Read Online Among Galactic Ruins by Anna Hackett - Free Book Online Page B

whatever
it was, he wasn’t planning to let it get anywhere near Lexa.
    Lexa looked troubled. “Should we take it in
turns to keep watch?”
    He smiled. “I’m used to it and I don’t need
a lot of sleep. Get some rest, okay?”
    She shot him an unreadable look, then
nodded. “Good night.”
    After she was gone, Damon settled in the
sand and imagined her in her tent, wearing tiny lacy things he
wanted to tear off her. He blew out a breath. It was going to be a
long night.
    ***
    Lexa woke, heart pounding, and sat upright.
The dream faded, leaving her realizing she was safely in her tent.
She pushed her hair off the back of her neck. In the nightmare,
she’d been back at the inn, realizing the attackers were in her
room.
    Everything’s fine, Lexa . She listened
for a moment, but there were no strange sounds, just the gentle
fluttering of the tent fabric in the desert breeze, and the snorts
of the ballos not too far away. Through the opaque fabric, she saw
the faint flicker of the fire. She relaxed back against her pillow.
Damon was out there, somewhere, watching over them.
    Her thoughts wanted to turn toward that wild
kiss but she forced them onto finding the crossways. Excitement
sparked like a drug in her veins. Find the crossways, follow the
other clues, and find the egg. She imagined setting the egg in the
display she had planned for it back at the museum. Studying it,
finding out more about its history. No doubt, Damon would be there
bitching at her about security.
    She stilled, funny that he was now a clear
part of that picture. And that she welcomed it. She’d been worried
about complications if they acted on their attraction, but they
were already involved.
    A shadow moved outside the tent and she
turned her head. Maybe Damon was headed this way?
    She waited, her pulse picking up. The shadow
moved again. Low, slinking along the ground.
    Her heart leapt into her throat.
    Desert wolf.
    She forced herself to stay still. How could
it be inside the fence? The alarm should have sounded. How many
more were out there?
    She pressed a hand to her chest. Had they
attacked Damon? God, what if he were hurt…or worse?
    Reaching for her bag, she slowly fished
around until her hand closed over the butt of the laser pistol
Damon had given her. Inching up, she pulled her legs out of her
sleeping bag.
    But the wolf must have sensed her
movement.
    It launched itself at the tent.
    Lexa’s scream stuck in her throat. The huge
weight of the wolf fell on her, and she was separated from very
sharp teeth by the thin layer of high-tech tent fabric.
    She turned and tried to scramble away, but
she had nowhere to go. She was trapped by the collapsed tent, with
no idea where the fastening for the opening was. But the wolf
clawed and ripped at the tent, and soon ragged tears opened up.
    Lexa shoved her hand through the tear,
ripped it open more, then dived through.
    The wolf spun, growling, drool dripping from
its slavering jaws.
    Fear was a living, twisting thing in her
throat. She scuttled backward in the sand and lifted her feet. When
the wolf leapt at her, she pressed her feet against its chest,
kicking with all the strength she had.
    Its jaws snapped an inch from her face, its
breath a horrid stench. She managed to get the pistol up and aimed
at its face.
    She fired.
    With a whine, the animal fell back.
    Lexa leapt to her feet. When she looked
around, horror clamped down on her.
    Wolves were swarming through the camp. The
ballo beasts were braying and she saw one, the one she’d been
riding, twisting and turning, four wolves clamped on its back. The
other tents were in tatters.
    She heard the whine of a laser rifle, and in
the darkness she made out a bare-chested Dathan firing rapidly into
a sea of wolves.
    Where was Damon? She looked around
frantically.
    A wolf shot out of the darkness at her.
    She brought the pistol up and fired.
    The laser caught the side of the animal but
didn’t kill it. It raced away into the darkness.
    She ran