Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 138217 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138217 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
Grabbing the jacket, she shrugged into it. The length of the arms would’ve probably been perfect if it hadn’t had such wide shoulders—hers were far narrower than his. But that was an easy fix and she quickly rolled up the sleeves before giving him a grudging “Spasibo.”
“You’re welcome,” he said with a glint in his eyes that told her he could guess at her uncharitable thoughts. “Make sure you close up the throat. That’s where you lose the most heat. Looks good with your outfit.”
Now she was sure he was making fun of her. Her “outfit” was blandness personified. She’d made sure of that. Deciding that sometimes one had to ignore bears who were clearly amusing themselves, she got into the passenger seat without responding.
But once there and staring out at the drive, she was grateful to him for distracting her from the situation, even if only for a few moments. Because her stomach began to churn the instant she was staring ahead once again. She might’ve conquered her grandfather’s ghost, but her own invisible memories howled.
Yakov glanced at her from the driver’s seat. “Go?”
She made herself nod, the action bringing even more of his scent to her nose. He might not use this jacket much, but he used it enough that his scent was embedded in its weave and heft. She should’ve found it too much, claustrophobic. Instead, she took his advice and zipped the standing collar all the way.
If she tucked her chin down, she’d be breathing him in.
Ahead of them, the drive continued to whisper into shadowy darkness . . . before it curved to the right.
“Good way to ensure no sightline from the gate.” Yakov’s words were crisp, his body alert.
“There were light sensors here at some stage.” She pointed out the small black box that had fallen onto the ground from its intended position. Likely on a large tree trunk close by. “No way to sneak up to the facility even if you bypassed the gate.”
“A changeling could’ve gone through the forest,” Yakov pointed out. “But we’d have had to have a reason to come poking around so far off the beaten path. Especially if everyone thought it was a medical facility.”
His chest rumbled. “As a juvenile, I never knew Centers were for hurting people. If I ever thought about them, I figured they were Psy-only clinics. Made sense since Psy and changelings and humans don’t have the exact same physiological needs.”
“No.” The three races were almost but not quite identical. Just enough minor deviations to make a difference when it came to medical care.
“I’m pretty sure my great-grandfather must’ve known the truth of the Centers,” Yakov added, “but I want to imagine he didn’t. I mean, Psy in Silence were pretty tied to the idea of keeping their secrets, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility. From all I know of him, the truth would’ve broken his heart.”
Before she could ask him why his great-grandfather might have had reason to be interested in the Centers, the landscape opened up enough to reveal a large and weathered building surrounded by more foliage. Vines crawled over the walls, their roots a fine mesh beneath the red-gold of the leaves, and fallen debris covered the twin ramps and one set of stairs that led up to the wide front door. The roof appeared undamaged but the weatherproof coating had begun to peel off in patches that exposed the coppery underside.
Theo could tell the building had been white once upon a time, though it was now smudged with dust and dirt. While most of the windows were whole, a couple bore large cracks from what looked like accidental hits by broken branches and other storm detritus. Remnants of those branches still lay below and around the property.
The place echoed with emptiness.
Maybe that was why she didn’t panic, curiosity overriding her wariness. Or perhaps it was because it looked so different from—
A clear flash of memory, of seeing this building from her grandfather’s car.
Her heart thumped but there was no panic this time. Only a grim determination. She got out, her gaze going immediately to the right where she’d seen—She frowned, thought, but the fragment of memory, if that was what it had been, slipped out of her grasp.
Yakov, who’d been prowling around, came to a halt near her. “Certainly looks abandoned,” he said, “but according to the map your brother forwarded, there’s a large area at the back along with a shed and another outbuilding. I say we check that section out before we attempt entry into the building.”
Willing to take his guidance on this because security had never been her bailiwick, she fell into step with him . . . a little too close for a Psy, but he didn’t seem to mind or even notice. Because he was changeling, his standards of physical proximity were different than her own.