Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 140780 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140780 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
His legs dangled off one end, his arms loose and splayed over the sides. The silver around his wrists made him appear as if he truly was an escaped convict, still wearing the handcuffs.
He didn’t move as the blond doctor grabbed a pair of scissors and cut off his blood-soaked shirt. The shock of congealing crimson all over his chest sent a flood of sickness into my mouth.
I grabbed my raindrop pendant.
It triggered another memory—
The rain had stopped, leaving the world wet.
My foot pressed harder on the accelerator, even though I had no idea where I was going. All I knew was Marcus was chasing us and Lucien was dying—
“There.” One of the doctors appeared through the middle of the seats. “Stop there. His vitals are slowing and we can’t afford to wait.”
Up ahead, a thatched house with old bones and storybook charm sat prim and proper behind a manicured hedge and apple trees. It looked as if it’d been growing out of the countryside for centuries with its whitewashed walls and sagging dark timber.
The home looked so tiny after the majesty of Cinderkeep but big enough to house multiple rooms—ten to be exact, according to the hand-painted sign welcoming weary travellers to spend a few nights in Misty Meadows B&B.
“It’s not public enough,” I gasped around the pain in my head. “We need to be around people, so they don’t try to take Lucien—”
“It’s either there or he dies,” the doctor cut in.
Whisper hissed, sending the man hurtling into the backseat. Every instinct told me to keep driving. To never stop until I’d gotten Lucien far, far away from this place. Preferably out of England. But...what would be the point if his heart gave out?
“Ready?”
The daydream ended, dumping me back into the nightmare.
“Ready.” The older doctor nodded, holding a scalpel above Lucien’s wound. An IV line looped from his vein to a bag of liquid hanging from a tasselled floor lamp. His naked chest was now orange from iodine, and the metal disc over his heart looked sinister and sore. The doctors peered at it as if they’d never seen anything like it.
Dismissing it in favour of the open wound, they inhaled sharply.
“I’ll tidy up the wound, and you prepare to suture.” Both doctors leaned over Lucien, headtorches firmly in place thanks to dusk falling outside and romantic, gloomy lighting inside.
Lucien didn’t twitch as the knife touched his skin.
I almost threw up, clamping a hand over my mouth.
“Wound has no debris,” the blond doctor muttered. “It looks okay to close.”
Whisper shot forward as fresh blood oozed from Lucien’s chest, trickling down his ribcage. The panther snarled and the doctors immediately backed away from the table, leaving Lucien vulnerable and that much closer to death.
“Whisper,” I choked, stumbling sideways to the little bench meant for luggage. “Come here.” My knees gave out as the panther looked between me and his unconscious master before slinking back to me and pressing his muscular bulk against my thigh.
Gritting my teeth so I wouldn’t throw up, I placed both of my blood-soaked hands onto his shoulders and focused all my willpower on not passing out. Rain dripped off me onto the carpet and reality fragmented again as the first stitch was drawn through Lucien’s flesh—
The stout, round-faced woman with a blue-rinsed corkscrew perm almost fell over as we entered Misty Meadows B&B. Her gaze flew from me carrying two medical bags, the doctors carrying Lucien, and Whisper as he prowled behind them, his tail stiff and fangs glinting.
One of the doctors had slung his beige overcoat over Lucien, trying to hide all the blood, but wasn’t entirely successful, seeing as he’d gotten red handprints on it. The woman might not realise Lucien currently bled all over her overly patterned carpet, but she definitely realised there was a panther in her parlour.
Clutching the reception desk, her eyes popped wide. “I-I don’t allow pets.”
“Just give us the biggest, brightest suite you have. Immediately,” the older doctor barked.
The carpet had so many swirls and colours in it, it made me feel faint, and the scent of potpourri would’ve made me sneeze if my senses weren’t so broken.
“Do you have any other guests?” Marcus demanded, spinning me around as he burst into the B&B like a king returning to his castle.
I hated him for following us.
How exactly were we supposed to escape if he never let us out of his sight?
“N-No,” the woman stuttered, brushing down her knitted pink jumper. “Not at the moment. The previous couple checked out this morning.”
“How convenient.” Throwing down a black credit card, Marcus said smoothly, “I’m buying each room for the night.” He smiled with a hint of flirting, successfully hiding his evil heart. “I’m so sorry to impose like this but my son is hurt.” He pointed in Lucien’s direction. “We can’t afford the time it would take to travel to a hospital. Our company doctors are well equipped to tend to him. But they need to do it now.”