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)
“Yeah, by your allies,” Silas shot back, his eyes darkening to a deeper red.
Not a bad point, unfortunately. “Not any longer. I set most of the new Kurjans free. As for you, I am sorry about this,” Vero pulled over a metal chair to sit. “At least we gave you cards.”
Silas’s chin lifted slightly. “You’re being a dick.”
“I am a dick,” Vero agreed. “One with a problem. We have a human female victim in our territory with no record of how she got here.”
“She must have been here when you arrived.”
That was impossible. “No,” Vero said. “I know everybody in this camp and we’re in the middle of nowhere, Silas. The only person who has flown anywhere and returned this last week is you.”
Silas crossed his arms. “You forget about the raiding party that brought those newest enhanced females into the territory.”
Vero cocked his head. “I was part of the raiding party. I know exactly who returned with us. Tell me how you flew that female into the territory. Let me help you.”
Silas shoved the cards away on the rough wool blanket. “Oh, because you want to help me?”
“I do,” Vero said. “We go back a long ways.”
“Kid, you’re still in your first century,” Silas snapped. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”
There might be some truth to that statement because this didn’t make any sense to Vero. “Did you kill her?”
Silas looked up at the rough cement ceiling and shook his head. “Why would I kill a human female?” He stared at Vero now, surprise and bewilderment on his face. “Seriously, why would anybody kill a human female? I mean, just why?”
The answer to that question kept Vero up at night. “Because they could? Because they’re making a statement? Because they’re trying to show that Paxton is weak as a leader?”
Silas glanced at the closed door. “That would make sense,” he mused. “Having somebody killing human females who have no way of being in our territory right under Paxton’s nose and yours as well?” He nodded. “Yeah, good point.”
Irritation clocked through Vero, and the damn mark on his palm still burned. “Thanks.”
“But still.” Silas winced. “A human female. Why?”
“I’m hoping you can answer that.” Vero leaned forward.
After living for three centuries, Silas was fit and trim and could fight, but he lacked Vero’s broader upper body size and strength. The thought occurred to Vero that maybe he was broader than most Kurjans because—No, he wouldn’t go there right now.
He focused intently on Silas. “I don’t want to do this the hard way.” He meant every word. “So just tell me what I need to know.”
Silas chuckled, the sound lacking any true humor. “You don’t want to do this the hard way? I’m ready for the hard way. You want to fight?”
“Not really,” Vero said honestly. “I just want the truth.”
Purple shot through the red in Silas’s eyes. “The truth? The truth is I went to Anchorage to fetch all the equipment we need for interior surveillance and computer enhancement. The only people I spoke with were at the two stores I visited.” His gaze flicked away and then back.
Vero straightened. “You just lied to me.”
“Fine.” Silas threw up his hands. “I went to the local diner and got an Oreo cookie milkshake. Sometimes a guy just wants a milkshake, Vero.”
Vero sat back. He couldn’t get any sense that Silas was lying. “Why would I give a fuck if you got a milkshake?”
Silas crossed his arms. “You have no right to know my personal business.”
“I have a right to know everything I want to know,” Vero growled. “Where’d you get the female?”
Silas shook his head, more sadness than anger in his eyes now. “You know as well as I do that I didn’t bring that female back here. Trust your instincts.”
Vero wanted to believe Silas. “My instincts aren’t working for me right now,” he snapped.
Silas attempted to hide a grin, then gave up. “Female problems of your own?”
Vero let out a low growl. Maybe he could use a good fight.
Silas lifted a hand. “All right. None of my business. Though, I have to tell you, I do like Lyrica. She’s smart and spunky. Doesn’t know what she wants in life.”
Vero cocked his head. “What do you mean?”
“Figure it out yourself,” Silas grumbled.
Vero didn’t have time for this. “If you didn’t bring that female back here, who did?”
“How should I know?” Silas shook his head. “You had to have missed her. There’s no way that she just dropped here out of nowhere.”
Vero scratched his chin. He really needed to shave. He was starting to look like one of those human movie stars who had just enough scruff to look dangerous. Well, one of the villains in a movie, anyway. He’d never come close to hero status. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.