Total pages in book: 194
Estimated words: 187754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 939(@200wpm)___ 751(@250wpm)___ 626(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 187754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 939(@200wpm)___ 751(@250wpm)___ 626(@300wpm)
If Kelly showing up here unannounced wasn’t enough to raise our alarms, seeing the eight armed men, who are not his deputies, standing behind him like statues definitely flips our collective switch into defense mode.
It takes me a second longer to realize it’s not just Zeke we’re hellbent on protecting.
It’s Aurelia, too.
The grim-faced men are all dressed in black tactical gear, and I can tell right away that they are professionals.
“Ah! You are home. I was beginning to worry these old ears were failing me.” The sheriff chuckles, but none of us return it as we size up the men behind him and wait to see why the fuck he brought them here. The sheriff picks up on the tension and says, “I’m aware you don’t welcome visitors, but this is important, and it couldn’t wait. Can we come in?”
“You can.”
The less experienced mercenaries shift nervously when I reveal the gun tucked inside my waist while the other half meet my stare head-on.
None of this makes sense. Mercenaries aren’t Isaac’s style. Why pay a premium for professionals when he has brainwashed sheep to die for him for free?
We did our fair share of damage to his flock when we rescued “Zeth,” but this still feels extreme. And if it wasn’t for our unwelcome guests, I’d laugh at how quickly Aurelia’s name for Ezekiel and his most troublesome alter had caught on. I can even guess what she’s calling Zeke and Bane in that fascinating mind of hers.
“You can put that away, son. It won’t be necessary. These men are part of a private security firm and came a long way to speak with you three. Nothing else.”
“Why?” Thorin asks while slipping past me to stand on the front porch.
“Well…” The sheriff looks behind him at the mercenaries, and I know that despite what he claims, they make him uneasy, and I realize why when he says, “They were hired by Marston George.”
“Tell me this is not fucking happening,” I groan as soon as the front door closes behind us. The sheriff and the men Aurelia’s uncle hired had just taken their leave, and now the three of us are frozen in place, wondering how the fuck we’re going to get out of this one.
The sheriff had come all this way to introduce us to the men that will be searching our mountain with a fine toothcomb for Aurelia. He knows it wouldn’t have ended well if we’d come across them ourselves. The mercenaries also came with a hefty offer from Marston George for us to act as their glorified tour guides. We, of course, sent them packing with an offer of our own—to go fuck themselves.
Our hostility toward perfect strangers had baffled the sheriff, but he knew better than to ask us for answers we’d never give.
Nothing worth having is ever easy, and damn if Aurelia isn’t making us work for her in more ways than even she knows.
Thorin fakes a sharp cutting motion across his neck, silencing us, and then he waves us out onto the deck in case Aurelia is eavesdropping from the basement. The moment the upper deck door is closed behind us, he tips back his head and roars, “Fuuuuuuck!”
“I don’t see what the big deal is,” Seth says from his causal lean against the railing. “Let them look around. They won’t find her, and then they’ll be gone in a few days.”
“Marston George has access to his niece’s endless resources. With or without our help, he can hire a hundred teams and drag the search out for years if he wants to, and trust me, he will want.”
“That’s fucking stupid. Does Aurelia’s uncle really think she could have survived out here on her own?”
“No. He definitely thinks she’s dead, but the fucker wants a body to prove it.”
“For what?”
“Because right now, she’s still considered missing,” I tell Seth. “Without proof that his niece is dead, Marston George can’t inherit her fortune. It will be years before she’s declared deceased.”
“And apparently, the greedy bastard couldn’t wait that long.”
Until now, I hadn’t truly thought about what Aurelia was giving up when she chose us. But now the answer is staring me down like a ravenous void ready to consume me with guilt.
Everything.
She’d given up everything. Her life, career, and wealth—even her very existence. The least we can do is give her everything in return—starting with our loyalty and honesty.
“We should tell Aurelia,” I decide.
Thorin snorts, and when I raise my brows at him for acting like a salty bitch, he returns an equally withering look of his own. “You don’t think that scheming wench didn’t already know her uncle would send someone looking for her?”
That gives me pause while needles of apprehension prick at my skin. Great…now I’m as bad as Thorin. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying…what if she’s been lying to us and biding her time? Getting us to think she’s really falling for us so we’d let our guard down.”