Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 53433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
As I drove my tank, my head started pounding again. I grabbed some aspirin from my purse and choked them down. Sometimes, closing my eyes for a few minutes helped, but I had a long drive ahead.
I glanced at the clock on the dashboard. Crap. Was that the time? I must’ve left the house later than I’d thought. Maybe I should’ve flown. Just felt like a waste of money. After I accounted for the drive to the airport, parking, and check-in time, I’d only be saving two hours.
No. This is good. Time to think. Maybe I should figure out where I’d live when I got back. What could I afford?
Try the biggest house in the state. King had left me something like two hundred bank accounts in different countries and currencies. I honestly didn’t know what the total came out to. Not like I sat around memorizing exchange rates. All I knew was that it had to be in the billions. Yes. Billions.
But did I really want to touch it? Had some of the money come from Ten Club dues? Then again, what did it matter? I could be the richest woman in the world and buy a house with armed guards and a moat, and it wouldn’t help me protect Draco against the Seers.
I started laughing bitterly, realizing that Ansin had been right. All the material things in the world were meaningless if you didn’t have the power to protect what you loved. Unfortunately, I had no power.
Maybe I needed to reconsider my relationship with Ansin. No, I didn’t want to marry him or have his children, but if I needed power to keep my child safe, and I couldn’t get mine to work, then that left only one option. Hitching my wagon to Ansin’s.
My phone rang, and I hit the talk button on the steering wheel. “Hello?”
“Jeni, it’s Ansin.”
I glanced at the number. It wasn’t one I recognized, but whatever. “What’s up?”
“Something is wrong. You need to return home.”
The bottom of my heart dropped out. “What happened?”
“I do not know. I am heading there now. But the entire security system has gone dark.”
My blood turned ice cold. “I’m on my way.”
Please be okay. Please be okay. I dialed Dad’s phone, but it went straight to voicemail.
“Fuck!” I hit the steering wheel and accelerated to the off-ramp to turn back.
Twenty-some minutes later, my SUV came screeching to a halt at the gate. I hit the remote, and the wrought-iron fence slowly rolled open. “Hurry! Dammit!”
I waited until I could squeeze my vehicle through and then roared up the hill toward the house. An idling Harley was parked in front of the wide-open door. I threw the SUV into park and bolted inside.
“Draco! Dad!” Nothing looked disturbed.
I rushed downstairs and collided with Ansin just off the family room.
“Where’s the baby?” I panted.
Ansin grabbed my shoulders. “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean?” I was going to be sick.
“He’s gone, honey.” Dad stood in the doorway leading to the kitchen.
I shoved past Ansin and ran to him. “Dad, where the fuck is Draco?”
His eyes were red, and his face was flushed. “I don’t know. I put him down in his playpen for one second, and when I came back, he was gone.”
My stomach knotted, and a wave of nausea filled my entire body. This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening.
“I looked everywhere,” Dad added.
“We have to call the police,” I said.
“Jeni.” Ansin gave me a knowing look. “We both know they can’t help.”
“You think the Seers did this?” My mind was spinning. But why? “How did they get inside? This place is warded.”
“I don’t know,” Ansin replied. “I just rechecked all the seals last week. No gaps. And all the doors and windows are locked.”
“But you said the security system is down.”
Ansin nodded. “I don’t know how they got in, Jeni, but clearly they did.”
“I’ll fucking kill them. All of them!” I yelled.
Dad stared blankly at the wall, possibly in shock. “This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have—”
“No. This is on them. Those psycho bitches!” I turned to head downstairs. I was not letting this happen. They can’t have my baby!
“Where are you going?” Ansin asked.
“To try to pay the Seers a visit.”
“They are not going to tell you anything, and whoever took the baby is here. On this plane. In this world.”
“So what are you saying?” I asked.
“I will find him. I will bring him back.”
If anyone could do it, it was Ansin. “What’s the price?”
He stared down at me, a look of pity in his eyes. “I didn’t ask for anything.”
“Then why are you helping?” Not that it mattered. I just wanted my baby back. But Ansin never did anything without expecting something in return.
He shook his head and left.
CHAPTER FIVE
Over the next two days, I hardly slept. I hardly ate. All I could do was stare at my phone, waiting for updates from Ansin.