Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 171450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 857(@200wpm)___ 686(@250wpm)___ 572(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 857(@200wpm)___ 686(@250wpm)___ 572(@300wpm)
“I had security pulled from the location,” Schwartz said.
“Hallway is clear,” Walter said.
The elevator dinged open to an empty corridor. Damn, they were getting good at this.
Kierse’s smile was the wrong one. The one that said she was here to steal something.
“Almost too easy,” Graves said. “Stay on guard.”
“Got it,” Kierse said.
They headed down the empty corridor with trepidation, though Kierse couldn’t shake the excitement, either. This was how missions were supposed to work. Her and Graves against the world.
There was fear she masked as well. If they got the information from Dallas today, then she’d know who had killed her parents. The details that had eluded her for years. The memories that had only given her bits of information and not the full scope of what had happened.
“Problem,” Walter said as they turned the next corner.
But Walter didn’t have to fill them in. A pair of vampire guards had just appeared on the otherwise empty corridor. They must have been replacements for the security guards who they’d gotten rid of earlier.
“Always an unplanned inconvenience,” Kierse grumbled.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” one of them growled.
“Apologies,” Graves said smoothly. “My wife had too much to drink, and I was trying to take a shortcut.”
My wife.
That word again.
It sent a spark straight down to her toes and back up. He’d called her that in Paris earlier this summer as part of a different ruse. She’d been furious with him for saying it then. Didn’t hate it quite as much now.
Still she played the part, leaning into him and almost tripping over her feet.
“There is no shortcut through employee-only corridors,” the woman said.
“I understand but as high rollers…” Graves said, pulling her closer to the guards.
The male vampire stepped forward as if to put hands on them and redirect them out of the hotel, but as he reached for them, Graves moved. That lightning speed that ignited under his skin at a whim. Kierse broke from him, turning on the female vampire. The problem with vampires was that if you didn’t take them by surprise, their superior strength frequently won out.
Adrenaline hit Kierse in the face as she pushed into her Fae abilities, blocking the guard’s reach and throwing a punch into her face. Vampires were particularly hard to kill. Forget a stake through the heart. Bullets only slowed them down. The most effective way was to cut off their head. That was a guarantee when starving them took too long.
She didn’t want to kill this vampire. Just incapacitate her.
Kierse landed another punch and then swept her feet out from under her. The vampire went down with a crash but jerked Kierse forward with her. The momentum carried Kierse over the other vampire. She ducked into a roll, landing back on her feet and cursing her high heels.
She wobbled a beat too long, and the vampire was already back on her feet, lunging for her. A spark of fear shot through her as the vampire wrapped up Kierse’s legs and sent them both tumbling back down onto the hard cement floor. Kierse’s head struck the ground, and stars burst into her vision.
“Kierse?” a voice ripped through her mind laced with fear. “Are you okay?”
“Fucking hell,” Kierse growled. She was across the country and he could still get in her mind?
The distraction cost her. The vampire flipped Kierse onto her stomach and grasped both of her hands behind her back. She could hear the snick of handcuffs going around her wrists and tightening to the point of pain.
As if that could keep her out. She’d learned to pick those as soon as she could walk. They still weren’t fun to get on or off.
A crash came behind her, and the vampire fell off of Kierse’s back in a slump. Graves stood over her with an arched eyebrow.
“If you wanted to use handcuffs, you just had to ask.”
Kierse shook her head. “I’ll remember that next time. Now get me out of these.”
Lorcan’s voice slipped in again. “Are you hurt? Our terms said immediate danger.”
She had agreed to let him in if she was in danger. She was regretting it now. “I’m fine.”
“Good.” The bond went blissfully silent again.
Graves found the key after a quick search and undid the cuffs, letting them fall to the ground and helping her up. “What happened?”
“Lorcan,” she said, touching her head.
Graves stilled. “He was in your mind again?”
“I guess he could sense the danger I was in.”
“And so he distracted you, causing you more pain,” Graves said as if chewing on broken glass.
“Basically. I’m going to have a massive headache.”
Graves looked like he wanted to say more but let it drop. “Well, let’s finish this and get you some ice.”
The door to Dallas’s office was at the end of the hallway. Kierse withdrew a gun from her thigh holster while Graves tugged one out of his suitcoat. No chances this time.