Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 86059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Ripping the Band-Aid off, I agree. And I can’t help but ask—I notice we’re assuming that he’s right. That there is something up there.
I do not know if he is right or if he is lying, Jurik admits, leaning in to kiss me with the lightest, most fluttery of kisses. But Vaan and his mate are convinced that he is right. Part of me hopes that he is wrong, and just a liar, but then that will make Vaan and his mate his accomplices, and I do not like that thought, either.
He’s got a point. Like Gwen said, there’s no easy answer. It’s all tricky. No matter what we find out, it’s not great news.
Even if he is a liar, Jurik looks at me with serious, steady eyes. I would like to see if it is possible to get to the Rift. To see if there is a way home for my people. Now that I have returned to myself and I am happy with my mate, I feel I owe it to others of my kind that still suffer under the madness. If they can cross home, we must do everything we can to help them—for your people’s sake and for mine.
He’s right. There’s a million reasons to go and check things out. “Let’s get this ball rolling, then.”
Jurik gives me a smile of pride, and I know he wants to check things out as badly as I do. He won’t be reckless with my safety, though, so if I’d said no, he’d have pulled back. But in this, we’re united.
We are united in more than just this, Jurik reassures me. Do you not feel it? How one we are? He presses his forehead to mine, gazing into my eyes.
I do. Just like I mused earlier, my life feels distinctly divided between Before Jurik and After Jurik. Before Jurik, I was managing to squeeze through life, day by day.
Now…the world is full of possibility. I just don’t want that possibility snatched away from me by whatever is lurking in the Rift. If there’s anything lurking in the Rift.
We get answers, Jurik promises me. Tonight.
Answers, I agree, and suck in a breath. I’m ready.
36
RACHEL
We meet Gwen on the roof of the parking garage, where she sits atop one of the old abandoned cars. She hops to her feet at the sight of us, shaking her head. “I don’t know if I’m thinking you’re both ballsy or crazy.” Her gaze rests on me for a moment. “Either way, I should say thank you for doing this.”
Her gaze flicks to Vaan, who stands near my Jurik, and I suspect that this is something she and her mate have argued about several times more than she’s let on. “Let’s just hope we find some good information out and it’s not a waste of time.”
Vaan and Jurik gaze at each other for a long moment, and I can feel the flutter of Jurik’s thoughts as he speaks with the other dragon-man privately. I’m oddly jealous that Jurik has someone else to talk to. It’s stupid, but I want to monopolize him. I want to be part of everything. How needy is that?
Not needy, Jurik sends back to me. I understand it. And he is asking if he and his mate need to restrain you.
Restrain me? I shoot a worried look at Jurik. Restrain me how?
If I decide to go up alone. His burning golden gaze locks on me. Vaan thinks it is safest to leave my mate behind…in case you are with child.
I stiffen. Don’t you fucking dare—
I would not, Jurik reassures me. I want you with me. I stand the best chance of doing this with your strength. He reaches out and takes my hand. We are in this together, no matter what.
I smile, relieved. I don’t want to be left behind ever again.
Never, he agrees.
“Everything settled?” Gwen asks, and I nod. She opens the door on one of the cars—one with the glass still intact—and pulls out a big leather saddle and what look like a jillion straps. “Let me show you how this works, then.”
A short time later, Jurik has shifted to his battle-form and the small saddle is perched between his shoulder blades. A harness network anchors the saddle in place, looping around his neck and his forelegs. There’s reins for me to hold onto, also, that loop around his neck, but Gwen warns me they’re just for show. “Even if you tugged as hard as you could, I don’t think you could stop him like you could a horse.”
I give her a wry smile and hold up my stump, reminding her that my grip is still half as strong as hers.
“Right.” She purses her lips, studying Jurik’s big form. “When you get up there, I suggest you knot them around your arm, then. I think we’re in more danger of falling than they are of losing control.”