Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Paxton winced. “All right, but let’s keep this between us.”
Most definitely. Vero hadn’t lied to her because he hadn’t promised. Even so, he’d rather she didn’t know. Ever. He hoped for another presentation from her soon, although the weight on him grew even heavier. Structure could only take her so far. In their world, turmoil always found its way in. And Lyrica, whether she realized it or not, was now at the crux of the chaos.
* * * *
Late afternoon, Lyrica ran out into the snowy day toward the softly humming helicopter, her boots slipping on ice beneath freshly falling snow. Her arms windmilling in her ultrathick coat, she skidded to a stop near the open doorway. “Hope?”
Hope emerged from the rear of the copter and into the doorway. “Hey. I was just getting Hunter situated. We need to keep him stationary for his neck to heal.” The female’s blue eyes deepened with worry, but she held her shoulders back, and she moved with her customary grace. She sat in the opening, her boots kicking back and forth. “Thanks for coming to see me off.”
Lyrica angled her neck to see Liam in the pilot’s seat with Collin next to him. She could finally tell them apart. Their primary duty involved protecting Hope, so it came as no surprise to see them accompanying her and Hunter home. “I wish you didn’t have to go, Hope,” Lyrica whispered. Their friendship had formed in necessity and from a joint need to take down the former Kurjan leader, and Lyrica didn’t want to continue this work without Hope. They made a great team. “When will you be back?”
“When it’s safe,” rumbled a low voice from behind Lyrica.
She jumped, turning with her hand clapped to her upper chest. “Paxton.” How had he moved so silently?
The young king moved toward his mate, brushing snowflakes out of her hair with a gentleness that had Lyrica feeling slightly bereft. Happy for her friend, but still. Paxton was six and a half feet of dangerous muscle with silvery-blue eyes and thick black hair. She could see the resemblance to Vero.
Hope placed a hand on his muscled chest. “We don’t have to go.”
Paxton leaned over and kissed the top of her head, lifting her out of the craft at the same time. Smoothly. Easily. “You need to go with your cousin, and I don’t mind having you safely back at Realm headquarters until we find who’s trying to kill me.” Then he kissed her, walking toward the back of the helicopter, apparently having no problem with rather heated public displays of affection.
Lyrica glanced up to see Collin rolling his eyes, and she grinned.
“You need to get going to miss the next big storm,” a deep male voice said from behind her.
She yelped and whirled around to see Vero standing tall and solid in the winter day. “For the love of all that’s holy, you both need to stop doing that.”
One of Vero’s dark eyebrows rose. “Doing what?”
Her mouth watered. He wore a black leather jacket over jeans, his jet-black hair dotted with snow and his blue eyes the hue of a mysterious ocean. “Sneaking up on people. You should make a little bit of noise as you move—just to be polite if nothing else.”
“Noise gets you dead,” Vero said, gracefully moving past her to jump into the helicopter. Crouching to keep from hitting the roof, he strode down toward where Hunter lay on his back, unconscious on a stretcher with a blanket covering his body to his wide chest.
Lyrica leaned in to watch.
Vero sat on a bench fastened to the side of the craft, leaning over to look at his friend. In profile, Vero’s jaw clenched as he stared at the bandages around Hunter’s neck. Other than angling his head to the side for a better look, his muscled body didn’t move. But tension rolled from him, hotter than a damaged steam pipe. Up front, both Liam and Collin turned to watch Vero, no expressions on their immortal faces. But their green eyes showed an understanding of sorts. As one, they both turned back to the front of the craft and began a preflight check of all the blinking buttons and readouts.
Feeling like she was spying on Vero, she stepped away from the craft just as Paxton returned with a rosy-faced Hope, who looked like she’d been thoroughly kissed. Still in Paxton’s arms, Hope leaned over to hug Lyrica. “I’ll miss you. Is there any chance you want to come with me to Realm headquarters?”
What a temptation. But Lyrica’s gaze caught on a still-silent Vero, her heart aching for him. “I’d love to visit another time. For now, I still have a job to do.” She’d happily taken the offer to serve as liaison with the kidnapped females and the Kurjan leaders as well as Kurjan female mates. Until each of those women found their chosen safe haven, her mission remained active. “Besides, I’m sure it’ll be safe here soon.” By the fierce look in Paxton’s eyes, he planned to root out those would-be assassins—and probably without a hint of mercy. They could’ve killed Hope, and that seemed to be his line in the sand. Or snow.