Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 115886 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 464(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115886 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 464(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Khloé nodded. “He socialized just enough to come across as an introvert instead of someone who may have something to hide. He only really let Lolita and Molly close.”
“Neither of them said anything about him that would have concerned me,” said Jolene. “I wonder how much of the real him they saw.”
“Probably not all of him until the end.” Ciaran glanced at the bakery. “Do you think she’ll really contact us if he reaches out to her?”
“Yes, I do,” replied Jolene. “She fears him. If he reappears in her life, she’ll panic and want him gone.”
“Especially since she has a mate to protect,” added Khloé. “Enoch would kill and sic the guy on her.”
“Is there any point in speaking with his other siblings?” Orrin asked. “I’m doubting he’ll have gone to any of them for sanctuary.”
The Prime pursed her lips. “Perhaps not, but it is best to check.”
So they checked, teleporting from location to location. The others said pretty much the same as Abiela—their brother was cruel, beyond help, and they wanted nothing to do with him. They also had no idea where he could be.
Back in her grandmother’s kitchen later that day, Khloé suggested, “We should speak to this David Shore guy.”
“I agree,” said Jolene. “I’ll have some of the Force find out his location. In the meantime, we keep an eye out for signs of Enoch. A Lazarus demon with revenge on its mind is always a dangerous thing.”
Hear, fucking hear.
*
A few days later, Khloé sharply thumped the side of the coin machine, expertly extracting a blue plastic bubble. With a smile, she promptly picked it up.
“Why does that never work for me?” whined Devon.
“You’re not special enough.”
“Hey!”
“What? It’s not my fault.” Khloé opened the bubble, and the corners of her mouth turned down. “Not so keen on apricot flavor. Anyone else want it?”
Devon snatched the gum. “I’ll have it.”
Harper cast a pained look around the mall and rolled back her shoulders. “Does it really have to be so busy?”
Khloé almost smiled. Unlike the sphinx, she wasn’t bothered by crowds and enjoyed ambling through the Underground’s mall. Usually, anyway. Today, the over-bright lighting irritated her dry eyes, and the sounds echoing throughout the large building made the strange pulsating pain in her head worsen—voices talking, shoes clicking on the floor, cell phones chiming, the splashing of the water fountain, music playing low.
She’d had the headache since she’d woken that morning, and it hadn’t eased in the slightest. It was like a hangover—well, drunk-over—headache on steroids, and she’d just love to go home and shut herself in a dark room. But she wasn’t willing to miss the mall trip with her girls.
The place sold just about everything—clothes, bags, shoes, cosmetics, books, toys, electronics. The list went on and on. Some places were trendy and sold designer stuff. Others offered lesser quality items and seemed to always have some sort of sale going on.
Tanner grimaced as a bunch of shrieking kids skipped by them. “What exactly is it you’re all hoping to buy? Just a dress each, right?”
“One or two,” replied Raini. “Plus a few bikinis. Shoes. Sandals. Don’t worry, it won’t take long.”
Tanner snorted, knowing full well that was a damn lie.
“The food court is calling my name,” said Harper. “Seriously, the smell of spicy foods is tugging at my stomach like a magnet.”
“We’ll go there when we’re done,” promised Raini. “First, we shop and—”
Khloé frowned when the succubus stared at something to their far right. “What’s wrong?” She tracked her friend’s gaze and winced. “Oh.” She didn’t know the burly guy or his female companion personally, but she recognized them as members of Maddox Quentin’s lair.
The two demons gave Raini a blank look before disappearing out of the automatic doors and onto the Underground strip.
“Has Maddox eased up on telepathically bugging you?” Harper asked Raini.
“No,” replied the succubus. “And he’s not put off by my not responding.”
Devon sidled closer to her. “What exactly does he say?”
Raini shrugged. “Stuff.”
No one pushed her to talk further, knowing it wouldn’t get them anywhere. She was always vague when speaking of the things he said to her.
Khloé hated how stressed the whole thing was making her friend. That was partly why she’d proposed the booze cruise—she wanted to take Raini somewhere where there was no chance of the succubus bumping into him or one of his lair members on her birthday. She wanted Raini to have a break from all that bullshit.
She also wanted to stomp on the fucker’s windpipe a few times. A girl had to get her kicks where she could.
The succubus forced a smile. “Well, shall we get moving?”
Using the escalators, they went from floor to floor, breezing past shoppers who were carrying bags, pushing baby strollers, or chatting on their cell phones.
Raini led the way, as usual, which suited everyone else just fine. She might be an avid shopper, but she never overspent. Raini was a master at sniffing out bargains. She was one of those people who could buy bags of stuff yet never go over her allotted budget.