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)
Beau cursed, and Reese laughed. She was curled up in a chair, watching them work.
The noise must’ve snapped Lucy out of it because she strode forward.
“Sorry,” she said dryly. “I think that’s the one I broke.”
“Then you should be lifting it into place,” my father replied, grunting as he positioned the window from the porch.
“I’m still healing,” Lucy said with a grimace and a shrug.
“You look fine to me,” Beau grumbled.
Lucy looked at me over her shoulder. “Aren’t you going to offer to help?”
“We’ve got plans, remember?” I reached out, and she grabbed my hand.
The front porch was stained so badly that I took Lucy out the back so she wouldn’t have to see it. When we got outside, she tipped her head back and took a deep breath.
“How did you know I needed some fresh air?” she asked happily. “God, it smells good out here.”
“You haven’t seen the sun in days,” I said dryly, leading her further from the house.
“I know. I was turning into a Vampire,” she said with a mock shudder.
I laughed and tried to tickle her, but she jumped just out of reach.
“Funny,” I replied, nodding.
“Really? No issues with sunlight, huh?” She clicked her tongue.
“Humans have gotten it wrong for centuries,” I said as we wandered into the woods. “The only thing they got right was the blood.”
“But we didn’t even get that right,” she said, turning toward me and walking backward. “We thought you went around biting people.”
I smiled. “Only the ones we like,” I joked.
“Look, you can’t even see the house,” she said, pointing over my shoulder. “That was fast.”
“It’s pretty thick out here.”
“Should we go back?” she asked nervously.
“We have six Vampires on the perimeter,” I assured her. “Motion sensors, trip wires, and Chance is monitoring cameras placed throughout the property. We’re—” I stopped before I said it. I’d told her she was safe before, and I’d been wrong.
“So we should probably keep things PG then,” she said, ignoring the mine I’d just avoided. She raised her voice and lifted both her middle fingers into the air. “Since Chauncey is watching.”
I just shook my head. Their animosity had started out genuine, but I was beginning to see that it had changed into a running thing between them. I was glad. Reese had softened Beau a lot, and by the time Lucy met him, he’d started keeping most of his shitty comments to himself. But Chance didn’t have anyone to soften his harsh edges. Beau had been a quiet jerk. Chance was an in-your-face one, which made him twice as obnoxious.
“Why are you frowning at the trees?” Lucy asked, moving closer to run a finger between my brows. “It’s a beautiful day, and no one is currently trying to kidnap us.”
The words were light, but they hit me like a slap in the face. When she started to pull away, I stopped her.
“I fucked up,” I said quietly, cupping her face in my hands.
I’d had one job. I’d been waiting for it my whole life, had prepared for it, dreamed of it, and I’d failed. Protecting my mate was what I’d been put on the earth to do, and I’d failed. Watching her as the sunlight coming through the trees dappled her skin in light and shadow, it hit me. We could’ve missed this moment. I’d gone off on some harebrained plan, convincing myself that it was to rescue Finau’s mate when the truth of it was that I was trying to avenge my brother’s death…and I’d left her behind when we had wolves at the door.
“When?” she asked, searching my face.
“You told me not to do it—”
“I told you to leave Charlie behind,” she reminded me. “I didn’t tell you not to do it.”
“I knew you didn’t like it.”
“I don’t like a lot of things.”
“I put you in danger.”
“Ambrose, come on,” she said, tilting her head to the side. “I was already in danger, remember? That’s how we met.”
I couldn’t seem to draw air into my lungs.
She’d been trying to reassure me, but she’d done just the opposite.
Lucy was right. I’d known she was in danger before I’d even known she was my mate. In my hubris, I’d assumed that once she was on our property that she’d be safe from the danger that threatened her. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
“What’s going on?” she asked, wrapping her hands around my wrists. “Where is your head at?”
I’d been going through the motions since we found out that the perimeter had been breached at the house, and we’d been an hour away. Focusing on the next thing I had to do, then the next thing, then the next thing. It was the only way I’d been able to function without completely losing my mind. That had transformed into my obsession with making sure that Lucy was okay, that she was healing, that she had everything she needed. I’d sat beside her while she slept, changed and re-changed her bandages so I could check on her stitches, braided her hair back from her face.