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)
Instantly, her face became a mask of composure and she bowed a little. “But of course, do what you will.”
He glanced at the golden arches. “How did you know I was here? Just tell me.”
“I merely had a feeling.”
In the silence that followed, Lassiter reached out to brush her cheek—but dropped his arm before he made contact. “Who’s lying now.”
Before she could argue, he put his palm up. “If you want only the truth between us, it’s a two-way street. And please, don’t come looking for me again. You have to stay away from me.”
“Why.” Defiance carved into her features. “If that is what you want, you will have to tell me why.”
“It’s not safe.” He searched her face. “You can’t be around me. I’m contaminated, and you’re the one thing that I care most about. I can live with just about any hell except for hurting you.”
Her eyes, those lovely silver eyes, widened, and her mouth fell open a little.
“Take care of yourself,” he whispered. “And by extension, my heart.”
Closing his eyes, he dematerialized away—and although he left the female, he took her with him somehow, too. And as for the question about how she’d found him, he supposed the particulars didn’t matter. Maybe it really had been a whim, but he doubted it. He’d never told her about coming up here to help Tohr, and even if he had, why would she think he’d been chilling at this particular McDonald’s on this specific night at this exact time.
She was holding something back.
And as he pictured her lips parting, the only thing he knew for sure was that she wasn’t safe around him.
For a whole host of reasons.
CHAPTER NINE
Rahvyn followed the angel.
After Lassiter departed from the restaurant, she stood in the false glow of the golden arches for a few heartbeats. And then she up and traveled in his wake.
He was not hard to track. While he flew through the night, seeming to follow a small, boxy vehicle that proceeded off the winding country road and onto the way of speeding vehicles, he left a sparkling trail behind him, a ghostly marker that she had never seen before. And as she went along, she was forced to re-form at regular intervals to check her trajectory—and each time, she worried that she would lose him.
She did not. His shimmering trail continued down the way of the fast cars and trucks, and presently, she inferred that whate’er destination awaited them all, it was somewhere within the city proper, with its towering glass constructions and its right-angled streets. Soon enough, the gray-and-black buggy departed onto the puzzle work of asphalt lanes, and now she had to be of additional care, lest he would see or sense her in the closer quarters.
Meanwhile, the car moved without confidence along the one-ways, as if the driver were searching for the correct route, perhaps because he or she were being given incompetent directions—or because they could not properly translate the dictates of whatever navigational device or program was being utilized.
It was hard to pinpoint when the ringing recognition hit her.
She was very much distracted by not losing sight of Lassiter’s trail, yet as they penetrated the density of buildings, an awareness prickled upon her, traveling down all her nerve endings until she was painfully alert—and she had a thought that it was better to remain of the air as much as she could.
Danger was upon them all.
Just as she re-formed at the corner of an older building, the little car slowed, blinked one of its taillights… and turned in out of sight, the glowing trail following like a flag.
Rahvyn looked about. There were no humans close by, either on foot or in vehicle, and she jogged silently forth, having to fight a choking sense of doom. Slowing as she reached the lane that had been utilized, she cautiously leaned around the building’s cold, mortared foundation.
A broad swath of pavement was marked by a pattern of many yellow lines, and the little car crossed the vacant expanse as Lassiter discreetly re-formed himself. He was very careful in choosing his spot, staying downwind and tucking his sizable body in the eaves of a neighboring building’s roofline.
And then the true character of the sojourn became apparent.
Members of the Black Dagger Brotherhood stepped free of the shadows at ground level: Zsadist with his scarred face. Rhage with his preternatural fair beauty. Vishous with his goatee. The trio were dressed in black leather, and she was well aware that they were fully armed, their open jackets revealing the black blades strapped, handles down, to their powerful chests.
Her heart began to pound. This was what the Book had showed her in portrait form.
This was why it had sent her away, not just for Lassiter… but for these brave, strong males.
And Wrath.
Further confirmation came with what emerged from the diminutive vehicle: Two tall males straightened unto their full heights, one with a long dark braid down his back, the other with a shaved head and piercings in his ears.