city.
For now they could just wall in the inner city and slowly work
their way out.
    She tapped the stylus on the table and studied the
map as her Gram slept in her new bed. Before the men had left,
she’d insisted Gram be moved up to their quarters where she could
keep an eye on her.
    Plus, her men told her they expected her to stay
upstairs while they were gone, especially after the Bone Eaters had
tried to break through their defenses. The Bone Eater’s were
changing and it wasn’t for the better. Becoming more aggressive and
acting smarter. She was almost glad she didn’t have to deal with
them alone anymore. She rubbed her arms as she remembered her
nightmares. Could they be signs of what was yet to come?
    Running her hand through her hair, she sighed. “No it
was just a nightmare.” She studied the map again.
    “There are four main roads into the city. Elyria is
twenty six miles long and forty miles wide. Downtown is three miles
wide and five miles long. If we can wall off our enclave, gate or
fortify a wall or fence around the downtown land, clean out the
BoneEaters in that area we can start working backwards cleaning
spots out at a little at a time…”
    “Venus?”
    Gram’s quiet voice broke through her train of
thought. Venus turned and smiled at her grandmother. Her face
heated. Once more she’d been caught talking to herself. She laughed
and smiled at her Gram, who also wore a large smile. “Sorry, Gram,
I didn’t mean to wake you. Since I’ve been alone for so long I have
a habit of talking to myself.”
    “What’s wrong? You were frowning and mumbling.” Gram
tried to sit up, but fell back onto the couch with a grunt. She
tried to reach her back, as if she were in pain.
    Venus hurried over to the bed as she scanned her
grandmother’s spine hoping she hadn’t torn any of the new, slowly
forming skin replacing the spikes that had been growing from her
back. There was no further damage and only one small spike still
protruded, the rest had fallen off during the night. The fresh skin
had been pink and tender. Jaxxon had applied some of their Azutuan
medicine to help speed the healing process.
    “It’s going to take time, Gram. The healing won’t
happen overnight. Your body has been through some major changes.
However, there’s nothing wrong with me. I’m