First Words—August 30, 2018—Mack ‘n’ Me: The Wolves of Alpha 9

I’ve just finished the words for Mack ‘n’ Me #5. They are good words… until tomorrow, when I will edit them again and probably ask myself who wrote this shit, and then they will be edited and will be good words, all over again. For now, in their mostly unedited first draft state, here are the first words of the day, written around 7 hours ago. You don't need to ask if Cutter's mission is going sideways, you just need to ask how bad and how fast:

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Turns out it was a good question to ask.

I’d been trotting through the tunnel, towards the slant-wise cutting that would take me down a level, when Tens and Case called me back.

“That wasn’t the maid,” Tens said. “It was the concubine.”

“Figures.”

I slowed to a walk, found an alcove, checked it for creepy crawlies, and stepped inside.

“Go on.”

“And it’s a slave bracelet.”

“A what?”

“You heard the man,” Case told me. “A slave bracelet. You know, the kind of thing that stops folk from running away, or lets their masters track them.”

“Uh huh. So why does he need me, then?”

“That would be the thing to ask.”

I huffed out a sigh.

“No point. He probably wouldn’t tell the truth, anyway. What I want to know is why he hasn’t sent a squad after her, and why he needs someone from off-world. And it would be good to know I wasn’t’ going to be retrieving a person, because you know the contract’s breached nine ways to Hell, if he expects that. I’m not taking anyone back to slavery under that asshole.”

“Literally,” Case said, and I rolled my eyes.

Not what I needed to hear.

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Would you like to read more? 

The first three books and two short stories in the Mack ‘n’ Me ‘n’ Odyssey series: Mack ‘n’ Me: Origins, The Depredides Dance, Mack ‘n’ Me: Blaedergil’s Host, Mack ‘n’ Me: Arach and Cloud Door, are also available. The fourth book, Mack ‘n’ Me: The Transporter’s Favour will release shortly.