Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 108517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
“The Imperium sends its regards,” the prince said.
Alessandro freed the blade and swung. The top half of Arkan slid aside and fell on the grass.
It was over.
Finally, finally it was over. We had laid a trap and it had worked. It was okay to feel things now. It was okay to let go.
Alessandro turned away from Arkan’s corpse and saw me. He crossed the space between us and hugged me to him. He’d lived. He’d survived. My knees shook all of a sudden. If he hadn’t been clamping me to him, I would’ve fallen.
Konstantin turned to the remaining fighters. “Does anyone else want to challenge the Imperium?”
Arkan’s people scattered.
Arabella ran out of the hole that used to be our front gate carrying a huge pincher-like tool. “Where is Linus? I have the jaws of life.”
She’d left the grandmothers alone.
“Why aren’t you protecting the south side?” I called out.
“Protect it from what? Sgt. Heart is there. There’s nothing for me to do.” She saw the mech still glowing. “Hold on, Grandfather, I’m coming.”
Alessandro was staring at me. His face was bleeding, his left sleeve and the arm underneath it were shredded, and there was a strange look in his eyes. He looked a little deranged.
“Are you okay?” I asked softly.
“I’ve never been better.”
The sound of a car’s horn made me turn. A black SUV was making its way up our hillside driveway. It didn’t look like FBI SUVs.
Konstantin frowned.
The SUV came to a stop. It had diplomatic plates.
Three men got out. The tallest of the three looked familiar. Athletic, handsome, dark hair, piercing grey eyes. Where . . . Mihail. Konstantin’s brother.
Arabella pulled Linus out of the mech.
Alessandro’s eyes turned dark. “We had a deal.”
“I’ll handle this,” Konstantin said and started toward the men.
A quiet argument in Russian ensued.
Linus sprawled on the grass. Arabella heaved the jaws of life onto her shoulder and came over to stand next to me.
Mihail sidestepped his brother. Konstantin blocked his way. Mihail pushed him aside. Konstantin stumbled as if hit by a car.
Mihail marched toward us, his gaze locked on Alessandro. “Come with me.”
“I affixed my seal,” Konstantin growled.
“Yes, and our uncle changed his mind. His seal is heavier than yours, brother.”
“What do you mean, come with you?” Alessandro asked.
“My orders are very clear. I am to come back with Orlov, and if you’ve killed him, I am to bring you in his stead. Come quietly. It will be easier that way.”
Arabella stepped in front of Mihail. “I don’t like that deal. How about you take this slightly damaged corpse instead. If you insist, I can throw in a brain-dead Italian count.”
“Too soon,” I told her on autopilot. They were out of their minds if they thought they could just take Alessandro.
Mihail stepped to the right.
She matched him.
He looked down on her. She was a foot shorter than him.
“Move,” he ordered.
“Move me,” she told him.
Mihail reached out and tried to gently push her aside. Only she didn’t move.
“I don’t know what you are, but I’ve had a bad day,” he said. “Getting in my way is not healthy.”
“Oh you had a bad day?” She pointed behind her at the Compound. “I live here. Look at my house. Now look at me. Turn yourself around, get into your car, and drive back to wherever you came from, and maybe I will let you walk away.”
Mihail glanced at Konstantin.
His brother shrugged. “Those are your orders, not mine. I did my job.”
The muscles on Mihail’s jaw bulged. He raised his hand, very deliberately put it on Arabella’s shoulder, and shoved her out of the way. Arabella took half a step, caught herself and shoved him, knocking him two steps back.
Mihail inhaled like an enraged bull. He swung at her. Somehow she dodged and slammed her shoulder into him. The prince flew back, landed hard, and rolled to his feet. Something hot and feral flared in his eyes.
“No, Misha, no,” Konstantin warned, putting every drop of big-brother authority he could muster into his voice. “Not here.”
Mihail’s face trembled.
“She’s a civilian. Misha!”
Mihail’s body tore. An enormous monster spilled out, shaggy, ursine, with massive horns crowning his head. It just kept going and going, expanding, huge, enormous, enraged.
My House has a long affinity with bears. You might say we’re practically family. Oh no.
Konstantin swore.
Arabella laughed.
The colossal bear creature opened his maw and roared.
Arabella’s body erupted, and the Beast of Cologne surged out and roared back.
Konstantin gaped, his mouth slack.
They were the same size. Arabella was a little taller, but Mihail was thicker and heavier.
I turned to Konstantin.
He raised his hands. “My brother. The Bear of Kamchatka.”
I looked at Alessandro. “Did you know?”
He nodded. “I didn’t think he’d show up.”
Monster Arabella took a running start and slammed into the Russian Bear. The ground shook. They rolled down the hill, ripping, biting, clawing.
Linus got up and walked over to us. His hair was smoking a little bit and his skin was very flushed.