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)
I let his hand go and caught him at the neck again, this time with both of mine, moaning, “Oh, Tanyn.”
“It’s only conjecture now, but we have a theory that somehow my father realized he was being drugged. Or he’d been given it so long, his body was accommodating to metabolize it faster, so the effects of it were wearing off. One thing they do know, the dosage was very high in the end, because they didn’t find traces of it in his system. They found a lot. Whatever the reason, somehow, he’d come to be considered a threat to Arnaud’s reign, actually Tatra’s, and before he could come back to himself, expose Tatra, remove Arnaud from succession, he was eliminated.”
“But…how was your mother a threat?”
He shook his head. “We don’t know that.”
I didn’t want to say it, but it had to be said. However, I figured he already knew it.
“You were the more viable threat, Tanyn.”
“I was.” He focused intensely on me. “I am. And you are.”
“Me?”
“The future queen and mother of the future monarch that would not be Tatra or Tatra’s progeny? Yes.”
Well, shit.
I was going to have to stay protected, maybe not in Berg Castle, but definitely protected, and for Tanyn’s peace of mind, that would have to be in Berg Castle.
Oh yes.
Shit.
“Have you contacted her? What does Tatra have to say about all of this?” I asked.
“Tatra has disappeared from Snowy Ridge. No one knows where she is.”
I let him go and scooted away from him, such was my surprise.
“Are you serious?”
“I am, sweetheart, and”—he hooked me around the waist to pull me close again—“I didn’t trust her. She was being watched. Not imprisoned, but watched. Monitored. Ingoing and outgoing comms. I receive daily reports on what she does, who she sees, who comes to visit. She went to bed last night and was nowhere to be found this morning. And no one saw how she managed to escape.”
“This would infer she knew we’d been warned of the threat,” I stated.
“It infers just that,” he replied.
“So not only is this further evidence she’s either involved, or the ringleader, it indicates she has resources,” I presumed.
“She has to. I didn’t send benchwarmers to look after her. She had undercover Red Watch agents on her detail.”
The Red Watch was Sky’s Edge espionage wing.
“Nothing slips past them. Except Tatra,” he concluded.
“This is dicked up,” I snapped.
“Entirely. Now, half the members of our military, law enforcement and intelligence agencies are looking for her. And there’s a high alert for her in the Center and all the realms.”
“Did Aleksei tell you about Gayle?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yes.”
“Was she threatened too? Have you heard from Cormac?”
“We have. And she wasn’t threatened.”
Really?
“So why did he take her?”
“Because I told him you were. And he knew Laura was. And he’s not taking any chances.”
“But…he told her he doesn’t want her and she should get on with her life,” I bit out.
“Telling her that, and a fae understanding his fated mate might be in danger are two different things,” he replied.
There was a good deal to go over with that.
And I was me.
Hence, I started right in.
“First, he doesn’t get to pick and choose the times he’s going to be her mate,” I stated bitterly.
“I would agree. Aleksei does too. Neither of us were happy about what he did with Gayle. But neither of us wanted to involve ourselves in it.” When I gave him the side eye, he added, “Mostly because it’s none of our business.”
“Well, it’s my business,” I declared.
“It really isn’t, baby,” he said gently.
“You are very wrong,” I shot back.
“Let’s agree to disagree on that,” he muttered.
He had a lot on his mind, so I wasn’t going to push this…for now.
“Okay then, moving on to the second bit about that, even if he has some mately urge to protect her, a dramatic kidnapping isn’t the way to go.” I found my Palm, lifted it and shook it. “I’ve been texting her, so has Laura, she isn’t texting back. He’s obviously cut her off.”
At that, Tanyn pulled out his own Palm, engaged it, and rather than bothering to type something in, he spoke into it, saying, “Send to Mac. You need to let Gayle contact her females. They’re worried. End message, send.”
With that, he tucked his phone back in his pocket.
“Do you think that’s going to work?” I asked.
“Mac is one step up from cavemale. He does what he wants, when he wants, and doesn’t give a shit about what anyone thinks about it.”
Sounded like someone I knew.
Ahem.
“Why wouldn’t he let us talk to her?”
“I’m not Mac, so I have no idea.”
Angrily, I crossed my arms on my chest. “Damn it, when I see that male again, I’m going to give him a piece of my mind.”
“There’s nothing we can do about it. Though, we know she’ll be well provided for. He may have taken her comm units for reasons only Cormac Claymore can comprehend, but she’ll be safe in one of their fortresses, and the Earthsabre Dynasty have never spared expense for luxury in their fortresses.”