Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23304 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 117(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23304 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 117(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
“I don’t know. I certainly hope so. I miss you, my love.”
“And I you. Our sons miss you too. Taylon runs to the shipping dock and stands there for hours waiting for your return.”
Blaze’s heart tightened when he thought of his youngest son. He loved all his children equally, but Taylon was particularly sensitive. He would be special one day.
“Tell him his father misses him very much as well. Has there been any word from Zahn?”
She shook her head. “No. I thought we would have by now. It’s odd that he hasn’t contacted anyone yet. If he were using one of your ships we’d at least be able to track where he is, but he used one of his own. The radars haven’t even detected any ships in our orbit within the last few days.”
Blaze rubbed his chin. Why hadn’t Zahn checked in? Maybe he was experiencing some difficulty in tracking London. This planet was twice the size of Thibius with ten times the population, but still… “I’m sure we’ll hear from him shortly.”
Tears glistened in her beautiful brown eyes. “I hope so. I want my baby home. I can’t lose another daughter.”
“I know, love, and I vow that you won’t. I have as much at stake in the matter as you.” London may have been his adopted daughter, but he couldn’t love her anymore if she were of his blood.
“I need to go. I’m going to spend some time with our sons. Be safe, Blaze.” She blew him a kiss before her hologram disappeared. Knowing how much his wife counted on him, Blaze understood he couldn’t fail.
He composed himself before leaving his room and heading toward the deck to see what Lormanir wanted.
“Sire.” The captain bowed to him when Blaze arrived on deck.
Blaze waved his hand in the air dismissively to all the crew standing respectfully at attention. “Carry on.” To Lormanir, he said, “I trust this is important and something that will lead us to the princess.”
“Yes, my liege. If you would please follow me, I will direct your attention to this telemonitor.” The captain pointed to a large monitor with grid lines and blobs which Blaze assumed represented land.
“What am I looking at?” he asked.
“We were able to determine where the princess has been through a newly developed system, even more advanced than the DNA tracker. We didn’t want to mention it earlier, because we weren’t sure if it would function properly. I saw no point in getting your hopes up in case it didn’t; however, there seems to be some abnormal activity in the area where the machine says the princess is.”
Blaze frowned. “Abnormal in what way?”
“I’m not sure, but it almost seems as if there were two of her.”
“Of my daughter? That’s not possible. Everyone’s DNA is unique only to them.”
“I realize that, Sire. We’re not sure how this could be either. However, the reading in this area tells us we’re closer to the princess’s location than before.”
“And the two readings?”
“We’re only getting one now. We don’t know why there were two before, but now there isn’t. I can think of only one possibility to explain this occurrence, but I don’t know if it would fit with the princess.”
“Just tell me your theory,” Blaze demanded, growing impatient at the way Lormanir prevaricated.
“There are certain species that can reproduce more than one child at a time who look identical. Triplets, quadruplets and twins I believe. Can Earth women breed in such a way?”
It suddenly made sense to Blaze. The only reason two people would share the same DNA was if they came from the same fertilized egg… twins or other multiples as Lormanir had just mentioned. London was a twin! But… Paris had perished. Hadn’t she?
In his quest to find his daughter, would he also find the twin they all believed to be dead?
Zahn was growing impatient. He’d put London through one sexual torture after another, yet she still hadn’t cracked to his satisfaction. Yes, her body responded to him, but he wanted to hear the words. Something niggled in the back of his mind, however.
The more time he spent with her, the more he needed to be around her.
He wanted to know more about her besides how her body reacted when he touched her. What made her smile? Why did he feel the sudden interest in her when it wasn’t there before she ran away? At first, Zahn thought it could be his pride. Now he wondered if it was something else altogether. A something he wasn’t quite comfortable with. The sound of her voice made his heart speed up and the way she looked at him with those dark soulful eyes of hers sent a shiver of awareness up his spine.
No. He would not allow her to get under his skin. Letting the princess wrap him around her little finger was not an option. Men were supposed to be in charge. He’d seen some of his comrades fall under love’s spell. It weakened them. He would always keep the upper hand where London was concerned.