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)
You want these needles back?
He didn’t realize how much affection he had for her, and it was growing fast. He’d just met her, yet it seemed as if they’d known each other years. A part of him felt she would always have been a mystery to him, elusive and enigmatic, but at the same time, she was comfortable as if they had been together for years.
Yes, please, they’re difficult to make.
He’d bet his last dollar she made them herself. He removed the needles, wiped the blood off carefully on the victims’ clothing and took a moment to examine them. They were lightweight yet had balance to them. He wrapped them up and slid them into his pocket. He closed it with the Velcro to ensure they wouldn’t fall out in his hurry to catch up with her.
He was able to move a little faster than she could because each time he came upon members of the MSS, they were already dead. He removed eight more of the needles from four more victims. Her accuracy was amazing.
How often do you practice? He couldn’t keep the admiration from his voice. Or the excitement. She was everything a woman he would want was. Mystifying. Deadly. Soft-spoken. Humorous. She looked like an angel and kissed like sin.
Stop. We’re connected. There was laughter in her voice. You can’t think things like that.
Why? It’s the truth. You might as well know. It isn’t like we have all the time in the world. This headache is very persistent. You know that’s the first sign. His temperature indicated he was infected as well, but he refrained from acknowledging that.
Stop being a baby. You hit your head very hard. There’s still a big lump there. Quit thinking in terms of saving me and think about saving us.
He was definitely catching up to her. Two more bodies. Her count was going to rival his if he didn’t look out. The MSS was going to have to start recruiting again.
I have a hard head. No concussion.
You don’t know that. What are you? A doctor?
Laughter spilled into his mind. It wasn’t nearly as funny as she thought it was, but he couldn’t help laughing because she really felt like sunshine spilling into his mind and she made him happy. He’d forgotten happiness.
Have you run out of your needles yet?
I don’t run out. Those little things have saved my life on multiple occasions. They’re easy to conceal and a breeze to use.
You sound like a salesman and not a very good one. They aren’t a breeze to use unless you practice day and night. I throw knives. I’m nowhere near as good as a couple of others because I don’t spend every waking minute practicing.
Give me a sec.
He increased his speed as he hurried through the trees toward her. She’d come upon a couple of the terrorists. He could feel the difference in her. Laughter faded away and she was all purpose, all determination. A professional. He didn’t want to distract her, so he stayed very still in her mind, curious to know how she dealt with the taking of lives.
Shylah was filled with compassion and kindness. He felt it each time she entered his mind, or he poured himself into hers. She wasn’t the type of woman to hunt and kill, yet she was extremely efficient at it. Looking into her mind, he realized she didn’t see a man with a family, someone’s son, husband or father. She viewed them as killers. She held the peaceful people from Lupa Suku in her mind. He felt the blow, almost as physical, the one she felt when she surveyed those men, women and children. She exterminated those who participated in killing as these men had done. She thought of them as rats, deadly, hate-ridden rats. Rats willing to do anything for money. She kept remembering the way the villagers’ bodies had looked, bloody and exposed, swollen in the heat, as if they’d exploded.
He detested that for her. She mourned for those lost people. Taking out those responsible for their deaths was her way of honoring them. She didn’t flinch from the kill, not even for a second. Coming up on the next pair of soldiers, she hit the first one, and before he could do more than slap his hand up to his neck, she’d hit his partner. A second needle entered right after the first one to ensure she’d made the kill.
Two more down. I’ll retrieve these needles and then wait for you.
Shylah, don’t. Stay put. All at once he had a bad feeling, something he never ignored.
The forest had gone quiet. Something hostile moved toward her. She didn’t argue, and he was grateful.
Tell me what you see.
Not good. Not good. There was excitement more than fear in her voice. It’s their tiger, Draden. Lupa Suku protected a tiger here. They traded with poachers to keep them from killing him. He’s gorgeous. Truly regal. There’s only about four hundred left in the entire world and I’m looking right at one of them.