Planet Heist (The Dunham Archives Book 1) Read Free

the steps and into the kitchen, where Row was tapping his watch and finishing breakfast.
    “Good morning, Kai.” Rowan smiled and kissed me on the cheek – the international Saizian sign of friendship and greeting, “So, if we’re going to meet this person, are we really going to be weaponless?” He asked, clearly worried. Though my twin could take any person with his bear hands, both of our strong suits were in weapons, as that’s where most of our training was focused.
    “Of course not. Our weapons will simply be better concealed.” I explained rationally.
     
    The hours passed unnoticed until it was nine o’clock and I was preparing for the day.
    I looked in the mirror, staring at my sleek, Saizian body. My muscles flexed over strong bones. I stretched my arm across my chest, watching my deltoids bend and move, pulsing under my pale skin. I could feel two hearts thudding under my ribs, the best of Saizian muscles. Even though I had hundreds of organs, as varied and strange as the galaxy itself, my hearts were the most useful. They allowed me to lose monumental amounts of blood and sustain injuries that would kill a lesser being.
    My mind shifted gears to clothes. Instead of what I would have chosen – a form fitting red dress and spiky black stilettos – I wore jean shorts and a black T-shirt. It was ridiculous; I could hardly believe that people wore this sort of thing every day. I slipped on a pair of Converse, impractical shoes lacking proper grips and arch supports, that I had picked up from a market downtown displaying classic Earth fashion, and tied my hair back into a ponytail. I stared at myself in the mirror, mildly annoyed that I didn’t look more like a civilian. I had the striking, pure Saizian features of my mother’s side of the family and my home planet – full lips, large and wide eyes, high cheekbones – and most of the time I could use that beauty to my advantage, but in this case, it would work against me. My face was recognizable in every part of the universe, much to my chagrin, plastered across the universe with the words Danger! Do not apprehend! scrawled under my most unattractive picture. I wore only light makeup since all my classic picture depicted me in my classic deep red, hallucinogenic lipstick. My own invention, the lipstick line caused a victim to experience horrible, deranged psychotic episodes before passing out, often going into a short comma. Peachy and dangerous lipstick, glittery mascara and golden eye shadow adorned my face after only a few moments.
    I fixed my hair so that some of it was sticking out, instead of in the pristine way I preferred. Popping in some blue contacts, I looked at my eyes in the mirror. Instead of pure black, they were now a navy. It hardly helped, and now my vision was murky blue. I took them out, figuring it didn’t matter anyways, as I would be wearing dark sunglasses. I took off all of my jewelry, engraved with my initials, KRD, and put on a bracelet purchased at a bazaar in India years back – a braided brown leather band fastened with a silver button.
    Now, for the weaponry. My absolute favorite. Concealed inside my mundane bracelet was a small laser, activated with the flick of a wrist. On my sunglasses sat four cameras, hidden away but recording every motion. I slipped on the family ring, a black diamond with the silver Dunham crest engraved under it. The diamond itself was filed into an impeccably sharp point, coated with poison – lethal with one swift punch to the throat. On the back of the ring, a small, retractable needle point covered in a sedative would be activated if my pulse quickened – one slap to the face, or even a seemingly friendly handshake and I would be safe. My gorgeous dagger strapped to the back of my thigh would provide crucial defense in a dangerous situation, as it was my weapon of choice. In my hair were humane looking bobby pins. They were sharpened into deadly points with razor blade sides, the most