Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 92043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Now it was time to see if the sedation had worked.
Danny and Chance were fully prepared when we walked into the armory, and they immediately moved to help Beau and me get ready.
I changed into black trousers and a long-sleeved black shirt, waiting for the familiar warmth as the minutes passed. Chance handed me a vest and helped me with the straps. He tossed me a thigh holster to put on. Then a shoulder holster. Extra magazines that I stuffed into my pockets. A small med kit.
I moved over to the wall and chose my pistols and rifle. Each of us had our own preferences, and there were already open spaces where Chance, Danny, my father, and Sven’s choices had been. Grabbing more magazines, I loaded them all and put them in my holsters.
My skin itched, but it was the lack of heat that was starting to bother me.
We left the armory and strode through the house, stopping briefly to kiss our mother.
Fifteen minutes since I’d seen Lucy, and there was still nothing. I forced myself not to run back and check on her again. She was fine. Alice was with her. If something had gone wrong, she would’ve already come to get me. The lack of heat meant that the sedation was working, nothing more.
In the garage, we paused with my father and Charlie. Finau stood fidgeting by the cars. He was already dressed and armed to the teeth.
“Don’t get yourself killed,” Chance ordered, pulling my dad into a backslapping hug. “We’ll be close.”
“Not too close,” my father ordered. “Or we’re fucked.”
“We’ve been doing this a minute, old man,” Chance countered as he let go.
Danny was next.
I turned toward Charlie. “There’s no way for you to do anything wrong,” I told him as he stood, pale and tense. “They’ll take you. Don’t try to get back to my dad. He’ll be down by the time they’ve got you, all right? The sooner you leave with them, the faster Matthias and Josiah can get to him.”
“We’ve gone over this,” he replied, nodding. “I remember.”
“It’s worth going over again,” I said, reaching out to squeeze his shoulder. “It’ll be easy to forget when you’re in the thick of it. You’re going to want to help him, but the best thing for you to do is leave.”
“I got it,” he said, glancing toward my father.
“We’ll never be far,” I told Charlie, bringing his attention back to me. “Even if it feels like it. You won’t see us, but we’re there, okay?”
Charlie nodded.
“They won’t expect much fight from you—”
He scoffed.
“That’s a good thing,” I assured him. “The more you fight them, the greater chance of you getting hurt before we find Finau’s mate.”
“She has a name,” Charlie said, his chin rising a little. “It’s Evelina.”
“Evelina,” I conceded. “Keep yourself safe until we find Evelina. Cower if you have to.”
Charlie looked away, embarrassed, and I shoved his chest. He looked at me in surprise.
“You’re playing a role,” I told him firmly. “They think you’re weak? Let them. Play into that.”
“We know the truth,” my father said gruffly, with a nod at Charlie.
My stomach was in knots as we parted.
Chance and Beau climbed into one car with Finau, Danny, and I climbed into another, and my father and Charlie climbed into a third. Uncle Sven stood outside the garage as we pulled away, watching us go.
We were counting on a whole hell of a lot with the plan we’d thrown together, like the assumption that the fuckers were still in town. That they’d go for Charlie. That they’d bring him to wherever they were holding Finau’s mate. That she wasn’t already dead.
It was all we had.
We didn’t have enough information. Vague theories about who was in charge and why they were targeting mates were all we had to go on. Searching for Charlie had taken priority above researching, and we were feeling it now.
“How is it?” Danny asked as we took the long way to town.
“Fine,” I replied. The heat was barely flickering under my skin.
“She’s okay,” he said, his eyes on the road. He reached up to tap his earpiece. “We’d know if she wasn’t.”
“Yeah.”
We rode in silence until we’d hit our mark and parked the car two blocks from the grocery store. Holding my coat closed, I followed Danny into a pawn shop owned by the father-in-law of one of the Vampires currently patrolling our property.
“Through the back, first door on the right,” the man said quietly as we moved through the store. He didn’t look up from what he was doing. “End of the hallway is the exit door.”
“I’ve got cameras,” Matthias announced in my earpiece. “Erik and Charlie just parked.”
Danny and I hurried toward the exit door, dropping our long coats in the hallway. Just outside was a fire escape, and we climbed until we reached the roof. The sun had almost set as we crouched and made our way to the edge.