Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Jonathan looked down at his green long-sleeved shirt and jeans. “I have to tell you, I like dressing casually. It’s enjoyable wearing clothing that is not a uniform.”
The Kurjan nation seemed rather regimented.
“I’m glad you’re liking it,” she said, “and speed dating as well.”
He shrugged. “Back in my day, we’d just go ask a father’s permission to take a mate, and we still gave dowries. This is a whole new world. I guess.” He looked around. “We still have kidnapped females everywhere, but that was never my thing.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” she said.
He leaned forward. “It’d be fun if you could get a few feline shifters to join in someday. I know I’m meant for a human, but still, I wouldn’t mind trying to court a lioness.”
Lyrica frowned. “How do you know you were meant for a human?”
“I’m one of our best soldiers, the strongest—it’s true.” A deep red flush started at his collarbone and washed up over his face. “I was injured badly as a child. Fell off a horse and the rotten animal kicked me in the head.”
What in the world? “What does that mean? You sustained brain damage?” His amethyst eyes appeared intelligent.
“Yes.” His voice lowered to a hush. “My IQ is probably only around two hundred. Not nearly high enough for a shifter. So it’s a human I’ll mate.”
“Hey,” she protested.
He ticked his head to the side. “What?”
“Are you saying that humans are dumb?”
He sat back as if realizing the impact of his words. “No. Just not as smart as shifters or most Kurjans.”
How insulting. “You don’t know that.” She glanced toward Vero to see him focusing intently on Louise. Her stomach clenched. Hard. She drew in air. That was good. She wanted Louise to find somebody, if that’s what she wished. Although why anybody would want the grumpy, ice-cold enforcer was beyond her. Sure, he was sex personified and had the old wounded-badass-dangerous thing going on, but that could only last for so long. She jolted back to see Jonathan watching her carefully. “What?”
He smiled, showing sparkling white teeth. Apparently, the Kurjans had had more yellowish teeth and fangs in the past, but the injections had brought this interesting side effect. “Vero’s one of the most intelligent Kurjans ever born.”
She stiffened and couldn’t help her eyebrows rising. “Seriously?”
Jonathan nodded. “Yes. He had much to do with advancing our cure against the sun. He has the mind of a scientist. A great one. Not his soul, though.”
Lyrica’s heartbeat picked up. For absolutely no reason. “What about his soul?”
“That one? He has the soul of a warrior. A killer, really.” Sympathy, soft and real, tinged Jonathan’s tone. “I’ve watched him fight his dual nature for years, until finally the killer won.”
She held her breath, wanting more information. Oh, she shouldn’t. But she’d been fascinated with Vero from the second she’d arrived in the other camp, just after having been kidnapped. That first day, their eyes had met, and she’d felt that ice-cold blue touch her soul. Even more so, any time she saw him interacting with any of the females, he’d been distant but kind. Then he’d helped Paxton defeat the evil leader of the Kurjans before declaring Pax to be the rightful king.
Poor Paxton had grown up not knowing he had Kurjan blood in him. The guy had had no clue.
Lyrica swallowed. “Why did the killer in Vero win?”
“There was no choice. His father died when he was young, so he was raised by his two uncles. Both enjoyed cruelty, and I think he took one beating too many to enjoy science.” Jonathan sighed. “A female, a Kurjan widow, had taken him under her wing. Then a soldier from the Realm kidnapped her, and that’s when Vero stopped working in the laboratories and started living in the fighting rings. Before long, nobody wanted to challenge him.”
It sounded like he’d been alone. Lyrica could relate to that feeling of being orphaned. Her heart stuttered. No. Bad heart. There was no doubt in her mind that Vero was a killer—one who didn’t like her. She cleared her throat. “Then Hunter came along and they became friends?”
“Yeah. Of course, we knew him as Harold. Yet one more betrayal for Vero. I can’t remember the last time I saw him smile. Doubt he remembers how.”
Lyrica had never seen him smile, now that she thought about it. “At least he has his brother now.”
Jonathan snorted. “Right. They don’t know each other in the slightest, and most of us believe that Paxton’s loyalty is to the Realm and not the Kurjan nation. Vero’s loyalty is to us. Someday that will be tested, and only one of them will walk out alive.”
Chills skittered down her spine. “That’s not true.”
Jonathan shrugged. “You’ll see. For now—are you involved in the investigation concerning the dead human? We’ve never had an investigation before. Usually, if somebody killed somebody, we knew who it was and dealt with them appropriately.”