Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 130081 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130081 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
“I feel perfectly all right,” Nate assured her through their newly forged link. “I think the priest in the Sacred Grove must have been wrong.”
“Are you su—?” Lan’ara started to say.
But before she could get the words all the way out, Nate’s eyes rolled up in his head and he slumped back against the couch as he lost consciousness completely.
FIFTY-THREE
SONYA
“Are you all right, baby girl?”
Davrik’s deep voice woke her from a light doze and Sonya looked up at him.
“Oh, yes—for some reason the chip stopped hurting me as soon as we got away from Yonnie Six.”
“Must have gotten out of range of the transmitter,” he remarked. Kneeling at the end of the couch, he examined her right ankle. “We’ll still want to take it out as soon as we get to the Mother Ship.”
Sonya bit her lip apprehensively.
“Will it hurt?”
“No, baby girl—not a bit. I’ll make sure it’s completely painless.” Davrik rose and came to lay a hand on her forehead. “How are you feeling besides the ankle?”
“Still a little shaky but I’m doing better,” Sonya admitted as he brushed her hair away from her face. “I can’t believe you came diving after me when I fell.” she added. “You could have been killed!”
A determined look came over his strong features.
“I don’t give a damn about living if I can’t have you with me—I wasn’t about to lose you again.”
“Again?” There was that turn of phrase again—as though he’d known her and lost her in some previous life—which made no sense at all.
Davrik frowned.
“It’s complicated. The main thing is that you’re safe and away from Yonnie Six.”
“And now we’re headed to the Kindred Mother Ship?” Sonya asked.
He nodded.
“Yes—in fact, I need to go set a course and then give them a call and ask if they can fold space for us.” He cupped her cheek and leaned down to give her a gentle kiss that sent a pleasant shiver through her whole body. “You just relax while I get that all taken care of…and then we can talk. All right?”
Sonya felt a warm rush of something like love fill her. It shouldn’t be possible to fall in love with someone in such a short time, but she couldn’t help it—Davrik felt so right—it was as though they belonged together. And he had saved her at the risk of his own life—how could she not feel for him?
“All right,” she whispered.
“Good girl.” Davrik kissed her again—this time on the forehead. Then he straightened up and headed back for the front of the ship.
With a happy sigh, Sonya relaxed back against the soft cushions of the couch—it was remarkably comfortable and also extremely stylish—like something she would pick out herself.
In fact, looking around the living area of the ship, it occurred to her that the whole thing was furnished and decorated exactly to her taste. There were a lot of bright, bold colors and tribal patterns which she loved. There was even a bookshelf and when she squinted, she saw it was full of her favorite books. Well, most of them, anyway…
Being careful of her ankle, she stood and took a few steps. There was no pain at all, however, so she made her way over to the bookcase.
“Hmm…Beloved…How Stella got her Groove Back…Jane Eyre,” she murmured, reading aloud. Then she frowned—most of the books were old favorites of hers but she saw a few she’d never read before. What in the world was Pride and Prejudice? And she’d never heard of the author—who could Jane Austen be? There were several more of her books in the bookcase as well as a few other authors Sonya had never heard of.
She plucked one of the books off the shelf and opened it, meaning to read the first page and see if she liked the writing style. But before she got past the first sentence…
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife…” a coin dropped out of the pages of the book.
Sonya frowned and picked it up. It wasn’t a coin at all, she realized after a moment—it was just shaped like one. The little flat silver disk was about the size of a quarter and it had a tiny button on one rounded edge.
She pushed the button and nearly dropped the disk in surprise when it suddenly started projecting images.
“What the hell?” she muttered as she watched the small holo-images—all about as big as her hand—popping up. The first one showed her and Davrik laughing and smiling in front of a mountain range. Only, she’d never been to the mountains, having lived her whole life in flat-as-a-pancake Florida. She’d always wanted to go, though.
That holo image faded and another took its place. This time she saw Davrik holding her in his arms and standing in front of the iconic Welcome to Las Vegas sign. Then a holo of the two of them in a casino, playing slot machines together. And another one of them at the Grand Canyon. Then there was a holo of Davrik hugging her in front of a giant redwood tree—the kind that only grew in California.