Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 140965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 705(@200wpm)___ 564(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 705(@200wpm)___ 564(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
“I love you both so much,” Shylah said. “Please be happy. For me, be happy.” She turned away from the computer, backed away and hurried out of the room.
Draden hurriedly sent the files to Trap. “I’ll try to contact you tomorrow around the same time. Keep an eye out because if I can, it will be sooner.”
“Done,” Trap said. “We’re on this, Draden.”
He counted on that.
6
Shylah was so embarrassed that she’d fallen apart. She hadn’t realized how emotional she’d be when she actually saw Zara and Bellisia. They both were in tears, neither even trying to stop the emotions, although the tears just ran silently down their faces. Maybe they weren’t even aware of it. She was happy for them that they’d found partners. If they felt anything like she did when she was in Draden’s company, she was certain they were going to live very happy lives.
It was strange thinking that she’d only known Draden a few hours, when already she was fiercely protective of him and liked being in his company. She wasn’t that fond of men. She’d really only been exposed to Whitney, his guards and his supersoldiers, none of whom were very nice.
When any of the women left the compound, they were given an injection to make them sleep, so they weren’t aware where Whitney embedded the virus capsules in their bodies, but also so they wouldn’t know how to get in and out of his compound. She knew the last part was so the women couldn’t lead the authorities back to Whitney. They always had an appointed place where they met their handlers, so they could be given the necessary injection to counter the virus if they were late. Otherwise, Whitney removed the capsule once they were back.
She took in several deep breaths and forced herself to look around at the trees swaying in the wind. It wasn’t as if she could get blown away, but the gusts felt strong. She took another deep breath and automatically checked their surroundings. Stepping off the low porch she circled the small hut the virologists had been using, making certain they were safe.
Her partner was inside working, and she needed to do her part. She was a very good guard and scout. She needed a little space from Draden. Making certain they were still very much alone was a good way to give herself time to sort out her feelings.
She’d told Draden that he was feeling attraction toward her because they were in an extreme situation and she’d honestly believed that at first, mainly because she wasn’t prone to physical attraction toward any man. With Draden it was off the charts. More importantly, so was her emotional attachment to him. That had formed very fast. Too fast for her liking.
She was very self-sufficient. She didn’t depend on others, not even Bellisia and Zara. She was comfortable being alone. She didn’t like to be touched. There was a plethora of reasons why Draden and she didn’t work, yet she hated not being in his mind. She actually had to use discipline to keep from constantly touching his mind.
Shylah liked him. A lot. More than a lot, and she wondered why. What made him so different? She’d watched him single-handedly take out a large number of the enemy. He had handled himself admirably when he’d found out he’d been injected with the virus. He’d been matter-of-fact when he told her what his team had been doing and how he’d cut himself loose. He seemed more concerned with finding a way to fight the virus off for her than for him.
“Okay, fine. I’m crushing hard,” she admitted to the cicadas and frogs. “Very, very hard.” She had to go back into that horrible little cabin where the evidence of her fate was all around her. She could handle that as long as she didn’t have to look at the sorrow in Bellisia’s and Zara’s eyes.
Resolutely, she pushed open the cabin door. Draden was sitting on a stool, his eye to a microscope, and there was a frown on his face. He glanced up. “Come look at this, Shylah.” His eye went back to the scope.
She couldn’t help the smile welling up. She’d been outside thinking of him and daydreaming, acting like a lovesick idiot, and he was so far from her it wasn’t funny. She could tell his mind was consumed with whatever he was looking at.
“What is it?”
“Blood. There were samples in the freezer. All are clearly from the same donor. There’s no name on the vials, but there’s a number. P-001x1. The second is P-001x2. They’re numbered up to five.”
Shylah frowned at him. “Is there something special about the blood?”
“Each different species has different cell surface proteins in their red blood cells.”
She raised an eyebrow at him but came to stand beside him. He moved his head just enough to give her access to the microscope. She peered in. What she saw was cool, but she didn’t understand it. She looked up at him for a better explanation.