Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
And yet...
Coming to my side of the car, Dillon held out his hand to help me. Whisper leapt out with a groan, stretching his back and digging his claws into the icy tundra. Lucien gave me a tired smile as he exited the other door, then came to join me on my side of the car.
Nudging Dillon away, he offered me his hand instead.
I didn’t want to take it. I knew he suffered just as much as me.
I can do it. Harnessing the rest of my strength, I swung my legs out and...my knees buckled.
Lucien caught me, clutching me close and pressing the sweetest kiss to my cheek. “We need to sleep together as soon as possible. I’m getting really tired of being this weak.”
My heart raced as my gaze landed on the hut again.
Suddenly, I really wished we’d tried to connect on the plane. What if we were walking into another trap? What if Frank wasn’t on my side? What if—?
“Judging by your face, I can guess what you’re thinking.” Dillon interrupted my fear. “And don’t worry.” Taking out his gun, he cocked it before placing it back into its holster. “If anyone—regardless of whether it’s someone I’ve worked with for years—tries to hurt either one of you, I’ll fire first and ask questions later.”
Whisper hissed as if throwing his hat into the bodyguard ring, and the driver—who was part of the Sovereign Retrieval team—started the car and drove off, leaving us exposed on the blustery glacier dressed in nothing but my nightgown.
“Come on,” Dillon ordered, marching to the familiar hut that I used to love visiting when I was young and naïve. “Let’s get you out of the cold.” He chuckled as if only just remembering. “Then again...you are the cold so...maybe the glacier should be afraid of you instead.”
My heart pounded as another bout of weakness struck. A small mouthful of blackened blood came up, hinting that just because we were close to getting answers, didn’t mean my body had stopped falling apart.
Spitting the black mouthful onto the ice, I smeared it with my borrowed boots from the plane before Dillon could turn around.
You alright? Lucien kept me close, guiding me toward the hut. His temper flared, full of panic and worry. Tell me you have bedrooms in this shack. I’ll help you. We’ll slip into the dreamscape and—
The door to the hut suddenly wrenched wide, revealing the man who’d replaced my own father when he’d died. “Rook! Finally...you’re home.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
I FROZE, JERKING LUCIEN TO A STOP. “Frank.” My breath caught as I drank in the man who looked more like a seasoned sea captain who’d accidentally wandered into a lab, rather than a world-class scientist and acting CEO of Snowflake Corp.
While my mother and father had chased breakthroughs in immortality, Frank kept the company grounded with renewable energy. He’d raised four children...plus me, and his once-bright blond hair had turned silver years ago.
Tears streaked down my cheeks as the man who’d become my surrogate father stomped out of the hut, completely ignored the fact that I was in Lucien’s arms, and dragged me into his own.
Lucien’s temper flared hot, but I didn’t have the capacity to calm him.
Frank’s scent and familiarity surrounded me, making me feel like a little girl again.
“Hello, little snowflake.” He hugged me so fiercely, I could barely breathe.
God, please, please let him be trustworthy.
I hadn’t realised until that moment how much I needed him to be on my side.
“Hi.” I blinked back yet more tears, begging, begging, begging that he wasn’t another enemy.
“I missed you so much.” Swiping his calloused thumb over my cheek, he rubbed away dirt as if I was six years old again and making a mess in his office. “Look at the state of you.” His deep voice caught with emotion. “I’ve been waiting for you ever since Dil said you were coming.”
Lucien groaned softly behind me. I really need him to stop touching you, Rook. He balled a shaking fist against his belly. The possessiveness is killing me. I’m either going to burn him alive or drop dead on this ice.
Tugging gently out of Frank’s embrace, I grimaced a little in apology. “Sorry, Frank, I just—”
“It’s fine.” Frank eyeballed Lucien as if he could hear our silent conversations. “He can’t stand another person touching you. I figured that would happen the more entwined you got. It’s just as I predicted all those years ago.”
“Wait. What?” Fear struck my heart. “What do you mean?”
What does he mean...all those years ago? Lucien snarled in my head.
“I have no idea,” I replied. “Maybe he means—oops.” Flinching, I shot Frank a look. I didn’t mean to say that out loud.
Lucien bared his teeth. I know you want to trust him, Rook...but I’m not so sure. He’s looking at us as if he knows far too much.