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)
I heard Mon’s swift intake of breath.
“Demons don’t have those,” I stated something she knew.
“I know,” she replied. “It’s still…” She looked to Monique, to me, to her wine, back to me. “I don’t know what it is, honey. I don’t even know who to ask about what it is, except maybe a physician.”
I hadn’t thought to question it, just revel in it.
But now I was thinking…
“Do you mind if I tell Tanyn about this?” I asked.
“I need to ask Aleksei, so do you mind if I tell Aleksei about you two?”
“I think you’re both going to have to just share,” Monique entered the conversation. “She can’t ask Tanyn without spilling about Aleksei, and vice versa. And you guys need to ask, because something is up with all of this.” She threw out a hand to indicate Laura and me. “Along with Gayle and Prince Cormac, there’s something deeper at play, even, it would seem, mystically.”
It would seem.
“And now Gayle is going to be holoing in about thirty seconds so top up,” Monique concluded.
We all just managed to top up before the bleeps sounded that shared Gayle was comming.
I accepted the holo, and she appeared, curled up in a rather attractive armchair.
She also looked good, even if she was partially transparent and had a greenish tinge to her. Perhaps not rested, her eyes appeared tired, but she had a cute outfit on, and it was one I’d never seen her wear before, and she certainly seemed chilled out and comfortable in that armchair.
“Oh my gods!” she exclaimed. “I’m so happy to see you guys!”
“And we’re happy to see you,” Laura replied. “You look…good.”
“You look like you’re not sleeping,” Monique filled in what Laura’s hesitation was about.
“That’s because I’m not sleeping all that great,” Gayle confirmed.
“Tell us what’s been happening,” I urged.
Gayle shrugged, reached for her own wineglass, took a sip, then said, “Nothing.”
We were all silent for a long beat before Laura broke it.
“Nothing?”
“I’m here, at the Fleur de Flora Fortress, which is, by the way, absolutely gorgeous. I have the run of the castle, the gardens, the grounds. I can order whatever I want to eat, and they serve it. I have access to a lapcomp, my Palm, my tablet, so I can work and even holo in for meetings. That said, all incoming and outgoing comms are blocked except work, Mom and Dad, and you guys. And I see no one but staff.”
Her comms were blocked?
And she saw no one?
“Blocked?” Laura had my question.
“Yes,” Gayle verified.
I got down to the meat of the matter (or the meat to me).
“Is that a new outfit?”
Was the holo glitching or was she blushing? “They only grabbed me. They did it when I was at work. They didn’t give me time to pack. So there was an entire wardrobe waiting for me when I got here.”
Monique, Laura and I stole glances at each other because…
What?
Again, Laura voiced it.
“I thought he kidnapped you on the spur of the moment due to the threat.”
“He did,” Gayle said.
“So how was he ready for you with a whole wardrobe?” I asked.
She peered down at herself not only to indicate her clothes, but where she was sitting, which was not in my living room in Nocturn, before looking between us. “When Prince Cormac wants something done, it gets done. And he doesn’t mess around doing it.”
Obviously, that was true.
Equally obviously, he had good taste in clothes.
The thing was, they suited Gayle completely. They were her style, except higher quality. Gayle didn’t do badly for herself, but not so good she could be wearing a lightweight cashmere sweater I knew for a fact was from this season’s look book of the House of Giandra, the foremost designer of knitwear, maybe in all twenty realms.
Though, bottom line, they were her style. Something she’d choose herself.
But he chose them for her.
Like he knew her.
Or had been watching her.
“Have you…spoken to Sirk?” Monique queried hesitantly.
“I have not. But Cormac has,” Gayle told us.
“He has?” Laura asked, and she sounded surprised, as she would, considering Sirk was tight with Aleksei. And my guess, Sirk shared with Aleksei, and Aleksei told Laura everything.
“I don’t know what was said. I just know he ‘had words,’ which was how he explained it, and Sirk is aware that Cormac is assuming responsibility for my safety.”
We all took a moment to digest this, and Laura broke it again to mutter, “I’ll talk to Aleksei about that.”
“You see just staff?” I asked.
Her face twisted angrily. “Although Cormac lives here, this is his fortress, I rarely see him. Though, he prowls through occasionally to inform me the threat is still real, and I’m not leaving until he’s assured it is not.”
“So…essentially…you’re prisoner?” I queried carefully.
“Yes. Absolutely, yes. There’s no ‘essentially’ about it. I am prisoner,” Gayle stated firmly.
My blood started heating.