Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 142050 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 710(@200wpm)___ 568(@250wpm)___ 474(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142050 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 710(@200wpm)___ 568(@250wpm)___ 474(@300wpm)
More voices percolated down from the front entrance, and Rocke turned to the sounds with a happy flush, his eyes lighting up.
Yup, she thought as she went for more sauce. This is a very good thing.
Xcor and her mahmen came into the family room first, and Qhuinn and Blay were right behind them. The quartet were speaking in a rapid-fire doubles match, completing each others’ sentences, skipping from subject to subject, and she had to grin. She’d grown up with them like this, and recognized that she was lucky. Her family wasn’t just blended, it was a damn smoothie.
“Lyric! You’re doing so well!” Layla came around and inspected what she had made so far. “It’s perfect—”
Xcor swooped in for a hug. “Absolutely, and I’m ready to eat—”
“Just like my mahmen would have done,” Blay tacked on as he got misty.
While the comment registered, there was a moment of silence, and it was like that now. From time to time, someone would say something, or point at a picture, or mention the way the moon draped the gazebo in gentle, wintery light—and the quiet would come as the elder Lyric was remembered.
“I can’t wait to have some,” Qhuinn added softly.
As Lyric’s own eyes welled up, she hugged him and then brushed her tears away with the inside of her forearm. “She always made it for you. And now, I will.”
It was what she had promised, after all. And she was a female who kept to her word.
“—say goodbye to my sister.”
Rhamp entered while talking over his shoulder, and in response to the announcement, he received one big frown from everybody.
“You’re not staying?” Lyric asked.
“Nah, I’ve got plans I can’t change.”
As their eyes met, a sliver of unease rippled through her. “I thought you were off schedule tonight.”
“Training.” He came around and gave her a hug. Softly, in her ear, he whispered, “You worry too much.”
While he said goodbye to everybody else, she zipped her lip and got busy again with the lasagna. She had a bad feeling about whatever her brother was doing, and it made her think about the aftermath of everything that had happened on Lake George. She and Dev had been honest with everybody, especially the King and the Brotherhood, about who he really was, who his parents were. She hadn’t been sure whether or not she would be banished, but Wrath, the great Blind King, had stared at Dev for the longest time. And then he had nodded once, and that was done. Her mate was accepted.
Well, and maybe Rhamp’s testimony about what had happened when she’d been shot had something to do with it. Her twin had been clear that without Dev, she wouldn’t be here.
Go figure, that had opened a lot of minds and hearts—and so had the fact that she’d put her life on the line for L.W.
Glancing up again, she looked down to the front door. Dev was coming in with another box just as Rhamp hit the threshold. There was a pause as they talked, and then the two males embraced, clapping each other on the back. She was glad to see their closeness.
When the time came, maybe Dev could help her talk some sense into the fighter.
After Rhamp stepped out, Dev shut the door and came down to the kitchen. As he went along, he peeled that construction jacket of his off his heavy shoulders, and she had to smile as he hung it on a peg next to her grandfather’s parka. Everyone greeted him, and while he returned the hi-hello’s, his eyes were only on her.
His beautiful blue eyes… that had lost the black rim around the iris.
As he came over to her, and dropped his head for a kiss, she leaned into him, keeping her messy hands out of range like she was a surgeon.
“Everything’s inside,” he said as he straightened. “We can sort it after Last Meal. Oh, and Fritz wants to come pick up the van, but there’s no need. I can take it back—”
Instant silence, all the way around, to the point where he looked up in alarm. “I’m… sorry?” he hedged.
While Lyric tried to find the right words, Qhuinn spoke into the shocked silence. “Listen, son, you’ve been doing great. I mean, really. Taking care of our girl, moving her things—”
Xcor cut in with, “You’re a good sparring partner.”
“Always willing to lend a hand,” Rocke murmured from his spot on the stool. “And you’re a Jets fan, no matter how hard that is.”
“Very respectful,” Layla added. “Lovely manners.”
Blay nodded. “A good listener, too.”
“And we trust you,” Lyric concluded. Which, given the circumstances, was everything.
“Buuuuuuuut…” Dev intoned.
Over at the refrigerator, Qhuinn dipped in and came out with a beer. As he brought the Sam Adams across to Dev, he popped the cap with an opener.
“Here’s the deal.” Her sire handed the bottle over. “There’s one thing you cannot do in our little world, one thing that’s right under treason against the King in terms of the fuck-around-and-find-out. Am I clear?”