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

hadn’t been this excited in
a long time. The area was filled with stale air, and she sneezed
when turning on the light. Dust flew around her. She knew the lift
would take a lot of juice, but using it once might not hurt the
solar batteries too much. With Volund’s and Jaxxon’s help, they
were figuring out a way to feed more power into the building’s
equipment.
    Venus moved into the small chamber. She scanned the
wall, her gaze coming to rest where the mayor’s personal elevator
was hidden.
    “Wow, so he did have everything, the little weasel!”
Gram snarled behind her, causing Venus to jump. “While so many were
starving, he played with his electronics, the prick. I’m so glad
your mother turned him down.”
    “Gram, you scared the crap out of me. Warn me next
time. You shouldn’t have come down the stairs by yourself. You’re
still healing.” Venus fussed and placed the knife back in the pouch
under her skirt, all the while keeping her attention on her
grandmother. The growl that had come from her still sounded too
close to that of a Bone Eater’s.
    She placed her hand on her Gram’s arm. “You are
right. He was a prick. These are just more of his toys. I’ve used a
lot of them, piecing together the things I needed. This elevator
has a keypad, so we’re going to need a code. Maybe it will take us
down to the tunnels, but first I have to see if I can access it,
find the code.” She nodded to the recliner in the corner of the
room.
    “Also, you shouldn’t be walking around so soon. Come,
let’s get you comfortable before I work on this. We can talk while
I work.”
    After settling her grandmother, Venus walked back
upstairs to her apartment. She gathered her equipment and a fold-up
chair, all the while her thoughts on what could be beneath
them.
    Gram smiled at her as she returned and set up her
chair and tools.
    “Venus! Venus, where are you?” Jaxxon yelled. Before
she could even say a word he appeared in the room. He nodded to her
Gram and hurried over to Venus. “What do you think you are doing?”
He glanced around.
    She stood and kissed his cheek before she sat
again.
    “Gram was telling me about some tunnels under the
city that the mayor had built before everything went to hell. If
I’m not mistaken, this elevator should take us straight to them.
Gram said the mayor had food and all sorts of stuff down there in
case of an emergency.” She grabbed her electronic scanner and
started to attach it to the small code box. “If I can crack the
code the mayor used, we can get it going and go check things
out.”
    Jaxxon pulled the chair away from the elevator with
her in it and stepped in front of her. “So what if you do get the
elevator running? Are you planning on going down there alone?”
    She leaned back in her chair, stared up at Jaxxon,
and folded her arms. “Do you really believe I would be that dense,
Jaxxon? I was going to see if I could get the elevator working
first then wait for you and Volund.” Hurt that he would think her
so stupid, the last word she spoke came out in a whisper.
    She didn’t say anything as Jaxxon kneeled in front of
her and sighed. “I’m sorry, but you are so used to taking care of
everything yourself.”
    Gram snorted behind them. “You should have seen her
as a child. She was three times worse.”
    “Gram, you’re not helping.” Venus looked over her
shoulder at her and cracked up when she saw the magazine she held,
head cocked to the side as the magazine unfolded and the centerfold
was revealed. Her grandmother’s eyes grew big and a frown replaced
the smile as she stared at the long, shiny page. When Venus had
searched through this floor, she’d stuck all the porn magazines
inside the chair when she ran across them.
    “That perverted son of a bitch, he even has kiddie
porn. I always told your grandfather not to trust the snake.” She
ripped up the magazine. Looking up, here she noticed Acwel and she
actually blushed.
    Acwel grinned and kneeled