Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 34709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 174(@200wpm)___ 139(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 174(@200wpm)___ 139(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
“Oh, good, because I think Nia actually bought you a sofa set.” Ivy winced. “I might have picked out your dishes.”
Leah threw back her head and laughed. “That is absolutely fine with me. Seriously, I haven’t tried to keep a home for almost nine decades. You all go right ahead.”
“Excellent.” Ivy munched happily on a cookie, straightening. “Hey, there they are.”
Nia and Odette walked out of the forest from the other cabins, hand in hand and laughing about something. The two women were truly stunning. Nia stood to probably a couple of inches over five feet and had gold-flecked brown eyes, a cute smattering of freckles, and a wild mane of coiled black hair. Her delicate bone structure was angled perfectly, and her skin was a dark tawny, kissed by the sun. It was impossible to tell her heritage, but a slight Scottish brogue danced in her tone. Of course, the woman was three thousand years old and had probably lived many places.
In comparison, Jasper’s mother had platinum-blond hair and pale, peach-tinged skin. Her eyes were a deep blue-green, similar to Jasper’s but darker. She stood to about five-foot-six and had been incredibly kind so far.
The women reached them. “We bought you furniture,” Nia said without preamble. “We hope it’s okay.”
Odette’s face scrunched up in a frown as if she was worried about insulting her soon-to-be daughter-in-law.
“Sounds great to me,” Leah said honestly. “Buy all you want.”
“Wonderful.” Nia clapped her hands. “I’m thinking flowers out here.”
Ivy angled her head to look at the grassy area. “Not until spring.”
“Oh, good point,” Nia said. “Anyway, we have a mission.”
Leah perked up. “I’m on a bit of a vacation, but I wouldn’t mind hearing about a mission.”
Nia sat on the stairs on one side, and Odette took the other. “We’re worried about Dax,” Nia said. “He’s almost four hundred years old and hasn’t found his mate. I don’t want to see him get weak and die.”
“It’s such an odd curse,” Leah murmured. “No other immortals have this?”
“Nope. It’s called the Maxwell Curse,” Nia said. “I assume these days we’d say it’s a genetic mutation and not just a deadly hex.”
Odette leaned forward and snagged a pumpkin cookie from the platter. “Nobody understands it, and mating does put us in danger. Now that you’ve fully mated and spent time together, you understand what happens if you and Jasper are separated for any length of time, right?” Her eyes grew serious.
Leah nodded. “I do. We both go insane and die. It sounds crazy. It’s absolute torture.”
“It is, but that’s why you can’t be kidnapped.” Nia almost made that sound like another curse. “I mean, a good kidnapping is fun once in a while, you know?”
Leah shook her head. “Not really, but I’ll do my best not to get kidnapped.”
“There you go.” Odette patted her knee. “What are we going to do about Dax?”
Nia threw up her hands. “I’ve been conducting internet searches all over the world on everybody who submitted their DNA to find out their heritage. I also hacked into hospitals about blood types. I can usually find a marker that shows an enhanced woman, and the special marker for Maxwell mates. I used to travel the world and just get a sense. I have to say, technology has made it a lot easier.”
“And nothing?” Ivy asked.
“No.” Nia glowered.
Odette shook her head sadly. “I can’t lose one of my sons. We have to find her.”
Nia’s phone dinged, and she lifted it to her face. Then, she gasped. “Oh, my God.”
“What?” Odette straightened.
Delight lifted Nia’s lips. “We have her.”
“What do you mean you have her? How can you just have her?” Leah asked. “You can’t just have her—right when we’re talking about it. Things don’t happen like that.”
Nia winked. “They do around me.”
“You’re such a witch,” Odette murmured.
Leah drew back. “No, she isn’t.”
Ivy snorted. “No, she actually is a witch.”
“I see.” Leah’s eyebrows lifted. She hadn’t known that Jasper’s grandmother was a witch. How fascinating. “I’ve heard witches can create plasma fire out of air.”
“Oh, yeah. That’s easy,” Nia said, and a ball of plasma formed on her hand. She threw it up several times and then tossed it to the ground where it fizzled out. “We use an application of quantum physics and scientific applications the humans haven’t figured out. I can probably teach you how. It’s rare, but we think enhanced females are cousins to the witches. We can give it a shot if you want.”
“I would love to make fire out of air,” Leah said, excitement washing through her.
Odette tapped on Nia’s knee. “Back to the subject. You found her?”
“Oh, yes.” Nia looked down. “She is in a place called Fredtown, South Dakota.”
“Who is she?” Leah asked.
“I don’t know. I just have a marker and a name. She was in the hospital for multiple contusions and a stab wound.” Nia straightened. “It looks like Dax’s mate might be in danger.”