Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 113936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
After Kane had been forcefully removed, she’d left the bed as it was, as if it were a beacon Kane’s destiny could locate only if she didn’t change the sheeting. Which was so stupid.
He was not coming back. And his end had been a terrible one.
She told herself he was finally at peace now. Up in the Fade. With his beloved mate, about whom he had spoken in his delirium.
Sitting down, the rusty springs creaked under her weight, and she had never heard a more lonely sound. Putting her hand on the freshly laundered case, she pictured what hair Kane had had left and tried to feel its texture, its softness, as if she could bring him back if her memories were clear enough.
But that was not how resuscitation worked. Or resurrection—
“Missing someone?”
Nadya jumped up and steadied herself as best she could. The female who loomed in the open doorway was framed by the aisle created by the two blocks of shelving rows. Standing over six feet tall and dressed for war, her powerful body was belted with weapons, her lean, intelligent face drawn in cunning lines. In a prison camp full of depravity and survival instinct run rampant, she was in charge of the guards, running the male squadrons with an iron fist.
Nadya’s heart skipped beats and she pulled her hooding down farther, even though it was already in place.
The head of the guards came forward. That she was alone was unusual. That she was utterly unconcerned with a lack of defense behind her was not.
She had taken over after the Executioner was killed, and there would be no one who would get uphill of her.
“You wait until spoken to,” she commented in her deep voice.
Nadya bowed slightly, and kept the truth to herself. It was not respect that made her silent, and also not fear. All she could think of was the way that guard had pulled Kane up off the bed by the arm, and even though Kane had cried out in pain, there had been no deference shown for his condition. For the fact that he was already suffering.
Instead, there had been cruel delight. And that horrible male had been sent down here by one and only one person.
Hatred was the reason for the silence.
“I have injured guards,” their leader announced. “I’m bringing them here to you. Tell me the supplies you don’t have and I’ll get them for you.”
Nadya cleared her throat. “What kind of injuries?”
“Does it matter? You’re going to have to save them one way or another.”
“If you want me to tell you what I need, you’re going to have to tell me what I’m treating.”
As a dark brow arched, Nadya realized that no one had ever called the female by a name. She was just referred to as the head of the guards, or “muhm” in the Old Language, in deference to her higher rank.
It was odd to hear the aristocratic term used to refer to someone like her.
“Gunshots. Contusions. Concussions.”
“How many patients.”
“A dozen.”
“I need antibiotics, bandages, and pain relief,” Nadya shot back. “Cephalosporin, all the pills you can get. Sulfa pills, too. I want hydrogen peroxide, as much as you can find, and Polysporin or Neosporin in tubes. I’ll take any pain relievers, pill form or liquid, even if they’re just over-the-counter. Also suturing kits and sterile bandages with tape. But I don’t know where you’re going to find it all—”
“That’s not going to be a problem.”
The arrogance wasn’t a surprise.
“Let me write it down.”
Moving as fast as she could, she went over to a battered desk in the corner and pulled out old stationery that had browned with age, but still bore the header of the hospital’s name and address. Her writing was messy, but her mind was clear.
Her mentor’s teachings remained with her, that bridge between the vampire and the human worlds still sound, still saving lives—even though she would see each of those guards bleed out if she had the choice.
Nadya returned to the other female and held out the piece of stationery. “Just so we’re clear, I can’t operate. I don’t have the skills beyond simple suturing. I’ll do what I can, but I—”
“No,” the female snapped as she took the list. “You’ll make sure they’re fully healed and back in commission. And before you ask, if they need to feed, I will have females brought here.”
“There are limits to what I can—”
The head of the guards took out a blade, the steel flashing with the same cold light that was in her eyes. “You better hope they all live. Every one of them. Their lives are yours. Their graves are your own. I’ll put a piece of you in each hole I have to dig for any of my males.”
Nadya stared through the mesh of her hood—and decided she was just about done with weapons being pointed at her.