Total pages in book: 254
Estimated words: 240032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1200(@200wpm)___ 960(@250wpm)___ 800(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 240032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1200(@200wpm)___ 960(@250wpm)___ 800(@300wpm)
It felt like I was accepting something. All the parts of me I hadn’t known what to do with, maybe? The parts I had struggled with for half of my life.
I was telling myself, telling the world eventually, that I was this man’s biological niece.
That I was descended from the night—his mother.
That his brother’s death blood ran through my veins—my DNA dad.
That my uncle was an old god of sleep trying to parade through this time in his life under wraps.
I didn’t know without a doubt if this “Isha” was who I thought she was or not, but that part didn’t matter so much.
Not then.
If I wanted Duncan to accept who he was when the time came, how could I not be an example for him?
We could defy the paths that choices others made set up for us.
I could take this man’s hand, or I could shun it all.
There was really only one choice.
I took Franklin’s hand, noting how it felt like every other hand I’d touched, except maybe a little more calloused.
My… uncle’s gaze was steady on me as he said, “There isn’t much I would enjoy more.”
Chapter
Twenty-Four
I yawned as a star shot across the sky.
There had been a lot of them tonight, more than usual, and other than on cloudy days, there were always plenty to admire. Small, thin ones that disappeared almost as quickly as they had appeared, and others were bigger, brighter, leaving a trail behind them that I could admire for seconds. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen so many back-to-back.
I wished Duncan was out here with me, appreciating them as much as I was, but he and Agnes were at Ema’s house. The elder had showed up after dinner with a container full of cookies that she’d handed over with tears in her eyes. She had thanked me for taking care of the children, and I’d learned that she was Pascal’s grandmother.
The elder had invited the kids to her house for a sleepover, which Agnes had immediately agreed to, and my not-a-traitor-but-a-confident-boy had aimed those bright eyes at me, saying, “Yes.”
And that was how I found myself alone, sitting on the steps of my RV under a shower of stars, contemplating a whole lot of stuff.
My past, my present, and my future.
The sound of a car warned me someone was coming before the headlights did. It was late, and everyone who had left for work for the day had been back for hours. There wasn’t a whole lot of entertainment in Lobo Springs after dark, from what I’d heard. There was a bar and a small bowling alley with an arcade, but that was about it.
I didn’t move as the car parked and the headlights turned off a few rows back from where my RV was parked. A door opened and closed before whoever it was walked a bit, then stopped. The walking started again, and I caught a shadow circling around a big red truck next to mine, and… it was a man, and he was coming my way.
It was one of the guys I’d seen in the kitchen weeks ago. Green Eyes, as I’d called him in my notes for obvious reasons.
“You good?” the startingly good-looking man asked on his way over.
I gave him a little smile and lifted my hand. The worst of the shivers had finally faded a couple hours ago, but I still kept my arms tucked in close to my sides for body warmth. “I’m fine,” I told him, taking him in. He was probably close to Matti’s height and musculature. His skin was about the same shade, but this man’s eyes were emerald green.
He felt like a werewolf.
When he got a few feet away from where I sat, he stopped and gave me a faint smile. I held out my hand. “I’m Nina,” I greeted him.
The man’s smile brightened, his body language surprised. “Keegan.” He took my hand. “I’m not supposed to be talking to you, but I smelled you the second I got out of my car.” He glanced over his shoulder briefly. “Had to come see if you were all right.”
Did I smell the same to him as I did to Henri?
Stop.
It had been hours since we’d split up after he’d driven us back to the clubhouse. Hours since he’d looked me in the eye, touching me so tenderly, and claimed he’d come find me as soon as he could. Since he’d said if the kids had been anyone else….
He had other things to worry about.
“I won’t tell if you don’t tell,” I told him, pushing up to my feet so I wouldn’t have to stare up the whole time.
Keegan, with some of the prettiest green eyes I’d ever seen, smiled even wider. “Too late for that. When I get home, my nana is going to smell you on me. You’re kinda famous around here.”