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)
“No, I wouldn’t fix it.” The words were sharp in my throat. “Nothing in this world would make me accept that level of control again. I’d rather burn alive. Besides...” I looked up, heat smouldering in my bones as I looked at my two favourite things, cuddled together as if they were trying to break me. “I’m not in pain when I’m around you. I’m just...hot.”
She sucked in a breath.
The air went electric.
I fisted her phone so hard the casing creaked as I fought the urge to replace Whisper with myself. To finish what we started. To slip between her legs again, only this time with no clothes between us.
Fuck—
“But how?” she whispered, interrupting my quick descent into debauchery. “How do I help—”
“No idea.” I cut her off, wrenching my eyes away. “Stop being so noisy and rest. Don’t talk to me again.”
She sighed heavily before mumbling around a yawn. “Hear that, huge sleeping tablet? I’ve been told to nap, so do your worst.”
I looked up again as Whisper nuzzled her then rested his head on his paws. Rook closed her eyes and snuggled closer, making jealousy pinch.
My fingers shimmered with warmth, making the phone screen waver.
Gritting my teeth, I yanked the heat back and input the number my father had forced me to remember ever since I was five years old.
Bringing the phone to my ear, I waited for the number to connect. It rang for so long, I panicked that I’d remembered it wrong or it was no longer valid—
“Welcome to Sovereign Retrieval. This is an automated message. Unless you are a client and have your thirteen-digit key, you will not be connected. Please enter your number or hang up.”
My pulse increased as I typed in the numbers that had lurked in every nightmarish day since that day.
And nothing happened.
I glowered at the device. Was it broken? Had I inputted it wrong—?
“Hello, Lucien Ashfall. Also known as Yunhui Luxin. Son of Jin and Meilin Ashfall. Last surviving member of the Yunhui Dynasty. Please state your request along with your current physical condition.”
A shudder shot down my spine hearing my given name after so long.
“Are you there?” the man on the other end pressed. “If you cannot talk due to your life being in jeopardy, please press any button and we will arrange extraction at your current location.”
“I’m here.” I cleared my throat, keeping my voice down just in case Rook had managed to fall asleep. “I’m Lucien Ashfall and request immediate assistance.”
“Please state what you require.”
“I have no passport, documents, or money, but I need to return to Ashfall Cliff in the Gaoligong Mountains immediately.”
“No problem. Extraction just for you?”
“No.” My eyes locked onto the girl cuddling my beast. My heart seared so hot, it threatened to turn to ash. “For three. One being an adult male panther.”
I tensed to be told Whisper couldn’t come. For this stranger to say such a thing would be impossible, which would mean I’d have to come up with another way because no fucking way would I leave him—
“As long as he’s non-violent toward the Sovereign Retrieval team, that’s fine.”
I let out a breath.
What the hell was this company and how had my father saved my life, all while rotting in his grave?
“He won’t hurt them.” I glanced at Whisper snoring quietly under Rook. “You have my word.”
“Good. I’ve activated your retrieval. The team is mobilising now.”
I couldn’t catch a breath.
It couldn’t be that easy, could it?
This had to be another trick—a sick and twisted game where nothing was how it seemed. Because if it wasn’t...no wonder Marcus never allowed me to access a phone.
If he knew I had this sort of help at my fingertips?
Fuck.
“Help will be there in precisely one hour. I apologise it’s slightly longer than our usual timeframe but you’re in a rural part of England.”
My eyes widened at the efficiency. “You’re tracking the phone I’m calling on?”
“I am. I’ve also arranged a private jet at the closest airstrip. You won’t require passports or documentation. As for money, the funds that have been held on your behalf have been automatically released the moment you input your keycode. They’re accessible anytime through your private account.”
My heart picked up its pace. “My father put aside a rainy-day fund?”
“I’d call it more of a flood fund,” the man chuckled. “There is currently an excess of one billion United States dollars ready for your use.”
I almost dropped the phone.
Marcus had always lorded my lack of stolen wealth over me—using it as yet another leash that even if I did manage to escape, I’d have nothing. No way of fighting him or extracting my revenge.
Turned out...he didn’t know nearly as much as he thought he did.
“I’ve taken the liberty of depositing ten million into the account linked to the phone you’re calling from. However, the current balance is over four hundred million, so you might not require it.”