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)
After the longest time, I rise to my feet. We need to bed down for the night. Kaja doesn’t protest when I lift her into my arms and cradle her to my chest. Her arms drift around my neck.
When I take her into the water this time, she doesn’t flinch. She simply trusts me.
I know I’m in way, way over my head, and there might not be any way out.
Chapter Sixteen
Chalen Palgrave
I feel my blood pressure rise as I attempt to process the words my employee is saying. It was a rude awakening from a sound sleep. “What exactly are you trying to say to me, Roan?”
Roan’s expression never changes. His face is utterly blank. From what I can tell, the damn Brit never has an emotion at all. “Dellacourt got away.”
Yes. That’s what I thought the fucker said. I force myself to lean forward when all I really want to do is to take my tablet and throw it off the balcony. Hell. That’s wrong. What I really want to do is wrap my claws around Roan’s throat and squeeze until the Brit dies. “What do you mean he got away? Dellacourt’s an idiot. You’re the best mercenary money can buy, or at least that’s your reputation.”
I wasn’t able to hire a truly reputable firm. On the Vampire plane security is always handled by private firms, but they tend to be touchy when it comes to potentially breaking the law. Roan and his men are outside that circle, but they are damn expensive. Of course, I never actually meant to pay them, but Roan doesn’t need to know that.
“He proved himself to be quite cunning.” Roan’s face turns thoughtful as though he’s trying to solve a puzzle. “I had him in sonic cuffs. They were behind his back, and it was only myself and my second-in-command who knew the code to release him.”
Excellent. “Then your second-in-command is a fucking traitor. You should execute his ass now.”
Roan sighs in a way that sets my fangs on edge. It’s condescending, that sigh. “Harry has been with me for ten years. I assure you he wouldn’t help another royal, certainly not one like Dante Dellacourt.”
I know all about Roan’s team. They’re all disenfranchised royals who turned their backs on their people. It isn’t at all surprising for impoverished royals to go into the military. They do it so they can come out and work for the big corporations. Roan went out on his own and took a bunch of his former team with him. He claims he didn’t want to work for anyone but himself. None of them can be trusted. I wonder if Dellacourt offered them more money. “None of you are above turning on each other for cash.”
Now Roan’s eyes narrow. His lips curl back to bare perfectly sharp fangs. “Are you accusing me and my men of failing to honor the contract I signed?”
I back off. I still need the mercenary. Oh, I won’t for long, but if I give any indication that I’m turning on Roan, things might get dicey. Roan is known as a man who honors his obligations, but he’s also said to be a man who believes in revenge. Until I’m ready to get rid of the mercenary, I’ll have to deal with him. “Not at all. I’m frustrated at your lack of progress. If no one turned traitor, then do you have a theory on how Dellacourt and the consort got away? I assume you lost Meg Finn as well or you would have led off with that news.”
That bland professional expression is back. “He fled with his cousins’ wife. I do have a theory, but you might think I’m crazy. I believe he has a well-trained dog.”
“A dog? A fucking dog got him out? You let a dog outsmart you?”
“Well, I admit, I didn’t think she was anything beyond a very lovely bitch. Nothing about this job has gone the way I thought it would. When I set up the distraction, I assumed I would catch him as he fled the marketplace. I was rather surprised when he managed to kill the ogre.”
I’m surprised at that myself, but Dellacourt always had all the luck. “None of this explains how his dog managed to get him out of sonic cuffs.”
“Harry was close when Dellacourt took down the ogre. He said Dellacourt seemed to be trying to save the dog, and he called the dog Kaja. Odd name for a dog, especially one he refused to acknowledge as his. He tried to tell me that this Kaja he referred to was some random woman. I didn’t think anything of it at the time. I thought he was just trying to protect the dog. He might have thought I would hurt it if I knew it was his. Foolish, but it makes sense. The dog was with me when I put the cuffs on Dellacourt.”