Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 165618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 662(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 165618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 662(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
And I was as high maintenance as they came.
“I need choice. I have a certain aesthetic I like to maintain. And winter clothes take up a lot of room,” I explained.
Tanyn chose not to reply and instead left me to go and address the pilot, who was engaged in loading the stuff up in Tanyn’s waiting craft.
I looked down at the dog.
He looked up at me.
“So, you must be Hurley,” I said.
At the sound of his name, his hind end came up so he could wag his tail more vigorously, he licked his chops, and it seemed his smile got bigger.
I crouched beside him and held out a gloved hand.
He sniffed it, then launched his happy-puppy furry bulk at me.
I chuckled and held him off from knocking me over with his exuberance and ruining my makeup with his tongue at the same time I pet him.
“Nice to meet you too.”
“Let’s fly,” Tanyn bid.
I looked up to see him towering over us, his gaze moving from me to his dog and back to me.
I straightened and called, “Thank you!” to the pilot who was re-entering the jet.
He waved his reply.
I moved to the craft that looked like a modified Utilisport. It was painted white. It was much bigger than your average Utilisport. And it had a vague appearance of being a military vehicle rather than a civilian one.
Tanyn didn’t open my door for me. I had to touch the button so it would swing open.
I then hauled myself into the cab, only to be sharing the front with Tanyn and Hurley.
He’d left it on and it was warm in there, which was welcome, and since the craft was large, there was room for the three of us.
However, I’d never shared the front of a craft with a dog.
Hurley panted excitedly at the skyscreen.
Tanyn sent us swooping up a snow-covered path that wound around the plateau to the citadel, one side (my side) nothing but an increasingly steep fall.
We heard the jet take flight and that was when I asked, “Are we the only breathing beings on this island now?”
“No,” Tanyn answered. “Mangold and Zyra are here, because they live here. There’s also a crew of seven Red Grenadiers along with the two serving bots and twenty defense bots.”
Of course, he’d have security too.
Heavy security.
“Are they staying at the citadel?” I inquired.
“No. I had barracks constructed for them at the base of the plateau.”
So, during our compatibility trial, I wouldn’t be eating breakfast with seven Red Grenadiers.
The Grenadiers were the elite squads in Sky’s Edge army. They were renowned. Hence, I was a little disappointed about that.
At this point, we swooped into an open area behind the citadel and stopped. This area, from what I could tell in the dark, was the only open space to be had up there, considering the building was built to the very edges of the plateau.
And I saw a male and female come out a door.
He was burly, had a thick head of steel-gray hair, an even thicker beard and was only wearing a sweater, jeans and boots. No hat. No coat. No gloves. He had demon black eyes, but at the present time they had an inquisitive sparkle, and they were on me.
She was slender, tall, attractive and wearing much the same thing. Her hair was a rich auburn, thick and shining, her eyes were tawny, and yes, inquisitive (further, also on me).
Tanyn angled out, Hurley jumped down behind him, and I let myself out.
I followed him to where he stopped to stand with the beings.
“Manny, Zyr, this is Catla, my fiancée,” Tanyn introduced.
They bobbed and Zyra murmured, “Milady.”
“I’m not—”
I didn’t finish because Tanyn interrupted me.
“Supplies and Catla’s cases are in the back of the Armored. Can you see to them?”
“Of course,” Mangold agreed.
“Welcome to Sigil,” Zyra said to me.
“I’d say thank you, but I’m too busy worrying about the three of you not wearing hats,” I replied on a smile, and I didn’t stop there. “My nostrils are frozen.”
Zyra and Mangold chuckled heartily.
“You get used to it, lass,” Mangold informed me.
“How long have you lived here?” I asked.
“Some thirty-odd years,” Mangold answered.
I nodded. “Makes sense it would take that long.”
They laughed again, and for some bizarre reason, they appeared relieved.
“Shall we get you inside?” Tanyn suggested.
Out in that cold, inside sounded good to me.
With a smile to Mangold and Zyra, I trailed Tanyn in, and Tanyn was following Hurley, who led our pack.
It was difficult to take anything in, since it was so dark everywhere and my eyes hadn’t adjusted, but to my surprise, the hallways were narrow, so in order not to run into anything, I kept my gaze on Tanyn’s back.
Finally, we came into a lit room, one I recognized from his comm yesterday.
In person, I saw the room was not large at all, even if the fireplace, which had a cheerfully roaring fire in it, was. There was a lot of comfortable, attractive, but very lived-in furniture and so many throws, no matter where you chose to sit, you didn’t have to reach far to grab one.