Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 81358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
“And who might you be?”
“No—”
“Devlin Relic,” Dev answered, talking over Kai.
Disaster. This was turning into a disaster, and they’d been there for less than a minute. He’d been hoping to leave without her knowing Dev’s name. But it was his own fault. He should have pressed that point more with Dev.
“Oh! You’re that scientist fella who caused such a stir a year ago. Honey, you can put your hands down,” she admonished with a laugh.
Dev released a loud sigh of relief and dropped his hands to his sides. Kai started to do the same but stopped at the sound of a round being chambered on a shotgun.
“I wasn’t talking to you, Ghost,” the woman snapped.
Devlin turned toward the woman and from the corner of his eye, Kai could see him sort of jerk and blink. Yeah, she definitely wasn’t what Dev had been expecting, but he recovered quickly. “Oh no, you don’t understand. Kai doesn’t mean you any harm, I swear. He’s not armed. We’re just hoping you can give us some information, and then we’ll leave.”
Kai rolled his eyes and slumped his shoulders, but the assassin’s hearty laugh was somewhat reassuring.
“You should be ashamed of yourself. Snowing this sweet man.”
“What?” Dev looked from the assassin to Kai.
“She knows I’m armed, Dev,” Kai replied. There was no way in hell he was traveling with Dev and not going as armed as he could be.
“How? The airport security. We flew. I—”
“Do you really want to know?” Kai asked in a flat voice.
Dev shoved a hand into his sweaty brown hair, making it stand up on end. He looked dazed and more than a little shaken. “I-I don’t think so. I just…this is so big.”
“Still curious?”
“Yes, but it’s like being dropped into the deep end…again. I thought, after the first time, it all wouldn’t be so shocking.”
Kai’s heart ached for the man, and he managed a small smile. “I have a feeling you were shielded from much of it. Remember, you had work to get done the first time around.”
“Honey, you look like you could use a drink,” their host suddenly cooed. “Fine, Ghost. You’re free for now.”
Kai slowly lowered his arms to his sides but was careful to keep them away from his body as he turned. The woman standing in the middle of the driveway had lowered the shotgun in her hands but was still prepared to blow his head off if he made a single wrong move. Her shoulder-length white-gray hair moved in the breeze, and she arched an eyebrow in challenge at him. She was dressed in a pair of worn jeans and a pastel-blue button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled above her elbows. With the exception of the shotgun, she could have passed for someone’s doting grandmother. But there was a sharpness to her eyes. Despite her advanced age, she was still in her prime.
Walking around the back of the car, Kai approached Dev and placed a hand on his shoulder. He wanted to pull Dev into his arms and reassure him that everything was going to be okay. For now, he made do with sticking close to Dev, keeping his body between Dev and the assassin as she crossed toward the house.
Of course she noticed. Her questioning look turned into a smug smirk. Yeah, she might think Devlin Relic was a weak point for him, but she needed to also realize that he’d kill without question to keep Dev safe.
“Come along, Mr. Relic. Let’s get you inside. I just made a fresh pot of coffee a bit ago.”
“Thank you. And you can call me Devlin, please. What should I call you?”
“Mother is fine,” she called over her shoulder as she started up the front stairs. She must have caught sight of Devlin’s eyes widening, because she laughed. “Yeah, the kids all have the scary names now.”
“Oh, no! Mother is plenty scary. I think if someone told me that Mother was coming to get me, I’d be scared shitless,” Dev quickly countered, sending Mother into fresh peals of laughter.
Kai swallowed a sigh. He wasn’t fooled by Mother’s friendliness. The woman would kill them both without blinking an eye, but she did appear to be charmed by Dev’s manner. If that worked in their favor, he’d take it.
The interior of the house was an open format with large, comfortable furniture and little touches like flowers and colorful artwork. However, there were no cozy family pictures on the stone fireplace mantel or hanging on the walls. An assassin’s life was typically a very lonely one.
Kai and Dev followed Mother across the wide pine-board floors to the kitchen. She waved for them to take seats at the white marble breakfast bar while she grabbed some coffee mugs.
“So, why don’t you tell me about these bodies that keep showing up?”
Dev turned on the barstool he’d slid onto, a worried expression crossing his face. It was as if he’d just realized that he might have said too much, breaking his promise to Kai. But then, Dev’s nature was warm and trusting. It had been Kai’s mistake to even attempt to stifle it.