Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 132437 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 662(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 441(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132437 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 662(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 441(@300wpm)
“Well,” the male continued, “the bodies have been removed from the scene, and now a bunch of us are going out to find the two who were abducted—”
V cut through the word salad he wasn’t tracking. “Is Allhan alive?”
There was a pause of confusion. “Um, yes?”
“Is he okay?”
“No offense, I think you’d be a better judge of that? I mean, he was pretty composed when we showed up in the alley, but shock’ll do that to a male. Haven’t you been getting the texts?”
“Would I be asking these fucking questions if I’d—”
Jane cut in smoothly. “No, we haven’t. We’ve been dealing with a situation on our end.”
“Okay, well, there was a lesser attack downtown, outside of Bathe. Allhan found the bodies.”
Closing his eyes, V thought it was funny how he still didn’t know who the fuck was talking. The cadence and tone registered as very familiar, but he couldn’t have identified who’d called if there was a gun to his head. But at least he could translate the words.
And Allhan was alive.
Vishous shuffled his legs so they hung off the mattress and Jane didn’t stop him.
Why the hell hadn’t Al called home?
“Where’s my phone,” he asked her.
“Your jacket.” She cursed. “Which is in the mobile surgery unit along with the clothes we cut off you.”
Fuck the phone, then. “Where’s he now?” he asked the caller.
There was another pause. And then the mystery male said, “He told us he was going home when he left? I thought… he was with you.”
CHAPTER TEN
Down on the shores of the Hudson River, in the clearing in the public forest, the bullet from the female’s old-fashioned gun sailed by Allhan’s left ear close enough to clip it. And as a little stinging sensation and a warm, wet feeling registered on the side of his neck, he smiled even though she still had the weapon up and pointed at him.
And undoubtedly had another bullet in that chamber.
Across the snowy ground, his shooter was shaking her head. “Are you fucking crazy?”
Allhan glanced down at himself as he considered the question. Shifted his weight back and forth a couple of times. Shrugged.
“No? At least, I… I don’t think I’m crazy.” He frowned. “Would I know, though? I’m not sure whether you should ask a person if they’re insane. There’s an inherent conflict of interest in any response that comes back at you, and a high potential for self-delusion, especially if it turns out they are.”
She blinked. “What… the fuck are you saying?”
Reaching up, he ran his fingers over his ear and then checked to see how much blood was on them. Not a lot. “Is this what it feels like to get a piercing? I don’t have any piercings. No tattoos, either. But then I don’t like needles. I’m also just through my transition so I wouldn’t have gotten them before that anyway. Do you have pierced ears?”
The gun slowly lowered. “I don’t know.”
“Whether you’ve had your ears done?”
“No. I’ve never been shot in the lobe before so I can’t make the comparison.”
“So you do have pierced ears—”
“Can you… can you stop talking—”
“You have incredibly good aim.” He tilted his head. “Unless you were going for my frontal lobe instead of my earlobe. In which case, close, but no cigar.” He winced at the reference, thinking back to the males and where they’d been headed. “And yeah, sure. I can be quiet. I usually am, actually.”
The female stared at him for a moment. “Are you okay?”
Sadness swamped his fascination with her, sinking him back down into his reality. “Do you want the real answer to that.”
As he felt her eyes on him, he wanted her to take that hood down.
“You know… even though I shouldn’t, I think I do,” she muttered.
“Bad night,” he whispered roughly. “Very bad. You shooting me is the least of it, which is saying something.”
When she exhaled, her breath drifted toward him and he tried to be surreptitious as he inhaled it. When his whole body flushed, he knew it was because a little of her was inside of him.
“Why are you looking at me like that,” she said.
“I can’t see your face.” He made a circle around his own head. “On account of the hood.”
When she didn’t move or reply, he prompted, “How am I looking at you?”
“As if you know me.”
“That’s not quite it, actually.” His voice deepened. “It’s more that I feel like… I found you.”
From out of nowhere, a rhythmic sound vibrated through the night, and they both turned toward the view of the skyscrapers and looked up. Off to the south, a helicopter approached at a fast clip, its spotlight beaming down and sweeping from side to side over the snowed-up landscape.
“Any chance that’s for you?” he asked.
“No. None.”
“Well, it’s heading right for us. Might be a good idea to back into the trees. Maybe they’re just riding the course of the river, but what if you were not quite as discreet as you think you were. I’m telling you, security cameras are everywhere—”