Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 103719 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 519(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103719 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 519(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
“So she was…” He cleared his throat so he could lie. “I mean, of course, she told me what she was doing, of course.”
“Yeah, she was worried about you. Still is.”
“When did you buy her car?”
“Oh, she gave it to me.”
“That was good of her.”
“She’s the best.” Candy lowered her knitting. “Now you want to tell me what this is all about, or do you want to keep playing these games? And I’m sorry I haven’t been by to see you at C.P.’s spread, but I was told your immune system was shot and visitors were not really welcome—also, no offense, but that house always freaked me out. It’s like a fucking mausoleum. You want coffee? Breakfast?”
He thought of the bagels in his pocket. “No, I had something before I left that freaky house.”
* * *
Up on the mountain, in a hidden cave with a natural spring-fed pool, Lydia sat on a trunk and stared across a crackling fire. She was back in the red robe from the night before, and across the way from her, stretched out on a pallet, was the male who had been shot at.
“You look so much better,” she said.
“Indeed.” He glanced down at his bare chest. “By nightfall, I should be back to normal.”
“I thought you were going to die.” When he didn’t reply, she exhaled and went back to fixating on the flames. “So… Xhex is your sister.”
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to keep the chatter about my family to a minimum.” Even though his tone was sharp, his eyes were soft as he stared over at her. “I’d rather talk about you.”
“I’m happily married.” Fine, that was technically a lie. But it was also a truth. “My husband…”
“Is dying.” As her head snapped up, he nodded. “My sister mentioned that last night. Often. While they were taking the bullet out of me.”
To avoid his stare, she looked over at the medical supplies that were stacked neatly in the corner. The cave was furnished with trunks and equipment, more of a hideout than a home, but then the wolven who had used this refuge hadn’t intended it to be much more than a transitory pawed-à-terre, so to speak. Lydia hoped that he didn’t mind them borrowing it for a day.
“How did you find this den?” she asked. “It’s well hidden. The wolven up here had to show it to me.”
“My sister knew where it was. She said the guy who used to live here—well, it doesn’t matter.”
How did she know Callum, Lydia wondered.
“They brought you a doctor, then.”
“Yes, the female healer took care of me. She was efficient and kind.”
Lydia got to her feet and paced around. “It was you, the night before last. Who was up here when we came to meet Xhex.”
“What a happy coincidence, is it not? I was here for another reason. I stayed… because of you.”
Shaking her head, she faced off at him. “It’s not going to be like that between us.”
“Because?”
“I’m married.” God, she wished she had a ring to point to. “Happily married.”
“And afterward?”
As pain lanced through her heart, she looked to the passageway out. “You know, I think I’m going to go—”
“I’m sorry,” the male said in a rush. Then he tried to sit up and couldn’t quite manage the vertical. “I’m rude sometimes.”
Putting her hands on her hips, she felt the need to correct him. “That’s not rude. That’s cruel.”
“I apologize.” He moved his hand off to the side, as if he were wiping his comment away. “Last night, how did you know I was there?”
Lydia touched the side of her nose. “I smelled you, from where you were standing. You’re not just a vampire, are you.”
“No, I’m much more dangerous than they are.”
“Is that a flex?”
“It’s the truth.”
She studied him objectively. With his dark hair and his fine features, he was handsome in an aristocratic kind of way, particularly in the fire’s restless light—but he was muscular as well, and he was right about the dangerous thing. She could sense the predatory nature of him, the wolf in her recognizing the animal in him.
“My kind are not welcomed in mixed company,” he murmured. “That was how my sister got into her difficulty.”
“What kind of difficulty?”
There was a long silence. And then he spoke clearly. “She was sold into an underground lab. She was experimented on. It was hell.”
“Oh… God.”
“Our family put her in there. I watched her get taken away.” He laughed. “You know, maybe it’s the painkillers they gave me, but I will tell you quite honestly… that it has destroyed me, what happened to her. What was done… to her. It’s become my life’s work, as a matter of fact.”
Lydia frowned. “That’s why you’re here on the mountain. You’re looking… for the lab here. Do you work for the F.B.G., too?”