Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 131364 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131364 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
“I can’t even imagine what they’ve been through.” The idea of lowering her shields to test the cave’s protective nature went against her instincts—and those two had been stripped of the choice.
She exhaled. “First, the test.”
Dorian’s presence against her back, his hand on her hip in a silent reminder that she was his mate, part of a pack that had her back. And there, in the corner of her mind, burned Amara’s star.
Her twin. A genius intellect. Total lack of a moral compass.
Not quite so broken these days, but still…damaged enough that she would never be safe to walk the world alone.
It was just as well that she had no wish to be apart from Ashaya.
Clutching at the mate bond for comfort today, Ashaya dropped her telepathic shields in a way she couldn’t ever remember doing consciously. Her body tensed as she waited for the expected noise of the world to hit her.
Nothing. Quiet. No, wait, there, the vague awareness of two unshielded Psy minds…but no onrush of thoughts, no overwhelm.
Ashaya opened her eyes, her mouth dry and heart thudding. “An outside shield,” she said in wonder, hope alive in her heart.
Chapter 47
Adam, we’ve got a severe problem.
—Sophia Russo to Adam Garrett (today)
The next time Eleri woke, she was alone in the tent but could hear low murmurs outside that told her there were others in the cave. As she rose, her eye caught on a piece of paper taped to the inside of one of the tent’s “doors.”
She smiled and reached out to grab it.
The note was in a strong, sure hand full of generous loops. As generous as Adam’s heart.
2:30 p.m.: Jacques just woke up. Apparently in one hell of a bad mood and out for Hendricks’s blood. Naia says he’s definitely all there. I’m heading up to hug the shit out of him—I’ll stay upside until I’ve cleared clan business that’s built up, but there’ll be a runner posted outside Mirage throughout to run messages back and forth.
Phone signal doesn’t get through.
Eat the food I left you or I’ll put you in my lap and feed you bites like I do Ollie. I’ll see you as soon as I can. Gotta do a flight with the fledglings, too. They’ve been missing our usual sky runs. —Love, Adam
Eleri ran her fingers over his name, over the word “love”. He had such a heart, Adam. And he wasn’t scared to display it. Wasn’t scared to say that he was planning to hug his friend, or that Eleri’s health mattered to him.
“Love, Eleri,” she said, sounding out how it would be if she signed off her notes the same.
Smiling at the thought of writing just that soon, she put the note aside and, after pulling on the sneakers someone had sourced for her foot size, decided to head out and see what the clan had done about sanitary facilities. There had to be something—they were too smart not to have thought of it.
Saoirse was crouched down, a handheld sensor pressed to the wall closest to the entrance, but turned at Eleri’s exit. Waving, her smile huge, she pointed to the back of the cave and the tall black box that had appeared there.
The sound of rushing water got louder the closer she got to it.
When Eleri opened the door to the box, it proved deeper than it looked and contained a compact but complete self-contained sanitary unit, including a radiant “shower” that most people eschewed but that came in useful in exactly these types of conditions. She’d heard they were popular with archaeologists and others who went to remote areas.
Eleri decided to take advantage of it after she’d used the other facilities, and went back to the tent to grab a set of fresh clothes she’d seen inside. Once back in the unit, she stripped, then stood in the center of the narrow stall—it’d be a tight fit for Bram—and switched on the shower. Light scythed out, warm but not hot, and while she knew it was divesting her of dirt, she’d much rather have stood under falling water.
Even Psy had never managed to convert to these.
The cycle complete, she dressed, then took her dirty clothes back with her to place in a laundry bag that had been left with the clean clothes. Feeling more herself, despite the fact that she wasn’t wearing a suit but stretchy pants of black and a soft gray sweatshirt, her hair loose around her shoulders, she drank a full bottle of nutrients before wandering over to Saoirse.
“It’s good to see you up and awake.” Adam’s sister rose to her feet, her face aglow.
“Thank you for what you’re doing.” Eleri didn’t know the purpose of the device in Saoirse’s hand, but she could see the bags under the other woman’s eyes, the tension in her jaw.