Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 112416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
“Do we have to go to this party?” Adrian asked in his best whiny voice. “You promised to buy me something shiny.”
“Better.” Vitor exhaled with relief, but Adrian was focused on the way Haru’s eyes widened and his nostrils flared. Old animal-like instincts screamed a warning that his play-acting had awoken a beast that was barely holding his shit together. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to get fucked through the mattress at the first opportunity.
For his own sanity and self-preservation, Adrian pulled away from Haru and walked to a full-length mirror to inspect his appearance. He wore a pair of black pants that looked as if they’d been painted on his body, leaving nothing to the imagination. His black shirt was a super-thin black silk that draped his torso, giving hints of lean muscle. The stubble had been scraped from his chin and cheeks. His face had been treated with all kinds of scrubs and chemicals so that it now had a frightening youthful glow to it that made him seem far younger than his twenty-eight years.
Nearly every bit of bare skin was highlighted with gold jewelry or gems. He wore rings on most of his fingers; bracelets, and earrings covered both ears. Around his neck was a large-link gold chain that hugged his throat like a choker.
Vitor had styled his hair into something he called artfully messy, as if Adrian didn’t give a shit about how he looked. Except for the fact that it had taken close to two hours to get to this state.
Haru walked up behind him, and Adrian suppressed a shudder, but at least he kept his brain working. He was starting to adjust to Haru dressed like this. While Adrian was dressed in black and gold, Haru was nearly his opposite. The dragon wore pristine white slacks and a jacket over a dark wine-red shirt that was open nearly to his navel. He would have thought that the white clothes would have washed out pale skin, but the addition of the wine-colored shirt brought out the soft creaminess of his skin and the faint flush of life in his cheeks.
His jewelry was kept to a minimum, with a gold cuff on his right wrist and a thin gold chain hanging from his neck that dipped all the way to his sternum. However, his hair glittered in the light from all the gold rings and gemstones threaded within the sleek black locks. More than a dozen individual braids had been woven, and each had rings and gems in the loops, creating an eye-catching display of riches.
Adrian couldn’t recall ever seeing anyone in Erya who looked like this. Haru was exotic, alluring, and so very tempting.
“You have your targets memorized?” Vitor inquired as he rose from the chair he’d been sitting in.
In the forty-eight hours since they’d met up with Vitor, they’d had private shoppers outfit them with an assortment of clothes, moved to a new, expensive hotel, and studied the names, faces, and background details of almost two dozen members of Damardor’s most elite.
“I advise you to spend no more than two hours at this party,” Vitor stated, running through a list of reminders for the hundredth time. “Don’t try to get all the information you seek at the first meeting. Someone will notice. You want them chasing after you. Leave them wanting more.”
“Play hard to get,” Adrian stated.
Haru leaned close and whispered in Adrian’s ear. “You are hard to get.”
“Stay focused,” Vitor ground out, his eyes locked on Haru. “Remain together for the first thirty minutes; then you can go your separate ways. However, always keep your partner within eyesight. You are each other’s only backup.”
That was the scary thing. Vitor had explained that the anti-spying tech in Damardor was next level. There was no way they could risk wearing any kind of recording devices or have some kind of covert communication device that linked them to Vitor and his team. They were on their own.
“Adrian, your persona is clingy and needy. Haru, you are possessive and controlling. Use that. If for any reason you feel like the atmosphere is wrong or your gut is warning you that something is wrong, lean into your persona to find your partner and get out. There’s no finishing your mission if you’re discovered.”
Adrian nodded. It was a good reminder. They weren’t attending a party. They were sneaking into the monster’s lair. If they were very lucky, they would get their first clues as to what was happening to the people stolen from the streets of Bellcairn.
With Vitor posing as their driver, Haru and Adrian were taken to the outskirts of Bellcairn, where some hills rose above the capital. They entered a gated community with its own security force to keep out the unwanted rabble. After ten minutes of winding past palatial homes that seemed as if their only goal was to outshine their immediate neighbors, Vitor pulled up to an interesting glass-and-stone structure that glowed with bright lights and bubbled with music and intoxicated laughter.