Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 112001 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112001 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
When there was no response, he put his ear flat to the panels again. Then he knocked once more. “What’s up, Phalen.”
No response.
Stepping back, he ran his palm over the new-growth on his skull and reminded himself that though he was a guest in her fortified house, her life was none of his business, and if she wasn’t answering him? See the previous operant statement—
Tap, tap, tap—
Daniel wheeled around, and as he lost his balance, he grabbed on to the molding at the jamb. “What. What do you want?”
Yes, he was talking into the air, but something was absolutely standing beside him, and this was clearly another dream, and—
Was that lavender? Why was he smelling lavender…?
The weeping was so soft that at first he figured it was his own wheezy respiration, but when he held his breath and the quiet sorrow persisted, he knew the rhythmic, heartbreaking stuff wasn’t him.
“Fuck it.” He grabbed the handle and announced loudly, “I’m coming in.”
Pushing things wide, he looked to the glossy desk to the left. No one was in the chair that had been turned away to the side. Checking out the seating arrangement on the right—
In the open doorway to the half bath, C.P. Phalen appeared, her face white, one arm around her chest, the other extended down her body.
So that she could attempt to cover the enormous bloodstain between her legs with her hand.
“I think I’m losing the baby,” she choked out.
NINE
STOP! DON’T HURT him!”
As Lydia jumped into the summit’s clearing, her arms were out, her hands ready to do something, anything. Meanwhile, in front of the mountain’s best view, the vampire Xhex had a vicious-looking dagger right at Blade’s gut—and if the female followed through on her facial expression?
That brother of hers was not just going to end up with one hell of an ouchie, his entire digestive system was going to roll out and land at his feet.
And then where was Gus St. Claire going to be?
“I need him!” Lydia exclaimed as the two of them looked over at her.
Well, Xhex turned her head. Blade’s gleaming eyes were all that moved in his case, and he quickly wiped at them with his hands. Then he stared off at the view, stony and stoic, his red robes swirling around him in the gusts that rode up the elevation’s western side.
“Please,” Lydia begged as the wind cut through her clothes, its cold claws making her shiver. “I have to talk to him.”
Xhex’s cursing was so low, she couldn’t catch the words. But when the female stepped off and took her dagger with her, at least there was a reprieve.
“Thank you,” Lydia whispered.
“You’re fucking crazy,” Xhex responded tersely.
And then Blade looked at her.
In the tense silence that followed, Lydia was glad she’d taken one of the SUVs up the big trail and jogged the rest of the way to the cave where he had been staying. Her wolf side had wanted to run, but she was not about to be naked in front of the male again—even though it meant nothing to her.
“Good evening, wolven,” he said in a low, seductive voice. “You came all the way up here to find me? I am quite popular this evening, it appears.”
“I need you,” she told him.
“Do you ever listen to good advice?” Xhex bitched. “No, of course not—”
“I have to talk to you.”
“I am, as ever, at your disposal.” Blade bowed low and then pointedly glanced at his sister. “Although I must say, dear Lydia, that I did not expect to see you again.”
As some of her kin howled off in the distance, she’d had enough with the pleasantries. “A friend of ours has been abducted. And Daniel says that you can help us—”
As he put up his hand, she stopped. “Will you excuse us,” he said to his sister. “We do not require a chaperone the now.”
“Too bad. I’m not leaving.”
Yeah, okay, enough with the sibling conflict, as well. “Daniel says he has a lead from when he worked for you. About a—”
“I am out of that line of business.” The male took a step back. “So I’m afraid that you will have to solve the problem with your friend on your own. Is there anything else about which I may be of service?”
“But Daniel told me—”
“I cannot help you.”
Another gust of wind swirled around the male, sure as if his essence was calling the restless energy of the night to him, and as if in response, more howls from her kin echoed and weaved through the shadows.
The clans were reassuring her she was not alone, and she loved them for it.
“Is that all?” Blade asked as he stared at her. “And do take your time, I am enjoying the view.”
“Will you cut the bullshit,” Xhex snapped.
“You should feel honored, my lovely wolf, that this one”—he inclined his head in his sister’s direction—“cares for you so deeply. Usually, she is much more reserved with her affections.”