Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 165618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 662(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 165618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 662(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
“We’re best buds,” Nayden returned.
“Same thing,” I fired back.
“There are lines you don’t cross if you have a dick. Calling a friend a ‘bestie’ is one of them,” Nayden educated me.
“Gods, you are so male,” I retorted.
“Precisely,” he said.
I rolled my eyes.
However, I did this because I had to concede the point.
Tanyn chuckled.
Hurley wandered in from wherever he’d been sharpening his teeth.
I knew this had been his mission because he had a sloppy, damp rawhide hanging out of his mouth.
Mm-hmm, as previously mentioned, before we came down, I’d prepared for Hurley to be with us there too. My mom had seen to it that he had a whole crate of new toys to play with when we were in Hurley’s new mommy’s flat.
Before I could turn my attention to my tablet, Tanyn slapped his lapcomp closed, and sliding it in his bag, he asked, “Are we ready to roll?”
Since we were, I decided to peruse that picture I saw on the bigger display of my tablet when we were in the jet.
However, I got distracted by getting to the jet, seeing to it we had Aleece, Laura and Gayle’s cases stored in the hold, settling in with Tanyn, Nayden and Hurley and taking off.
It wasn’t until after we broke the sound barrier that I remembered.
I pulled out my tablet and Palm, which was still on the account that had posted the pic.
I found the pic on the tablet and studied it.
“My beautiful Catla,” Tanyn murmured from beside me.
I turned to him.
“Don’t you get lost in that shit too,” he advised gently.
“I’m not lost in it. I was admiring how great we look together.”
Tanyn’s attention shifted to my tablet, and his humming approval of “Mm…” avoided all the other usual places—scalp, nipples, heart—and dragged right over my clit.
I allowed myself to enjoy that for brief moment, then stayed on target.
“But, do you know what this is?” I asked.
Because, yes, on the bigger display, I could see what caught my eye.
The background of the pic of us was indeed out of focus.
But there was a space that was something else.
It was like a shimmer.
Tanyn studied the display. “What am I looking at?”
“This,” I pointed. Then I enlarged the pic so that weird stationary flicker was even bigger. “Do you see it?”
“A glitch in the pixels?” he asked, still studying the image.
“Maybe,” I mumbled. “But I’ve never seen anything like it.”
When Tanyn moved his attention to me, I explained.
“I’ve studied photography. I know artists who manipulate their pics in a variety of ways. But this isn’t a piece of art. A member of the media snapping shots for society panes wouldn’t manipulate the photo outside contrast, touch ups, so you could see their subjects better.”
“Maybe there was a smudge on the lens,” Tanyn suggested.
That might explain it.
I looked back down at the snap.
“If it’s troubling you, sweetheart,” Tanyn said. “I’ll have someone examine that.”
“I think I’m just overreacting,” I said, shutting the tablet down and sliding it back into my tote. “I felt something strange last night too. My demon instincts suddenly rose up out of nowhere and without reason.”
I felt the acuteness of Nayden’s attention even as I watched Tanyn’s shift to the same thing.
“Your demon came up?” Tanyn asked quietly.
I shrugged. “It was nothing. I had a good look around. No one else sensed anything. And Estra was right beside me. If it was something, she would have felt it too.”
“Let me see that pic,” Nayden ordered.
He was already crossing the space toward where Tanyn and I were sitting.
I pulled out the tablet, engaged it and handed it to him.
He stared at it a long time.
“Any ideas?” I eventually asked.
He handed my unit back to me but said to Tanyn, “I’m having that analyzed.”
“Obliged,” Tanyn grunted.
Nayden returned to his seat and got on his Palm, but one could say the vibe in the cabin of the jet was now way off.
“I don’t want to freak anyone out,” I told Tanyn. “I think I’m just being sensitive.”
“We’re operating on the better safe than sorry rule, baby.”
I could see that. I even championed it.
And because of that, maybe I should have said something about last night.
“I should have told you when I felt it,” I admitted.
His face softened, and he replied, “Catty, last night, there were twenty-five dragon sentries, fifty defense bots, ten undercover RS agents along with the full details of all the royals, which is another forty agents. Adding to that, my detail, your detail, Bain’s detail, and Cormac’s, which was another thirty. That wasn’t it. We had two squadrons of the Fallian army at the ready in a holding area. There were three sub-vessels under the sea, patrolling the perimeter of the island, two stealth craft patrolling the sky, and an entire wing of fighters at the ready to launch at any sign of trouble. What I’m saying is, not only would it be practically impossible for anyone to get through to join the party, if there was an attack, it would be thwarted with ease. We were in no danger.”