Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
“And where is the lab?” Roan asks.
“Thirty floors up,” Meg says without a pause. “We have to get to the fifty-fourth floor and go across. The first air duct you come to drops directly into the medical lab. If your consort and her captors are in there, you’ll be able to hear them.”
I’ll be able to find Kaja no matter where she is, but that’s not the point. “You want me to climb thirty stories up a ventilation shaft? Tell me something, Meg. Does it have ladders?”
She bites into her bottom lip, looking so much like her human counterpart when she has to tell her warrior husband something she knows he won’t like. “Not exactly. Um, I’ve always used a hover lift. I probably should have mentioned that. I have one at home. We could go get it.”
Kaja is dying now. I don’t have time to find a hover lift. And a hover lift will only take one of us up at a time.
Suddenly, I know. I have the strength to do this. Kaja gave it to me. I have the strength to save her.
“Fuck that.” I open the door to the hovercar. Even with the inertial dampeners, the car sways slightly. I pull open the access door. It’s big enough for me to crouch in. My eyes adjust to the darkness. Strange. I can see in the dark. More than that, I can smell. Kaja. She’s here in this building. She’s holding on. “Roan, if you can’t follow me, then get to the cops. I need a couple of minutes to get up there and protect her, but then send them all in.”
“What are you talking about? You can’t make it up there without a lift. Look, I’ve got some mag gloves that will let me climb, but that’s a long way up.” Roan is directly behind me. “Dellacourt, you aren’t trained for anything like this. Let me go.”
Roan might be trained, but he doesn’t love Kaja. And he doesn’t have Kaja’s blood flowing through his system.
“Like I said, Roan, try to keep up.” The edge of the opening is small, but I feel an odd grace come to my limbs. I stop fighting my instincts. I allow Kaja’s blood to take over.
My claws pop through my skin, but I welcome the pain. Longer. I need them longer, and they push through another inch. My claws are long and thick, wickedly sharp on the end. They’re made to rip and tear, but now they will carry me.
I leap across the few feet that leads to the opposite side of the shaft. My claws slide into the metal as though they belong there. I dangle for a moment, all of my weight being held by my hands.
And I know. I can do it. I will do it. And I will win.
“Dellacourt? Are you insane?”
I pull my left hand out and pull up with my right arm. I get up another couple of feet and dig in again. Easy as pie. I’m not even winded. “Nope. I’m on werewolf blood. She likes to be called a werewolf. I’ve never been this strong. If you’re coming with me, you better get going.”
I swing up again, finding a rhythm.
Nothing is going to keep me from my consort. Though I know she’s shielding, I send out the message anyway.
I’m coming, Kaj.
Chapter Thirty-One
Kaja
I try to bring my head up, but I am so weary. The pain is past recognition. I feel it always now. I cannot remember a time when it was not a part of my bones. It seems like hours or days passed since I felt something other than pain.
No. I know pleasure and passion. I know my lover’s cock diving deep and the feel of his fangs penetrating. I know what it feels like to feed him, to love him, and to be loved in return.
A bit of strength flares. Stay alive. That is all I have to do. Dante will take care of the rest.
Except I want to help. I want to be there when these people go down. They will go down, because Dante will not allow them to live.
“How much more can she take?” The one named Palgrave took off his suit coat. He holds a stick in his hand. It is an odd stick. It is dark colored, and fire shoots from it. He touched it to my flesh, and I burned.
“Why can’t you leave her alone? She’s not going to change.” Amanda stood back the whole time. I sense her reluctance. Amanda even shed a tear or two, but I do not care. The blonde still stands there. Her tears did not save me a moment’s pain. They did not give me strength. Amanda’s compassion is a useless, weak thing. Amanda obviously has not figured out what I have. Compassion means it is time to act.