Total pages in book: 163
Estimated words: 154735 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 774(@200wpm)___ 619(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154735 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 774(@200wpm)___ 619(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
Plus it wasn’t like there was any cavalry he could call. Not yet.
God only knew what the Lessening Society had gotten into behind his back.
The body was rolled over to the entry of the mansion by Vishous, the other Brothers processing behind what had to be the parents at a discreet distance as doggen spilled out of the glow of the house, the weeping audible, many of the maids, cooks, and chauffeurs grasping on to each other.
In this moment of sad arrival, there was unity between upstairs and downstairs, and as the remains were taken inside, the wave of grief receded along with the deceased into the interior, the door shutting behind them all, including the flanks of Brothers.
With the cargo transfer complete, an elderly figure got out of the passenger front of the van, walked around the rear, got behind the wheel, and started off on a departure.
Well, wasn’t this an unexpected gift.
Lash recognized the old doggen from the training center program. His name was Fritz, and he had not only supervised the cleaning of the facility, but performed the pickups and drop-offs of trainees, and provided food for breaks. He was the Black Dagger Brotherhood’s butler.
And servants went home.
Didn’t they.
* * *
As Rahvyn stood before the last of the training center’s barricades, she still wasn’t sure whether she was going to go inside. Though she had come through all of the previous gates, from the ones that were made to look like nothing more than rotting wood rails to the later, far sturdier constructions, at each pause point, her internal debate had escalated.
And now she was here, in the oddly buffered forest landscape, before the most vigorous of the collection, the concrete and steel-meshed fortification so intimidating, so vast, so solid, surely an army could not breach its dimensions.
She supposed she could have tried to enter through the venting system by dematerializing. That seemed risky, however, given that there had to be steel mesh set within it. And yes, she could have returned as she had departed, working through the planes of existence. The truth was, she felt like she needed the time to think.
’Twas fortunate that she had surmised the physical location from her previous excursion.
As an owl hooted overhead, and a cold breeze curled around her legs, she hunkered into her sweater and glanced up the towering expanse of the gate. As she felt minutes go by, she thought, alas, it appeared she was going to have a sufficiency of rumination opportunity unless someone permitted her entrance. There were plenty of cameras mounted where she could see them—and undoubtedly where she could not—
The clunk and quiet whirring suggested that she had been approved for entry, and as the reinforced panels slowly slid back, she did not need to wait for them to complete their retraction. She was not a double-wide vehicle and could fit well enough with only a narrow space.
She waited anyway.
No more dithering, she thought. In or out.
Yes… or no.
In the end, her body made the decision, her feet starting to walk again, her mind and her emotions following suit because, no matter how many powers she possessed, she had yet to be able to separate the two.
As soon as she cleared the threshold, the great gates began to close once more and she glanced behind herself to watch them. When they resealed, she faced what was before her, a gradual descent, the stretch of road continuing forth. Flat banks of lights set into the ceiling, and also the concrete walls, illuminated the way, and as she proceeded forth, her footfalls echoed all around, a lonely sound. The air smelled like chalk, and the farther she went, the warmer things became, and the louder the conversation in her head grew.
Pros and cons, though the decision had already been arrived at—
Rahvyn stopped.
The figure ahead was unmistakable, that blond-and-black hair a dead giveaway—and then Lassiter’s scent reached her nose. She breathed it in deep.
And liked it.
They were both silent as they came forward, and when they finally were face to face, she had a thought about the two halves of the gate behind her finding home, locking together, solid.
Looking into the angel’s oddly colored eyes, she had one and only one thought.
She was glad she’d come.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi.”
“I’m glad you came.”
“You know… I was just thinking that, too.”
It was hard to know who reached out first, but suddenly, there was no more division between them. Closing her eyes, she turned her head to the side and rested it upon his pecs. The sound of his heart was strong and even, and there was comfort in the beat.
“You truly do not judge me,” she choked. “Neither for what was done unto me nor for what I wrought.”
“No, I don’t.”
The relief that flooded through her made her head feel as though it was full of fizz, like the soda she had learned to enjoy.