Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
“It’s true, I am the Mouthpiece of the Goddess,” the blonde female said. “But—”
“But she’s also the daughter of my Kin—what the humans would call my cousin,” Sylvan finished for her. “My little cousin—Nadiah.” There was humor and affection in his voice as he claimed the kinship ties.
“I’ve just come for the Christmas Eve celebration,” the female said. “But I think I’m needed here first.” She motioned to Grath. “Please—come back inside my shuttle and tell me everything.”
Grath looked at her, stricken.
“But…but surely my problems are too small for someone of your status to pay attention to, my Lady,” he stammered.
“Of course they aren’t,” Nadiah chided gently. “Just as none of the problems of her children are too small or inconsequential for the Goddess to pay attention to. She loves all her children, you know, Protector and she cares about every detail of their lives. Come—let’s sit in the food prep area and have a hot drink and talk.”
“Should I wait for you outside?” Commander Sylvan asked respectfully.
But Nadiah shook her head.
“You come in as well. We might need your perspective.”
And she turned and went back into the long-range shuttle, leaving Grath no choice but to follow her.
THIRTY-NINE
MATTIE
Riding in the trunk was bumpy and rough, especially after the car she was in appeared to be leaving the regular roads and going somewhere into the woods.
Mattie knew this, not because she could see what was going on, but because she could hear the people in the front of the car talking. There was a little hole in the front of the trunk—not big enough to stick her hand through or do anything useful—but big enough for her to hear the conversation going on.
“So now that you have little Fatty-Mattie, what are you going to do with her? Can’t believe we found her just walking along the side of the road! Guess that big Kindred boyfriend of hers must have dumped her right after the engagement.”
This sneering voice clearly belonged to Amanda Hutchinson and Mattie remembered who she’d seen her at the ball with. Sure enough, the next voice confirmed her fears.
“Oh, I thought I might take her on a little ride to a special place I have in the woods,” Luke Hartsford said. “It’s a nice little hunting lodge my father built when he was younger—you want to see it?”
No! Mattie wanted to shout. Nobody wants to see it! We need to get out of here!
She had a strong sense that she was heading into danger but she was afraid if she shouted, they would stop talking and she might miss a clue as to where the hunting lodge was located.
“A cabin in the woods, huh? My, my—you always were the mysterious one, even back in high school,” Amanda purred. Clearly she didn’t have the same concerns that Mattie did. “It sounds so romantic.”
“Oh, it is,” Luke assured her. “You’ll love it—it’s a great little place.”
“Let’s go see it, then,” Amanda decided.
No, no, no! Mattie thought desperately. Couldn’t Amanda understand? She thought she was safe but Luke was a predator! He was like a Great White Shark which would be happy to eat whatever swam its way. Amanda was putting not only Mattie, but herself in the crosshairs—but she was too stupid and self-important to comprehend that.
“Well, it’s pretty far off the beaten path, so don’t be worried if we take some back roads,” Luke told her. “But this is a good night for it—all this snow. We can do whatever we want and nobody will bother me—I mean, us. Nobody will bother us.”
“Sounds perfect,” Amanda said and Mattie could just imagine her leaning her head on Luke’s shoulder and getting all cozy, unaware of the fate that awaited her.
She didn’t know why she felt so strongly that both she and Amanda were in danger—maybe it was feeling she’d gotten from Luke when she’d met him in the garden. Or maybe hearing from Shonda that he’d preyed on other victims. Whichever it was, she was certain no good could come from being out in his remote cabin in the woods in the middle of a snowstorm where nobody could get to them.
Grath might be able to get to you, whispered a little voice in her head. His Kindred ship could fly through a snowstorm—and remember how he said he could sniff you out, even in a room full of people because your scent called to him?
Yeah, right—like her ex-Protector was liable to come looking for her after she had told him she never wanted to see him again. Mattie pushed the thought resolutely out of her head. There was no help coming from that direction. The only one she could count on here was herself and she might have to be prepared to kill to escape.
The only problem was, she couldn’t find any weapons in the trunk. She did wrap herself in the stack of quilts, which helped to keep her from freezing. Some of them had stiff patches and they all smelled bad, but she tried not to think about that. At least they kept her semi-warm and that was all she was concerned with at the moment.