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)
The fallen autumn leaves crunched beneath her feet, the sound painfully loud to her ears. “Am I making too much noise?”
“No, that’s background. I’m picking up nothing—no scent, no sound—that indicates any other presence that isn’t avian, and maybe a few mice.”
No functioning medical facility would ever allow rodents so close.
Gut taut for a different reason now, she said, “Even Pax couldn’t unearth the final count of those held here, but it was at least fifty people. Thirty patients to twenty staff, but that’s the best guess he was able to make after running the financials.”
Yakov’s arm brushed hers as they walked, and she realized she was all but pressing herself against him. It was incredibly bad form in Psy society . . . but she couldn’t make herself pull away. And he still didn’t seem to really notice.
So she stayed. Warm and safe against his solid bulk, the quiet horror of this place held at bay.
* * *
* * *
THEO’S tension was an acidic burn against Yakov’s skin.
No fear now, but rather the embers of a simmering rage as she considered the evil that might’ve taken place here.
Theo was pissed.
Angry enough that his bear made a note to never make her that mad at him.
But her anger didn’t mean she wasn’t also in pain. What had happened back at the gate? The panic attack? That had been no minor reaction. Stuff like that didn’t just disappear—no matter how determined the person involved.
Still, at least she’d tucked herself against him.
He’d been around Psy enough now to know that was a big fucking deal, a signal of trust she likely wasn’t even aware of transmitting.
His bear moved against the inside of his skin . . . right as they finally came around the side of the building and saw what was supposed to be a large courtyard area at the back. Fallen leaves of yellow and red and brown covered the mildewed paving stones, the furniture was stacked neatly to one side where it hadn’t been pushed over by the wind, and the pergola was collapsed in one corner due to damage done by a tree that must’ve fallen in a storm.
But it was the far left of the courtyard that caught his attention. “That look like a greenhouse to you?”
Theo frowned.
Yakov wasn’t surprised by the open expression of her feelings; it was clear that she wasn’t exactly the perfect Silent Psy. Might never have been, given how easily emotion came to her.
Her brother might do a good impression of an android, but there was nothing hesitant or false about Theo’s reactions—or about the raw violence of what she kept contained. He could almost feel the vibration of her anger against his skin.
When Theo Marshall blew, she might take out half the world.
“Yes,” she said now in response to his question about the possible greenhouse. “A cheap one—looks like it’s not glass but plas sheeting creating the walls.”
“Yeah.” Part of one “wall” was flapping in the light breeze, and when they got closer, he saw that an entire section had torn away and flown off to lie crumpled against the door of a closed shed. He checked out that shed first, found it empty of anything but a few rusty tools. “Must’ve been the landscaper’s shed,” he said on returning to the makeshift greenhouse.
Theo pointed. “Vegetables.”
Yakov crouched down to touch the seedlings that had rooted on their own after the pots on the rickety metal shelving had fallen off. “I didn’t see anything in the files that said this place was supposed to be self-sustaining.”
A shake of Theo’s head, her eyes scanning the area. “No, it was a normal facility in that sense. Regular deliveries of food and other supplies.” She looked back at him. “Someone lived here. At least for a while. Properly lived here.”
Rising, he said, “Let’s do a quick recon of the one other building that’s meant to be out here, then we’ll go look inside the main structure.”
Theo’s gaze jerked to the main building before she wrenched it back. Her pupils were huge, almost overwhelming the blue.
Pretending he hadn’t seen her visceral response—because this bear had manners and he was smart enough not to poke at a very angry woman, thank you very much—Yakov took the lead toward the other building he’d seen on the original map of the facility.
“We’ll have to do a full sweep,” he said as they walked through the overgrown vegetation. “Might be other temporary structures on the grounds.” He pushed aside an overhanging branch dotted with small yellow flowers so Theo could pass through; the vegetation wasn’t yet at the point that it was impenetrable, but it was making a good effort.
He took the lead again once Theo was past . . . and got a sharp look from her. Oh yeah, Theo Marshall was no submissive. In point of fact, she’d eat a submissive alive.