Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
“Thank you,” I said. “It feels better already.”
He leaned over and removed my other shoe and then he went back to the black cabinet and I watched him order drinks.
There was a ding, so he moved to the tall black cabinet and pulled out two red metal goblets. He passed one to me and put the other to his lips. His face had not lost even a hint of anger.
It tasted like chocolate and brandy. The sensation was a welcome one.
“Th-thank you.”
I had no feeling in my ankle at all. Then, the pillow got hotter. Very hot. Almost too hot.
“It went hot. The pillow thing.”
“It’s supposed to. It’ll alternate between hot, cold, and numbing actions for you, based on what you need. How does it feel?”
“Numb.”
“Good,” he said, and he put the drink to his lips and raked his hand through his dark curly hair, with frustration. I’d bet he was angry his house’s security had been breached. He’d killed someone. Maybe also the guys in the hall, I didn’t know. It was sinking in. Dead people. I had seen a man be killed.
I’d once seen someone die. An old man stepped out into traffic, arms filled with grocery bags, and he got hit by a bus. It had looked intentional and haunted me for a long time.
I shakily had another sip of the chocolate brandy beverage.
The three men emerged from the playhouse, ducking to come out. Well, four men if you counted that two uniformed guys dragged out the dead one that had attacked me. I shivered at the sight.
All eyes were pointed in my direction until the men left the room.
“Zane, a word?” The one who appeared to be in charge asked.
Zane moved back to me and squatted so we were eye level. “I’ll be directly outside that door. Okay?” he asked, cupping my jaw.
“Okay,” I whispered. “Can I have one of those disinfectant wipes?”
He passed it to me with a question in his eyes.
“My hip. He scratched it.”
He flexed his jaw and left.
CHAPTER 8
ZANE
When Zane moved into the hallway, watching the two officers move into the elevator to transport the last of the dead men to the roof, Tithe Nova, the second-to-top ranking officer for the law in the capital region said, “Your father-in-law sent me here as the chief is occupied with the vehicle we just apprehended. There are two women on board. One is already impregnated by one of the rebels. The one who she identified as having married her was taken in. There’s a meeting to determine what should be done about that. We’re accessing your systems to track movement, should you see excessive access activity – I wanted you aware.”
Zane stared with a face of stone at the man while his mind worked over what he knew and what he should do about it.
Her gemstone was now blue. This meant she’d been claimed by that fucker, that Zane hadn’t been fast enough. She was technically married and widowed all within a span of mere moments.
If he admitted this to the authorities, would they take her? That girl had been through a sexual assault when Zane had assured her she was safe.
“Surely, he won’t be allowed to keep her,” Zane said finally.
“There’s an emergency ambassador conference for all regions tomorrow to map out the course of action in these scenarios. It’s really fucking unfortunate that this happened.”
“It’s been a shit show,” Zane snapped.
“I know,” Nova replied, looking frustrated. “We need to do better.”
Both men stared at one another a moment, evidently on the same page about all that was going on.
“There are more ships arriving soon. They need to find a better way to secure the grounds,” Zane muttered. “At the very least.”
“Absolutely. Now, I need your statement, and Zane, I have to tell you, the attacker you killed, his dick was out. There were torn undergarments collected and…”
“I know,” Zane snarled.
“Where were you?” Nova asked.
“My office. There’s a problem with the translator software, causing high frequency noises for the wearers. I was fixing it. It was an emergency, or I’d never have left her alone. My home was locked, and my security system was engaged.”
“Your front door lock was drilled out. They got in that way.”
Zane clenched his jaw. Nova continued.
“So, I need to ask … was she already yours, or did her attacker ---”
“She was already mine,” Zane cut him off.
He needed to lie through his teeth, otherwise risk they’d take Tanya away to some facility as having been married to someone besides Zane. He didn’t know that this was what would happen, but he wasn’t risking it, wasn’t chancing having her carted off while the region’s ambassadors convened.
There were too many things not mapped out, so he couldn’t take the chance that her being mated to a now dead man would eliminate his being entitled to her.