Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 93727 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 469(@200wpm)___ 375(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93727 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 469(@200wpm)___ 375(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
“Thank you,” I replied, finally relaxing a little as Rosemary grudgingly sidled up to me.
“Is Gary inside?”
“Where the hell else would I be?” Rosemary’s dad called.
Dalton chuckled as he moved toward the door.
“We can’t stay here,” I said, stopping him. “Rosemary can’t stay here.”
“Why the hell not?” she interrupted.
“You were abducted here,” I replied slowly. She was clearly intelligent, but if I were guessing, her sense of self-preservation was completely absent. “You’re no longer where they put you. Where do you think they’ll look for you first?”
“Oh.” Her eyes widened a little. “About that…”
“Have you told him nothing?” Dalton asked incredulously.
“I didn’t have time before you and Sunflower here showed up.”
“Stop calling me that,” Ian hissed in embarrassment.
“Inside,” Dalton ordered, gesturing toward the door. “Everyone inside.”
If it had been any other Vampire ordering me around, I would’ve balked, but Dalton had been one of my first team leaders when I joined Vampire Command. I trusted him with my life and, more importantly, with my mate’s.
Setting my hand on Rosemary’s back, I let her hair tangle around my fingers for a moment as I led her inside. As we moved through the door, she leaned slightly into the touch. Well, that was comforting. At least she felt the pull too. I was beginning to wonder.
Mates were hardwired to be drawn to their other half, even when they didn’t want to be. I’d seen it time and again. Even if mates were fighting, even if they couldn’t stand each other, even if it was inconvenient and frustrating, they still gravitated toward each other, pulled by an invisible and nearly unbreakable thread.
Rosemary seemed to be able to ignore that thread for the most part, but the longer I was near her, the tighter I felt that thread pulling. I wanted to get my arms around her. I wanted to pull her onto my lap. I wanted those long legs wrapped around my back. I wanted her hair in my face and trailing down my chest.
“Good to see ya,” Gary announced, snapping me out of my fantasy as he performed some strange handshake with Dalton.
Ian immediately dropped down on the floor, and the dog scrambled onto his lap, panting like he’d just run a mile.
I took a seat next to Rosemary on the sofa. She leaned against the opposite arm and pulled her legs up beside her, tucking her feet under my thigh. Maybe she wasn’t as immune as she was letting on.
Dalton dropped onto one of the chairs. “So what have you told him?”
“Just that you reported that I’d mated one of your sons and they’d picked me up like we’d hoped.”
“You put her in this?” I asked Dalton incredulously. “What the fuck were you thinking?”
“I was thinking that my very human goddaughter didn’t have a mate, and when they figured that out, they’d let her go.”
I laughed humorlessly. “You thought they’d let her go?”
“From all accounts—”
“What accounts?” I asked, cutting him off. “From what we’ve seen, no one has made it out of their little labs. And who the fuck are you working for? Because I’d really like to speak to whoever decided that it was a good idea to send a human woman to those fucking monsters. Are you out of your godsdamn minds?”
The minute my legs tensed so I could rise to my feet, Rosemary moved, crossing the couch to tuck her shoulder into my armpit and her arm around my waist. I wasn’t sure who had taught her the move, but she succeeded in instantly calming me. I nearly let my eyes fall shut as my heart stopped thudding in my ears.
“Why don’t I start at the beginning?” Dalton said.
“Calm down,” Rosemary whispered in my ear. “Flying off the handle isn’t going to get you answers any faster.”
I turned my head until we were nose to nose. “I’m going to tear the head off anyone who thought putting you in danger was an acceptable choice.”
“I was safer than you’re thinking,” she replied, her breath whispering across my lips. “Now, shhh.”
“We started getting reports that Vampires and their mates were disappearing three years ago—”
“Four,” Gary corrected. “Sam came to us four years ago.”
“Right,” Dalton agreed. “We’ve known Sam for years. He works at the local tractor store…” He paused when he caught my dubious expression. “Gary and I own a lot of land. We’re in there more than you’d expect.”
“He said he hadn’t heard from his sister in a few weeks, and he was getting worried. She’d never gone more than a few days without checkin’ in and shootin’ the shit with Sam’s wife,” Gary explained. “His sister’s mated to a Vampire, if you hadn’t figured that out already.”
“We looked into things for him, but there was no trace of the sister or her mate,” Dalton added grimly. “Their house was untouched, cars parked in the driveway. They had no children yet, no pets. It looked as if they’d just left.”