Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 126060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Stop, Geno, don’t bring her out here. She has a partner. She’s in communication with him and he’s waiting.
Amaranthe’s voice didn’t portray distress, but Geno wasn’t taking any chances. Salvatore, go. She may need help. I’ll take this one out another way.
Geno turned the woman and shoved her toward the back room. As he did, Salvatore stepped into a shadow to take him outside the front of the store to join Amaranthe.
Amaranthe hissed her displeasure in Geno’s mind. Her partner stepped into a short tube with so many feeders it’s hard to track him quickly. Watch out, Geno. I think he’s coming for you.
He wanted to tell her to stay back, but he knew she wouldn’t listen. Salvatore, do you see him or evidence of his passing? The only thing he could do was try to have his brother keep Amaranthe safe.
Geno forced the woman into the shadow that would take them out the back door onto the small round porch that led to the street behind the boutique. The moment they emerged onto the porch from the shadow portal, his prisoner locked to his front, Geno knew it was too late. He tried to yank the young woman back inside the tube for her safety, but an older man was waiting for them, and he stepped right into her and slammed a knife into her heart.
“To keep you from the horror the monsters would subject you to,” he murmured and stepped into another shadow.
Geno’s first instinct was to try to save her. He knew the effects of the poison, but he couldn’t stop himself from lowering her to the ground. Her eyes were already closing, breath ceasing, heart stopping by the time he had her flat on her back on the porch.
Lucca. She’s down. Dead. I’m going after her killer.
Who’s dead? Lucca demanded, fear in his mind.
The assassin. The woman. Her partner killed her. Geno included Amaranthe and Salvatore in his communication. I made it easy for him. There was disgust in his voice.
He stepped into the same shadow, careful, every sense flaring out in an effort to uncover the male, to see if he had waited for Geno to follow him. He had to know Geno would. He would be thinking in terms of an ambush. He could move much faster because Geno would have to be cautious, always cognizant of the man lying in wait for him.
Geno knew it would only take one slice of that poisoned knife to kill him. The doctor had the antidote, but it would be difficult to find him in the labyrinth of the shadow tubes. Geno knew, because he’d had to find more than one body of a rider to return the remains to the family, and it hadn’t been easy. They’d never find him in time if he were cut with a poisoned blade.
He followed the faint trail made by the male assassin, noting this man was far more experienced than the assassin who had tried to kill Stefano. This one had all the marks of a skilled rider—one who had been using the shadows for a long time and was familiar with the different elements of each feeder tube. He had known the young woman he’d murdered, yet he hadn’t hesitated. In fact, as Geno pulled up the memory to examine it closely, there had been no sign of reluctance or distaste for the task. It hadn’t bothered the man to kill her.
As he moved through the shadow, Geno contemplated that idea. They knew each other, that was for certain. In the brief glimpse he had of the man, Geno might have pegged him for her distant relative, a cousin or uncle. Most likely an uncle. There was no love on his side. He couldn’t tell on hers. He hadn’t been looking at her face. He couldn’t see her expression. He’d read her body language. She had expected a rescue. She’d thought the man was going to shove the knife into Geno, not into her. Why hadn’t he? The chances of getting to Geno were slight, especially with the woman solidly in front of him. Geno would have allowed the woman to escape to fend off the man, and the assassin had to have known that.
Geno came up on several feeder tubes, forcing him to halt and check each one for evidence that the assassin had entered one of them. If the assassin had known Geno would have to release the woman once the knife came at him, why hadn’t he attacked? Geno would have done that to ensure her freedom. Yes, it would put him at risk, but now there would be two of them to take Geno down. It would be much better odds. After all, Geno was the ultimate target, wasn’t he?
The tracks were very faint in a fast feeder tube that looped to his right. Every instinct screamed at him that he was being led into a trap. He’d always trusted his gut. Had the girl been a deliberate sacrifice? Had the murderers known Miranda’s shop was being watched by his family? Had Geno made a mistake? He didn’t think so. It was coincidence that they’d discovered Miranda was under a death threat.