Total pages in book: 188
Estimated words: 185811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 929(@200wpm)___ 743(@250wpm)___ 619(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 185811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 929(@200wpm)___ 743(@250wpm)___ 619(@300wpm)
Ivar stood, his entire body on full alert and nearly vibrating. “We going?”
“Yep. Found the woman and you need to take her before they do.” Benny turned toward Noah. “Thanks for the help, but we’ve had a development, and the Viking has to get to work.”
Mariana sputtered. “Wait a minute.” She opened the envelope and quickly read. “Charges were dropped against you, and you’re free to go, Ivar?” She looked up, her gaze bewildered.
Noah pushed a snarl down. “I don’t suppose I have papers?”
Benny blanched. “No.” He leaned in. “Ivar said you might want to stay. Something about a chick with problems.” He whispered it low enough only the immortals in the room could hear.
Tabitha chuckled. “Oh, this is cute.”
Noah grabbed Benny’s arm. “I’m going to kill you for this, Ben.”
Mariana clapped her hands sharply. “Noah. That is exactly the type of language and action we wish to avoid here. You know that.”
Oh, Noah really was going to kill Benny.
Amusement filled Benny’s eyes, the asshole, and he quickly backed away. “My guys are still looking for information for you. Nothing yet.”
“I have something,” Raine murmured, his body still oddly relaxed in the wooden chair. “But I want information in return.”
Benny clapped him on the arm. “I know. I left you a treat in your truck.”
Wonderful. Hopefully it wasn’t a bomb.
Ivar turned and held out a hand. “Thank you, friend. Happy hunting.”
Noah shook it, oddly sorry to see the Viking go. “Ditto. I hope you find what you need.”
Ivar nodded at the other occupants and then strolled after Benny. The air lightened in their wake.
Raine began to stand.
“Oh, no, you don’t,” Noah said, grabbing the vampire’s arm and yanking him toward Ivar’s vacant seat. He’d give his friends a head start, if nothing else. “Why don’t you tell the doc here if you’re doing better with anger?”
Raine jerked away. “I’m out of here.”
“No, you can’t go,” Mariana said, reaching for another file. “You’re supposed to be here.”
The vampire paused, looking at the brown-eyed woman.
Yeah, Noah had felt something between them. Oh, Raine could just leave and disappear, and the humans wouldn’t be able to do a damn thing.
Tabitha cleared her throat. “I, ah, really need to keep this group going.” In other words, she needed her cover protected. “I’d owe you one if you stay, Raine.”
A favor from a demoness, and one of her lineage, wasn’t something easily passed up.
Raine growled and looked at the empty doorway. Then he glanced at the ancient clock on the wall. They only had thirty minutes left. “Fine.” He took Ivar’s vacated seat.
“So, Raine,” Mariana started, “Why don’t you tell us what makes you angry? If we can identify your triggers, that might help you in the future.”
The vampire lifted one jet-black eyebrow. “My triggers? What the hell is a trigger?”
Abby turned toward him. “It’s something that makes you mad. That triggers you into anger or any emotion, really.”
Raine’s expression softened a fraction. “All right. Let’s see. A trigger for me would be somebody being a selfish bastard who’s going to hurt other people. Like a lot of other people.”
Okay. Not unfair, considering Noah had the same concern regarding Ivar, the Seven, and their plans.
Mariana frowned. “So your fight with a landlord and with a former client? They were going to hurt people?”
Raine blinked, obviously trying to remember his cover story. “Yeah. The landlord was trying to evict an elderly woman who couldn’t pay but had paid faithfully for years, and my former client was his lawyer, who is no longer mine. Not a nice guy.” The vampire then smiled, almost angelically.
Noah nodded out of acknowledgment. Very nice cover. The guy was quick.
“That’s awful,” Abby whispered, looking around Noah. “I’m so sorry.”
Noah stiffened.
Raine patted his heart. “I know, right? What was I supposed to do? Somebody had to help the elderly woman. I mean, her husband, God rest his soul, was a veteran, and she sews scarves for the local children when it gets cold.”
Scarves? Seriously? Okay, now he was pouring it on way too thick. Noah shifted his weight in case he needed to punch the guy. Were the humans really falling for this?
Abby’s eyes had softened, and she nodded. A quick look at the shrink showed a different story somehow. Her brown eyes had narrowed, and she studied Raine as if he were a case subject. Good. At least somebody was seeing through the nonsense.
Mariana cleared her throat. “I see, but none of that excuses violence. Maybe we should play-act a better way to work through problems.”
Was she joking? Or teaching Raine a lesson? Noah bit down a grin and sat back in his chair. “You know, doc, I think you’re on to something. It’d help the rest of us if you play-acted with Raine and showed us what he should’ve done.”
Raine coughed. “You’re going to pay for that, hybrid,” he muttered, only loud enough for Noah to hear.