Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 109033 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109033 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Six p.m., she echoed.
His psyche lightly bumped hers, and then he was gone.
She refocused on her anchor. “I thought you said you went to a house party.”
His brows dipped. “I did.”
“Really? Because Luka just told me that Iain’s home went up in flames last night.” There was no way he wasn’t responsible.
“Yeah. House party.”
She shook her head. “Unbelievable.”
“Chill,” said Tobe with an unconcerned flick of his hand. “Belinsky has no reason to connect it to our lair.”
“Common sense ensured that he connected it to our lair.”
“Well, he can’t trace it back to anyone, so he can’t prove whatever he suspects.” Tobe’s expression turned dark. “I still think you letting him into your life is a seriously bad call. But . . . I thought on what Lachlan said. He’s right. You don’t have to defend your choices to me or anyone else. So I won’t go confronting Belinsky or anything. I reserve the right to be disapproving and moody about you sleeping with him, though.”
Feeling her lips twitch, Naomi dumped her empty bottle in the trash can. “Very mature of you.”
He grunted. “You’ve got enough problems in your life right now; you don’t need me adding to them. And Jolene made a good point—opposing Luka will only create holes in your security. No way would I ever be down with that. Especially now, when you have not only Iain but those damn clerics targeting you.”
“Speaking of Iain . . . Luka just informed me that he’s keeping the guy locked up until my song no longer has him in its clutches.”
Tobe’s head twitched to the side. “Really?”
“Yup. Not even under the strain of whatever torture session Luka and Belial put him through did he drop the whole ‘I love Naomi’ thing.”
Her anchor winced. “That’s bad.”
“I know. And it’s why Luka doesn’t trust that he will stay away from me. Hence his decision to keep him detained.”
“It’s the right decision. I approve,” Tobe added grudgingly, clearly annoyed that he agreed with any decision that Luka made.
“It’s just a shame it had to go this far,” she said with a sigh.
“Now all we have to deal with is the clerics. I don’t think it’ll be too hard to remove them from the picture. Even with a dark practitioner’s aid, what’s the worst they can do?”
Famous last words.
CHAPTER NINE
“Okay, I change my vote—I’m pro Luka moving into our compound,” Darko told Ella.
Ghost raised a hand. “Yeah, same here.”
Luka frowned at the two fallen angels lounging on the sofa of his den. “Vote?” he repeated, confused.
“Blackjack suggested it first,” Ghost explained. “Some were up for it, some were against it. I was on the fence. At this point, I’m all in.”
No less confused, Luka exchanged a look with each of his bodyguards, who were standing at the back of the room. Their expressions were a mixture of baffled and amused.
Every member of the Black Saints MC club appeared tough as fuck, but they were also a little on the crazy side. How Ella happily lived among them, Luka had no clue. “I’m not even going to ask what this is about.” He figured it was best not knowing.
Darko’s brows slid together. “It’s not obvious?” He spared a look at the infant in Luka’s arms. “Whenever you hold her, she conks out. And she stays like that.”
“So?”
Exhaustion fell over Ghost’s face. “So Lilibeth is like that kid from The Ring. She doesn’t sleep.”
“She does,” Ella cut in from the armchair opposite Luka’s. “It’s just that she sleeps in small bursts throughout the day. A few minutes here and there. Which we don’t really understand, because it’s not normal.”
Was there a “normal” for a baby who was a product of a demon and a fallen archangel? The president of the Black Saints MC club hadn’t confirmed the rumor that he’d once been one of the infamous seven archangels, but Luka deeply suspected it was true.
“All her health checks have come back just fine, so it doesn’t negatively affect her,” Ella added.
“But the rest of us?” Ghost let out a pained sigh. “We’re fucking tired.”
His eyes on Luka, Darko raised a placatory hand. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I can’t work out why she’s so relaxed around you.”
Luka peered down at Lilibeth. With her mop of short dark hair, chubby cheeks, and eyes blue as diamonds, she was cute as fuck. “I’m a little surprised by it myself.” He wasn’t what anyone would call soothing.
Just ask Iain.
Six days he’d been in Luka’s vault now. Six days during which he’d been . . . pressured to face reality. But the psi-demon’s mental state still showed no signs of improvement. Something that didn’t bother Belial in the least, because it meant that the entity got to play with him more. Abraxas and Dagon, however, were as frustrated as Luka with Iain’s seeming determination to cling tight to his delusions.