Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 65310 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65310 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
The neighborhood we were in was more of a residential district rather than a commercialized area. The testing center was situated in a remodeled house.
Backup! I ordered.
On it.
That was Declan. Always on his game.
Although I couldn’t see him, I knew he was there.
I knew he was fifteen feet over my head just like I knew I was wearing a watch.
Declan and I were one; I knew he would have my back just as I would have his.
I’d hung back slightly, leaving a little bit of distance between them and me.
And when they turned the corner into a small park and I saw Father Joseph, I about shit myself.
Derek had been visiting with the leader of the Alaskan heart, Josiah Jones, upon my request, when the sanctuary that occupied that particular heart of the Meridian was set upon by Purists.
We’d only had four eyewitness accounts as to what happened, and every one of them had Father Joseph in their stories. Described down to the fuckin’ mole on the left corner of his lip, and the scar that curled around his right eye.
And I was scared shitless.
For Blythe and our child.
Did they know Father Joseph? Why would Father Joseph be meeting them?
It seems I was right to have a bad feeling.
***
Blythe
“Please, please, please?” Brooklyn pleaded, clutching her hands together like she was begging for her life.
I sighed.
Brooklyn had finished her test over an hour before me, so I was completely surprised to see her outside waiting for me to finish.
Once I stepped over the threshold, she started begging for me to go meet with her Uncle Joseph because he had some news that I ‘just had to hear.’
“It’s a matter of life or death, Blythe. I would never put you in jeopardy. I’m only looking out for your well-being, I promise!” Brooklyn continued to plead.
“Fine,” I sighed, knowing that it wouldn’t be that big of a deal.
Keifer was outside, after all. Even if he was acting like he wasn’t.
He was acting as if I was a piece of fine glass that would break in his hands at any moment.
I was pregnant, for Christ’s sake, not an invalid.
But whatever.
If it made him feel better to sit outside the testing center for four hours, he could go for it.
“Come on,” Brooklyn ordered, snatching my hand and hustling us outside.
My eyes immediately scanned for Keifer without being obvious.
I found him almost instantly the moment I stepped out the door and hurried along with Brooklyn.
Follow me, I told him.
He didn’t reply back, but I knew he’d heard me.
The minutest of nods graced the tilt of his head as we passed him.
Brooklyn hadn’t seen him, which I was sure was a good thing.
I had a feeling this thing with her uncle had to do with Keifer, and if she knew Keifer was here, she might change her mind about what her uncle had to say.
“What’s going on, Brooklyn?” I asked her.
She looked at me worriedly, and then turned back to the path that led to a small park just beyond the parking lot we were in.
“My uncle, he wanted me to tell you that he really needed to talk to you. He said he wanted you to meet someone,” she whispered as we cleared the trees.
I saw Father Joseph sitting on the edge of a picnic table.
He was alone, but I could sense he wasn’t truly ‘alone.’
I could tell I wasn’t truly ‘alone’ either.
Declan was somewhere above me, and Keifer was at my back about twenty yards into the trees.
I could also sense others coming our way.
Many others.
Something I’ve been able to tell the moment I’d connected with all of them that night a month ago.
“Ahh, Brooklyn, Blythe. I hope the tests went well?” He asked with a smile.
Brooklyn smiled. “Very well, Father Joseph. Very well.”
Father Joseph smiled. “Good, good. Blythe, my dear. And how are you doing?”
I resisted the urge to curl my lip at him.
I’d never really liked Father Joseph.
I couldn’t get over the fact that Brooklyn’s entire family had disowned her, and although Father Joseph hadn’t been a real part of it, he’d not treated her well either.
I only saw him on the rare occasion when Brooklyn and I ran into him at certain events for school.
“Father Joseph,” I said, smiling partially.
He grinned, reminding me of one of those Cheshire cats that grinned when they were about to bring the world down on your head.
“So, Brookie here tells me you’re dating a dragon rider,” he got right down to the specifics.
I nodded, not saying anything.
I didn’t want him to know anything.
Why was it his business who I was dating or mated to?
Although, Brooklyn still didn’t know I was mated to Keifer.
She only knew that I was seeing him.
“Do you know the story of the dragon riders?” He broached the subject carefully.
I squinted, but again, nodded.