Dark Empathy Archibald Bradford (best books to read in your 20s TXT) 📖

suddenly gripped from either side and lifted off of her feet.

“Be at ease Rebecca! We have been searching for you for some time, you are safe. The queen-of-our-queen sent us to ensure it!”

Too stunned to even struggle in the grip of the two Hornets that now held her, Rebecca slumped and let them carry her away.

__________

Elsewhere a Hornet queen’s antennae were wiggling back and forth as she kept tabs on her hive, her eyes distant.

“Honey? They found her, she’s okay.”

Queen Oldeera hugged Cordelia from one side.

They were on the main floor of the hive, Hornets everywhere, along with Christine and Miranda Holt with her bond-mates.

After Rebecca’s hasty exit earlier Cordelia had sought out her sister to confirm her suspicions, then brought everything to Oldeera.

The Hornet queen wasted no time in ‘abducting’ Miranda Holt and her bond-mates from the local Aegis compound.

Together they had been waiting for news for several hours.

“Fuck! That’s a relief!” The brunette let out her breath explosively.

Oldeera squeezed her tighter.

“They’re bringing her in now.”

Miranda crossed her arms, still irritated at being flown into the hive against her will.

“And you’re absolutely certain that it was a trigger assembly?”

Cordelia swore and her Hornets glared at the grey-haired woman.

It had to be the fifth time she asked.

“Yes I’m sure! Christine!” Her voice came out in a whine as she whirled to face her sister.

Acting the part of the voice of reason, Christine stepped in and spoke in her defense.

“My sister has been helping me study since she was thirteen, and I trust her judgment. She isn’t one to make this kind of thing up, or jump to conclusions.”

She was wearing the full body beige overalls that were the ubiquitous uniform of the Algrade University students, the fabric tight across her breasts.

She had been brought to the hive in much the same way Miranda had, the Hornets snatching her even as she was on her way home from her last class.

Miranda sighed.

“Fine, fine, when your friend is brought in she can-”

“She’s here.” Oldeera interrupted.

Two Hornets burst into the building through the entrance above, a shell-shocked Lapine held between them.

Cordelia was at her side in seconds.

“Becks! Are you alright?!”

It took her several minutes to rouse the bunny out of her stupor, at which point the poor girl quickly became a sobbing mess as she tried to explain all of the truths that she had uncovered that evening.

“What? Becks, slow down, you aren’t making any sense! She shot someone?”

Miranda was suddenly taking the situation a lot more seriously.

The bunny nodded and gasped for breath.

“Like it was nothing. She said… she said, between a gun and money, she’d take the gun every time.” Her voice came out in a whimper as more tears fell.

“Do you still have the parcel?” Kala asked.

Cordelia shot the Amazon a glare, but unslung the bag from the limp bunny’s shoulder and handed it off to the troubled warrior.

While her bond-mate tried to get more information out of Rebecca, Kala located the box in question, holding it as if it were a live serpent before gingerly opening it in front of the mechanist student.

It took Christine mere seconds to identify each of the parts.

Cordelia had been right.

Once Rebecca had composed herself somewhat, Miranda sat her down and took her hands in hers.

“I’m sorry kiddo, you gotta be beat, but I have to ask some questions. You up for that?”

The Lapine sniffled, but nodded.

“Alright then, do you know how many were in the warehouse?”

She sniffled again, the baker girl holding her from one side, her arms reassuringly tight around her friend.

“Maybe thirty or forty people work there? I don’t know, I’ve never counted. I just wanted to talk to Carol.”

Miranda’s cheek twitched, betraying her agitation as she looked to Jan, her Wolfen partner.

With Jezebel the Gripau clinging to her back, the Wolfen whistled low.

“Shit, if even half that number are armed we need to go in full force, this could get messy.”

“My hive is ready to act, just say the word.” Oldeera’s voice was grave.

The operative shook her head.

“Not yet, we need more information, we need to know what kind of weapons they have. Ten men with flamers could stop any raid we launch cold. Above all else, we need backup, because if this woman is who I think she is, than that kind of firepower is a distinct possibility.”

Kala’s eyes lit up.

“You think she is the one who torched the warehouse in Oakridge?”

Still looking at the Lapine, Miranda tilted her head to one side questioningly.

“Physical description fits. Dark hair, big tits?”

“Yes.” Rebecca whispered.

The operative patted her knee kindly as her eyes softened.

“It’s going to be alright kiddo. I know that doesn’t mean much right now, but you’re safe. You sure nobody saw you?”

“No, they were all looking at C-Carol.”

Miranda’s eyes narrowed as she measured the bunny’s mental state, the poor girl still looked ready to fold in on herself, and being surrounded by strangers certainly wasn’t helping matters.

“Okay, and the woman that she ki- that she was meeting with, had you ever seen her before?”

“No, Carol talked about her a lot though, at least I think it was her. She called her an old b-bitch and said she was her silent partner.”

“I would bet my left nut that was Anika Gardner.” Jan observed seriously.

“Who?” Cordelia asked.

Miranda ran her hands through her hair.

“Old money. Her family has been here since the founding. We’ve been looking into her, heard a rumour that she was funding all of the arms trafficking in the city. The spider at the center of the web, though we can’t find anything to prove it.”

“Guess there’s a new spider.” Jan snorted.

Miranda