Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 104350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Riley smiled sweetly. “You always say that. And you always fall flat on your face at least an hour before Max does.”
“I do not fall on my face,” insisted Max, flushing, but Ethan snorted.
“There will be no falling on my face this time.” Lucy shook her finger at Riley. “Tonight, your wolf here will need to carry you to your cabin and I will be perfectly alert and coherent.”
Tao wasn’t surprised that things didn’t quite work out like that. The tequila kept flowing and, though it seemed that ravens had a high tolerance for it, most of the flock retired to their cabins after a couple of hours.
By midnight the only people still around were he, Riley, her uncles, Lucy, the Alphas, and Hugh. Everyone was smashed, except Tao, who hadn’t touched a drop of tequila.
Lucy slammed down her glass and lifted her hands. “I’m done,” she slurred. “You win, Ri.”
“Doesn’t she always?” grumbled Max, resting his chin in his hand.
“Lucy, come dance with me, sweetheart,” urged Ruby, who’d been swaying in the center of the tables for a while now.
Lucy’s brows drew together. “But there’s no music.”
“We can’t let a little thing like that stop us.” Ruby dragged her daughter out of her chair. “I’ll sing.”
“Oh God, no, don’t sing,” Sage begged his mate.
Ruby planted her hands on her hips. “Are you saying I don’t have a good singing voice?”
Sage lifted his glass. “Woman, you’re tone-deaf and you know it.”
Hugh laughed, which earned him a scowl from Ruby.
“That was mean, Dad,” Lucy told him. “I’m not saying it isn’t true, but it was totally and utterly—” Her body jerked just as a thunderous sound cracked through the air.
Tao knocked Riley onto the ground and covered her body with his, shouting, “Everybody down!” The ravens dove to the floor, knocking glasses everywhere. Sage and Max army-crawled their way to Lucy. Ruby was already there, putting pressure on Lucy’s chest, her hands red with blood. Shit. Feeling Riley wriggle under him, he hissed, “No, stay still.”
“But Lucy—”
“Will be all right,” Ethan assured her. “Max is with her now; he’ll help.”
If he’d been on his own territory, Tao might have risked trying to get to Lucy, knowing Taryn could heal him if need be. He’d never realized just how much he truly relied on Taryn’s healing skills until then. “Be still for me, Riley,” he growled.
She punched the ground. “I need to check Lucy!”
“What we need is to get her inside.” Luckily, the ravens were already well ahead of Tao on that one. Sage, Ruby, and Hugh did their best to shield Max as he carried Lucy into the main cabin. Tao nodded at Ethan, who then helped him provide cover for Riley as they followed the others inside.
In the den Ethan went straight to Max, who was leaning over the sofa and using his limited healing skills on a half-aware Lucy. Ruby paced at her side, frantic, while Sage yelled orders into his cell phone to “find that bastard.” Just moments before, they’d all been swaying and slurring. Nothing like a shooting to sober everyone up.
Finally Max straightened, sweat beading his forehead. “The bleeding’s stopped. The bullet missed her heart and doesn’t seem to have done any internal damage. She’ll probably be asleep for a while.”
“Thank you, Max.” Stroking her daughter’s hair, Ruby looked accusingly at her mate. “You told me you were sure the human was long gone.” Her voice shook with suppressed rage.
“We all thought that,” said Sage. “Hugh and the enforcers were sure he was nowhere near our territory.”
“Obviously they were wrong,” Ruby clipped.
“We searched everywhere,” Hugh told her. “Every area, every cave, every possible hiding place you can think of. There wasn’t even a trail to follow.”
Ruby whirled to face Tao. “I want the name of this human who has assassins shooting my daughter!”
Tao lifted his chin. “I don’t think it was him.”
Everyone swung to face Tao, their eyes widening.
“Excuse me?” asked Ruby.
“It makes absolutely no sense that he would ask someone to shoot your daughter,” said Tao.
Hugh exchanged a look with Sage. “Maybe he did it to get at Riley.”
Tao shook his head at the Beta. “He shot at Riley to get at me. Or at least I thought he did. There’s no reason for him to think that shooting Lucy or any other member of this flock would hurt me. The guy’s brother is dying, and he has it in his head that my Alpha female can help. He’s pissed at me because he feels I didn’t heed him. Does it make sense that he would have someone shoot at Riley as a warning to my pack? Yes, it does. Does it make sense that he would have someone shoot Lucy? None at all.”
Ruby clutched the collar of her sweater. “He might mistakenly think Lucy means something to you.”