Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
“What in the world happened to you and Grath? We’ve all been worried sick!” Anna sent.
Mattie knew she ought to explain, but she just wasn’t up for it right at that moment.
“Ooops, you’re breaking up,” she sent to her older sister. “Sorry, these things aren’t always reliable in bad weather. I’ll call you tomorrow!”
“But tomorrow is Christmas!” Anna protested. “Are you and Grath going to be with us for Christmas dinner? What should I tell Mom and Dad?”
Mattie had no answer for that either.
“Sorry…can’t hear you!” she sent desperately. Then she took the thin circlet of wire off her head, breaking the Think-me’s connection. She supposed her family might still wonder where she was, but at least they knew she was safe. With that taken care of, she had gone straight to the shower to wash.
And now, at last, she felt clean—her body, anyway—she wasn’t sure after what she’d seen if her mind would ever feel clean again.
Still wrapped in the towels, she stepped from the fresher into the bedroom, where Grath was pacing.
“Oh good—are you okay? You were in there so long, I was about to come in after you,” he rumbled, giving her a worried look.
“I think I’m okay,” Mattie murmured.
“Good.” He looked relieved. “Then I’m gonna take a shower, too. Got to wash the stink of that fucking place off me.”
“That’s how I felt, too,” Mattie whispered. She was trying hard not to think of the row of “art pieces” on the shelf. “I hope I didn’t use all the hot water,” she said, trying to make her voice come out normal.
“Doesn’t matter if you did—I can heat my skin so cold water doesn’t affect me,” Grath told her. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
“Wait—before you go—how did you find me?” Mattie asked, looking up at him. “I mean, that cabin is out in the middle of nowhere. How did you track me down?”
“The Goddess helped me—she guided me to you,” Grath said seriously. “She spoke to me and told me what to do.”
Mattie felt like an electric shock had just run down her spine.
“Oh my God—I heard a voice, too!” she exclaimed. “A female voice. She told me what to do—how to survive!”
“The Goddess looks after her children,” Grath rumbled. “We were both blessed to hear her voice.”
“Yes…I guess we were.” Mattie sank down on the side of the bed, feeling stunned. She had been, if not an atheist, then at least an agnostic, for many years. Now it seemed she would have to rethink her entire belief system…
Well, anything was better than thinking about what she’d just gone through—what she’d just seen, she thought as Grath disappeared into the fresher. Thank goodness his ship had a living quarters built right into the back of it. Though it was amazing to her how all of it could be compacted down to make the whole ship no bigger than a large SUV when it was in “car-mode.” It must have something to do with Kindred technology…
Pondering the imponderable, she scooted to the head of the bed. She was cold, so she grabbed the fluffy blue bedspread and pulled it around herself. She put her head on the pillow and sighed deeply.
There was so much going on inside her head…so much she didn’t want to think about. The Yule Ball, Grath breaking up with her, being kidnapped by Amanda and Luke and taken to his cabin of horrors… Then everything that had followed, which she hoped in time she could somehow forget. Right now it still seemed too fresh, too real.
And it had all happened just a little distance away—Grath hadn’t carried her far to get her back to his ship. To think that just a short way from here, that row of dead, rotting heads was still sitting on the shelf, staring at nothing…
“Hey, little girl—what’s wrong?”
It was Grath again, his upper body steaming and his lower body wrapped in a towel, which rode low on his lean hips.
Mattie jumped at his deep voice.
“Wow—that must have been the fastest shower on record!” she exclaimed.
He shrugged.
“Had a feeling you needed me. You’ve been through a hell of a lot tonight. Mind if I sit by you on the bed?”
“No, not at all.” Mattie pushed one hand out from under the cover and patted the spot beside her.
Grath settled into it and looked down at her.
“You cold, little girl? Want to come warm up?”
That sounded like a great idea to Mattie. Crawling out from under the bedspread, she cuddled up next to his side. Grath put one long arm around her and started making heat.
“Oh…that feels so good,” she nearly moaned, pressing her cold cheek against his warm bare torso. “I feel like I’ve been cold all night. Well, except for in the cabin—that was pretty warm, but the smell…”