Read Soldier Mine for Free Online Page B

back in time to avoid the body falling to the floor. Without a second thought, he relieved the dead man of the knife strapped to his thigh and tucked it into the back of his waistband.
    He still couldn’t see more than a few inches in front of him. The smoke bombs were the high quality kind that created a lot of smoke and kept it in the air. Staying perfectly still, he tried to hear any signs of Vohne nearby. He silently cursed their lack of bonding. If he’d got over his trepidation with the Thresl, they’d already have a link and he wouldn’t be blindly searching for the man-cat. When he found Vohne, he was going to make sure they bonded so well he’d be able to sense him in a Zevan mud storm during swelling season.
    A sudden silence filled the room, more chilling than the screams and fire-fight of moments before. Kres dared to breathe, but only in quick silent gasps. However, his heart was knocking so hard against his chest he was worried the sound alone would give him away.
    “I got him!” A strong arm was wrapped around his throat. “Drop the gun,” the man growled in his ear.
    Kres was surprised at the lack of fear he felt as his weapon clattered to the floor. Being held by the enemy, he expected to feel something other than the complete and utter calm that took over his mind. As the stranger tried to choke the life out of him, Kres slipped his hand between them, grabbed the handle of the knife out of the back of his pants, and with ruthless precision plunged the knife into his enemy’s stomach.
    Howling, the man released him. For a moment it felt like the world was moving in slow motion as Kres scooped up the dropped weapon then fired it into the forehead of the other man. With a dispassionate eye, he watched the soldier drop to the ground.
    “Remind me not to piss you off,” Zander whispered beside him.
    Kres spun around to see his new friend crouched along the wall. Still wrapped in the odd calm, Kres replied, “I don’t think you’ll need a reminder.”
    Zander’s Thresl meowed imperiously.
    “My Thresl says they took Vohne down the hallway.”
    “You can understand him?”
    Zander gave him an odd look. “You couldn’t understand Vohne?”
    Kres shrugged. “A few words while he was a cat but not sentences. We weren’t together for very long in his cat form.” Impatient with their conversation while his Thresl was being taken, he scooped up another soldier’s weapon and handed it over to a bewildered Zander.
    “What’s this for?” Zander asked with wide eyes.
    “To shoot people.”
    “But I’ve never shot anyone before.” Kres could hear the fear in Zander’s voice.
    “You aren’t a soldier?”
    “I’m a diplomat.”
    “Well, get your diplomatic ass in gear. If they get Vohne off this station because I was chatting with you, I’ll shoot you myself.” He crammed the weapon into Zander’s hands and headed towards the exit.
    “He was right, you know,” Zander babbled as he scurried after Kres.
    “Right about what?” Not that he really cared. Kres’ eyes were busy scanning the area for possible enemies to give the other man much attention.
    “You really are a kickass warrior.”
    “Then let’s go kick some ass.” He was willing to do a lot more than that if it got his Thresl back. The bastards better have made their peace with whatever deities they worshipped, because if they resisted returning Kres’ Thresl, they were going to go visit them in person. He might have hesitated to claim Vohne before, but the utter fear he’d felt when he’d watched the Thresl disappear into the smoke told him they needed to be together, if only to see how far this bonding would go.
    Kres kept his weapon close to his chest as he peeked around the corner. There was no one in the halls. The bastards were ahead of them. Zander rushed over to a numeric pad on the wall. Kres watched him press a series of buttons.
    “Lock down commencing,” the robotic female voice announced.
    “Nice!” Kres