Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 72056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
"Hannah," he says. "Thank God you're all right."
Wait... Has hell frozen over? Is my father actually showing concern for my wellbeing?
No, something else is at work here. Something sinister.
"What's going on?" I demand, my voice a cracking whisper. "Where am I?"
"I had to intervene for your safety."
A sharp pain pierces the side of my neck. "What did you drug me with?"
"More than I wanted to. That wolf blood gave you strength I've never seen."
Wolf blood. Rogan. "Is he all right? Rogan?"
My father scoffs. "He's fine. He shifted back when he lost consciousness. Last I saw, he was lying naked behind his resort."
"Great. Just great."
"He'll be taken care of. He has people, as you know. My concern is you."
"Since when—" A fit of coughing overtakes me.
"Easy. Breathe."
I can't breathe when I'm about to upchuck my lungs.
A few seconds later, I get hold of the coughing. I clear my throat. "What the hell did you give me?"
"Nothing that will do any lasting harm, Hannah. You're my daughter."
Right. Whatever. I clear my throat again. "What's going on?"
"Tell me what you've found," he says.
Damn it all. I can't lie to him. "Rogan," I say. "Rogan killed the two vamps. But he—"
"As I suspected."
"But he didn't cut out their hearts, Dad. He swears he didn't."
"I see. And you believe him?"
"I do."
And only now do I realize the truth of my words. The evidence may seem to incriminate him, but I believe him. I believe him because...
I believe him because he told me so. I believe him because he said he killed them to protect me, because they were aligned with demons.
I believe him because...I love him.
Oh. My. God. I love Victor Rogan. I fucking love him.
"I see."
A needle... My father's face goes blurry again. Then—
"No!" he roars. "Don't give her any more!"
Jelly brain again. My father's voice is not quite his own.
"Get out of here, the fucking lot of you!" Then, "Easy, Hannah. Easy. Stay with me."
"I'm with you..."
Except I'm not. Not really. I'm somewhere in ether space, running toward Rogan. Except I can't find him.
Where are you, Rogan? Victor? Where are you?
Then a sharp poke in my neck, and my mind slowly clears.
"I had to give you something to counteract the drug," Dad says.
"What the hell are you dosing me with? Stop it! Stop it right fucking now!"
"It's done. The others are gone."
"The others? The others who thought it was just fine to give me more drugs?"
"They'll be dealt with."
Dealt with. For God's sake...
"What's going on? What happened to Rogan?"
"I don't know. I don't know who shot him—"
"He was shot?" My heart races. No. Please. Not Rogan. Not the man I love.
"He was. Didn't you hear the shot?"
"No, I—"
I was running. Adrenaline—and wolf blood—was surging through my veins. I was running from him. Running from my love, when he needed me. But I turned, I was going to go back...
"They probably used a silencer," Dad says. "You couldn't have heard."
"Is he okay?"
"I haven't heard."
I sit up, and my head goes into jelly again. "I have to go to him. He needs me."
"You're not in any condition to leave here."
"Where are we?"
"At The Wolfe Premiere. I booked a suite."
"So we're still in Vegas."
"Yes. I had no choice but to come.” His brow is furrowed. “Things have gotten worse. The lycans have..."
"Have what? The lycans have what?"
"They've allied with the demon empire, Hannah. With Richard."
I shake my head. No. Just no. Rogan would never do that. Rogan would—
"It's time to choose a side, Hannah," my father says, his dark brown eyes staring into mine.
"A side?" I swallow the lump in my throat.
How can I choose a side? I'm bound by blood to obey the vampire king.
Or am I?
If I'm truly Rogan's mate, has my allegiance changed? Maybe I didn't have to tell my father about Rogan killing the vamps. Maybe I did it out of habit.
I don't voice these questions, though. I simply wait for my father to reply.
And when he does, my jaw drops.
40
We're going to war.
It's time to choose a side, Hannah.
A side?
My jaw. Dropped.
Did I just hear my father right?
"Say it again," I prompt. "I won't believe it until you say it again."
"We're going to war."
Jelly brain. Curse this damned jelly brain!
War? How exactly do we go to war? We live among humans, follow their laws...
Mom? Larissa? How does this affect them?
"Hannah, are you listening to me?"
"Yes, Dad, yes. I just don't understand..."
"Not war in the traditional sense. It will be fought underground."
"Underground?"
"Not literally. We have spaces within spaces. In the supernatural realm."
God, just kill me now. A soft and subtle death. Easy and painless. Please.
But my jaw drops again...and I remember. I remember escaping the demons with Rogan, how we were suddenly somewhere else. He called it a different plane. The ether. Or did I call it that? Doesn't matter. We escaped into a different place altogether. Is this what my father's talking about?