Total pages in book: 218
Estimated words: 209489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1047(@200wpm)___ 838(@250wpm)___ 698(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 209489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1047(@200wpm)___ 838(@250wpm)___ 698(@300wpm)
My whole body stiffened.
The hand on my hip moved to my back, and Alex gave it a long stroke upward, right along my spine.
“Umm,” I stuttered, already feeling like a chicken.
“With the right people, they might be able to help put cartel members away,” she said gently.
Oh, I knew that.
“She’d be putting her life at risk, hoping someone won’t sell her out,” Alex said, stiffly. “She’d have to have someone she can trust involved to make sure something wouldn’t happen to her.”
I reached down blindly and found his hand. I covered it with mine. “I… I’ve always thought hiding was the best option I had. My grandpa used to say that they would never quit looking for us even if they got their money back. When we were in the cell, they told me that my cousin had given them the information they needed to find me. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but if it is… if I can’t trust a family member I’ve never met, it’s hard for me to believe that there’s someone who’s never met me before, who doesn’t have any loyalty toward me, that wouldn’t sell me out for money. That was what that woman told me.
“I know I have to sound like a coward for not being willing to put myself at risk like that but…” I opened my mouth and closed it. “I can think about it. I don’t want what’s happened to me to happen to anyone else. But I’m scared to be a martyr.” My voice got shaky, and I swallowed hard. “I’ll think about it.”
Of course she would think about others. She would never hide. She’d never run.
Me, on the other hand….
The hand on my back went up, all the way up between my shoulder blades, before sliding back down.
“Gracie will do it when she’s ready,” Alex said.
I couldn’t help but peek at him over my shoulder, earning myself a serious nod from him like he really believed that one day I’d get there.
But his words must have been enough, because out of the corner of my eye, I saw both The Primordial—Alana—and Robert nod, something funny on their faces.
She changed the subject immediately. “Lexi, are you back to normal now?”
The leg under me tensed harder than fucking ever, and it was only because I was looking at Robert that I saw the confusion come over his features.
I guess the lack of reply was enough to make her features melt into a concerned expression. Even her voice changed. “You still can’t?” she asked.
She’d asked.
She’d just asked about his flying.
“Oh, Lexi,” she told him gently. “Did you ask Grandmother about it?”
The thigh under me tensed even more, but he didn’t beat around the bush as he said, “I haven’t tried, and I didn’t ask her. I did speak to Grandfather about it the other night. Everything else is almost back to normal.”
Everything else? I knew there had still been something off about him!
You could have cut through the silence with a butter knife. I hadn’t even realized I still had my hand on top of his, and I gave it a pat.
“Let’s try,” she suggested in a voice that reminded me of my grandma from how no-nonsense it was.
I moved my hand and set it on top of Alex’s knee, partially expecting him to whack it off. He didn’t though. He didn’t do or say anything. His leg stayed stiff.
“Might as well get it over with,” she said encouragingly, like she genuinely believed anything was possible. I totally understood how she was his favorite. She really did seem like an angel.
But if she was an angel, it was because her inner brightness had to block out old Grumpy Goose over here.
I squeezed his knee as his leg got even harder, feeling like concrete under my butt.
At my side, his chest expanded in a breath he didn’t need to take; then it deflated in what I knew was resignation.
And to my surprise, when he started to rise, he picked me up and slowly lowered me to my feet. A few fingers brushed against my palm in a gesture that took me about half a second to recognize.
It was my turn to be there for him, like I’d promised when we’d been on the run.
I wrapped my fingers around the three digits closest to me: his pinkie, ring, and middle fingers. I squeezed them tight too.
Was he that worried?
Alana and Robert moved toward the balcony doors, and Alex followed. When I tried to let go, he turned his palm and caught all of mine in his. My hand was a ball inside his as he tugged me along.
I kept my fucking mouth shut as we went through the doors.
I stopped so suddenly, he did too.
Alex glanced at me.
“You’ve said that I saved your life, but you saved mine. You did it without being able to fly. Okay?” I told him, knowing it wasn’t much, but it was something. It was everything to me. “You can be my number 9 best friend regardless of what happens, all right?”