Darkside Blues: SciFi Alien Romance (Dark Planet Warriors Book 4.5) by Anna Carven

gilded avenues of downtown Teluria.
    As he eased above the gridlock, Kai caught sight of a figure running through the traffic.
    Running? What the hell?
    It was the middle of the day, and the streets were otherwise devoid of foot traffic. People just didn’t do that around here. Something was wrong.
    He slowed, trying to get a closer look at the runner. At the same time, he visualized a complicated set of mental commands, bringing up an optical datafeed in a segment of his visual field.
    The neural implant allowed him to monitor the streets of the Central Ward, especially those around the Tower.
    Images filtered through his mind. The runner was just a kid in a hoodie. He was being chased by two thugs, and Kai had to give it to him, he was fast. One of the pursuers brandished a nasty looking bolt-jack. It wouldn’t kill the kid, but it would give him a painful shock. Bolt-jacks were vicious things; they were designed to cause maximum pain by delivering a powerful electric shock. If used in the wrong way, they could cause permanent paralysis.
    The kid disappeared down an alleyway, the two thugs in hot pursuit.
    “Just you wait, you little shit! I’m going to rip your fucking head off!”
    Kai slowed to a crawl and turned, following the thugs. This was Vadim’s neighborhood, but he wasn’t about to tolerate violence in his boss’ district.
    That wasn’t the way they did things around here.
    Who the fuck did these assholes think they were, coming and causing trouble on his people’s turf?
    Kai’s anger swelled, threatening to burst forth. It had been a long time since he’d felt this way; on the verge of losing control.
    He was on the brink, and he needed an outlet.
    Deep down, he admitted to himself that he was looking for a fight. He got like that sometimes.
    Kai swept into the alley, a narrow passage between walls of aged concrete, where sprays of colorful graffiti extended all the way up to the tops of the buildings. It terminated in a dead-end; the kid had nowhere left to run.
    As he descended to the pavement below, Kai set the Vortex to hover and reached for his gun. He slipped out, dropping to his feet as the kid reached into his jacket and pulled out a small knife, waving it at his would-be attackers.
    As he saw Kai approaching, his eyes widened.
    Help , he mouthed.
    His two attackers advanced. They looked like low-level street hustlers, the kind of guys who might be into shabu dealing or pimping. Kai didn’t recognize them as Urubora members.
    “I told you not to fuck with us, kid,” the guy holding the bolt-jack snarled. “You think you can disrespect us?” He activated the charge, the weapon rippling with static.
    “There ain’t no disrespecting going on when there’s nothing to respect in the first place, you fat old bastard!”
    “You little piece of…” The thug thrust the bolt-jack into the kid’s side, sending him to his knees with a howl of pain.
    Kai moved forward on silent feet and reached the man’s side, pressing his gun to the back of his head. “What are you doing?”
    “What the hell?” He started to move, but Kai pressed the tip of the gun into his head.
    “I didn’t say you could turn around,” he said softly. Kai allowed some of the morning’s pent-up anger to bleed into his voice. The events of last night had left him irritable and short-tempered, with little tolerance for stupidity.
    Everything was spiraling out of control, and Kai couldn’t stand that.
    He needed to be in control.
    And the Central Ward was his clan’s territory. How dare these cheap bastards try and carry out their business in this place? And just outside the Tower, no less.
    Kai pushed the gun further into the man’s skull, making him gasp in pain. “I asked you a question, asshole. Don’t make me ask you a third time.”
    “Kid took our fuckin’ money,” the thug snarled. The kid shook his head as the man glared at him, silently mouthing the word ‘ no ’, followed by something that looked