Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 103548 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103548 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
“I told you, I couldn’t. I couldn’t risk the truth of what I was doing getting out before I was ready.” I tossed over again, facing away. “One of you could’ve done something stupid like trying to reason with the alpha council, or build up an army to oppose them.”
“Why would building an army be stupid? It’s what you did.”
“Yes, quietly and carefully,” I gritted. “I only approached people that I was sure—one thousand percent sure—would join my side and not tell a soul what we were planning. Sorry if this hurts to hear, Nyxxy baby, but you’re not one of those people. I had no idea how you’d react, or who you would tell, if you discovered there’s a shadow in our midst plotting to kick off a war, drain you of sperm, slit your throat, and then sell our children’s souls to the highest bidder.
“That’s the kind of thing that propels you to action,” I bit out, “and I speak from experience.”
“But you—”
“I couldn’t take the chance, Nyx!” I bolted up, rounding on him. “Not with Hope’s life.”
He quieted, understanding dawning. “Hope,” he whispered, driving the stake deeper into my chest. “So it’s true. We really have a daughter.”
Again it did funny things to my heart to hear him already claim my baby as his. “Yes,” I said softly. There was no reason to lie. We were way past that now. “Her name is Hope Volana. Castor didn’t want the baby to have his father’s last name, and I agreed with that absolutely.”
Nyx hummed, head bobbing. “Did you also agree to leave our baby with a leech?”
I sighed. “Here we go.”
“What were you thinking, woman! Vampires can’t stand us and our tainted blood. Who knows what that dead worm is doing to her? We have to get her back now!”
I listened with more patience than anyone would’ve expected of me. Honestly, I didn’t blame Nyx for his reaction. His wolf just found out he had a pup, and the only creatures who came close to mother wolves in how fiercely protective they were of their pups, were the fathers.
“Nyx, we can’t bring her into the middle of this,” I said, not unkindly. “We don’t know who the shadow is. They could be anyone and anywhere. They could be you.”
He scowled. “It’s not fucking me.”
“But you get my point. Until I find and kill that bitch, my daughter is not setting foot or paw in Wolf Nation.”
“But you said this shadow person infiltrates the vampire dominion and kills their kings.”
Damn it, Nyx really did hear everything. Curse our wolf hearing.
“If they can get to people as well protected as a vamp king, how is Hope any safer there?”
“That’s a good question,” I replied, inclining my head. “The fact is she’s safer because Incepe Din is not only separate from the other vampire territories, but it’s locked down tight. No one goes in or out unless they’re safe, and Lucia makes sure of it. You don’t even want to know what she put me through to prove myself,” I muttered. “But I did and... I trust her with Hope. She’s safe.”
Nyx tossed his head, blowing out a breath. “Look, I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to give me more than that. How can a wolf-hating leech be safer than her family? If the worst happens and the shadow tracks Hope down, that leech will just cut and run.”
“She won’t.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because she won’t have to. The shadow is a soul stealer, Nyx, and guess what Lucia doesn’t have...?”
He halted, hauling his arguments back in. “Ah.”
“Yeah, ah,” I tossed back. “If the shadow wants to go up against Lucia, they’ll have to do it without their freaky, evil powers, and believe me, Lucia is no easy target. Plus—” I didn’t want to, but I forced the rest out. “Lucia loves Hope. If it’s a fight to the death to protect my baby, she’ll make that sacrifice without a second thought. That’s the kind of protection I need around her right now, and that’s what she’s got.”
Nyx looked at me crazy throughout my whole speech. “Why in the name of the gods would that leech love our daughter?”
“Because when that piece-of-shit vampire turned her... she was pregnant.”
Nyx’s jaw fell, but nothing came out.
I looked away, feeling the sympathy for Lucia that she hated to see in anyone’s eyes. “She had everything. A home, a family, love. She was bursting with happiness at the coming arrival of her first child, and then that monster came out of the dark.”
“But... but vampires don’t turn pregnant women,” he said, horror darkening his face. “Even they have limits. What the fuck was wrong with this guy?”
“Everything, Nyx. Everything was wrong with that guy. He’d been stalking her from afar for months. He was obsessed. When he saw his chance, he took it—not caring in the slightest that he broke every law written and unwritten.”