Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 138274 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138274 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
Which was fucking ironic for someone who couldn’t die.
Yet.
“Yeah,” he said roughly. “I’ll totally take you in. You’ll like them.”
“Tomorrow night?” she blurted.
“Ah, yeah. Sure.”
“Where will I meet you? I need to get a new phone, in case you don’t remember, and I don’t know if I’ll be keeping my number.”
“I’ll get a replacement for you. It was my fault.”
“That’s okay, Uncle Vishous will take care of it.”
Nate frowned. When it was just the two of them, it was easy to forget who she was. But “Uncle” Vishous? Shit. Just what he needed—Zsadist coming after him with the whole Brotherhood as reinforcement.
“So where do we meet?” she prompted.
“Needle.” He felt like kissing her goodbye. “At Twenty-first and Main. Amore is their name, and I’ll set it up for midnight. They always open the shop for me after hours, but if there’s a problem, I’ll get word to you.”
“Amore.”
“Italian for love. Or so they tell me.”
“You sure this isn’t too much trouble?”
He thought about the promise he’d made to her sire. To stay away.
“No, not at all.”
Over at the foot of the bed, he picked up what remained of his combat jacket from the floor—which was just a pair of sleeves connected by the collar and a couple of streamers of hide.
At least his battered burner phone had been in the ass pocket of his leathers.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said as he went over to the window he’d cracked.
“Yes. Okay. Thanks.”
In comparison to where they’d been only a matter of minutes ago, the distance between them felt colder than the draft that had killed the actual warmth in the room. But again, he was not going into the Rahvyn thing with her. No fucking way.
“Take care of yourself,” he murmured.
“That sounds like a big goodbye. Not a ‘see you later.’ ”
“I also happen to mean it.”
Closing his eyes, he had to calm himself so he could ghost out and—
Before he was aware of making the decision to go back to her, he was striding across the rug. And the next thing he knew, he was taking Nalla around the waist, and bringing her to his mouth.
The kiss returned them to where they had been, panting and straining, ready to break out of their clothes and get good and goddamned naked. When he finally eased her back down where she’d been on the bed, he liked the dreamy smile on her face so much more than the reserve that he had known was hiding hurt.
Yeah, he couldn’t leave her like that.
“I’ll see you tomorrow at midnight,” he vowed.
“Needle.”
“Amore. Go to the side entrance.”
He kissed her once more, and this time, when he stood in front of the open window, he was able to close his eyes and concentrate.
Flying away from the farmhouse in a scatter of molecules, he re-formed on his own property, between his log cabin and his barn. For a moment, he glanced at the red outbuilding. A wild impulse had him picturing what was in there, under its cover. But then he picked up one boot and glanced at the snowpack in his treads.
All-season tires only went so far, and besides, if you couldn’t floor your horses, why bother taking your toy out at all.
Heading for the cabin’s front door, he had places to go, but first a shower and another set of clothes—
As soon as he opened things up, he went for his gun and pointed it at the male across the interior. The good news was that his guest wasn’t an enemy. At least… not in the conventional sense.
His father, Murhder, was sitting in the ratty old armchair in front of the cold hearth. The Brother’s black-and-red hair was braided high on his head, like he’d come ready for some ground game aerobics, and he was dressed to be out in the field.
“We need to talk about what happened down on Market last night,” the Brother said grimly. “And after that, we’re going to cover why the hell you aren’t answering your phone—and then, for shits and giggles, our chaser is going to be why you’re half naked and holding a burned jacket in your hand.”
Fucking perfect, Nate thought.
But at least he could get this goodbye out of the way. Even though it was the one he’d been planning on finishing with.
* * *
At the downtown induction site, Evan exited the tunnel by jumping out and landing in a crouch with both of the guns he’d boosted front and center. With quick eyes, he scanned the well-lit parts of the basement. The elevator was still sitting open and at the ready, but there was no alarm anymore. Other than that?
Nothing out of place, no one in the space.
Leaving the shadows, he was prepared for an attack, and when he came up to the Otis box, he was surprised he wasn’t shooting. Peering in, he saw that someone had discharged a bullet into the control panel.