Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 138274 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138274 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
And she’d always wondered if part of whatever had happened wasn’t why things had gone sour between her and her father. Then again, maybe that was just her getting older and all the separations that happened when daughters became mature females and—
A flicker off to the left caught her eye and she stopped. When nothing seemed out of place, she almost kept going, but there it was again: A flare of yellow and orange, like a small fire had been started somewhere inside the forest.
Even though it maybe wasn’t the best idea, she headed in the direction of the glow. The good news, from a security point of view, was that there were trail cameras everywhere in the woods. If there was a problem or a security risk, the place would already be swarming with fighters.
As she walked into the trees, she followed the scent of smoke. With all the trunks and branches, she couldn’t see that far ahead, but then as she closed in on a clearing, she slowed down… and halted.
In the center of the open area, there was a depression in the ground, and the earth was not just barren, as if nothing could grow there, but there was no snow in a good twenty-foot radius from the center. And yes, a small fire had been set in the middle of the sizable divot, the flames working on what looked like a stump that had been dragged over and rolled into the pit. There was also a pile of gathered branches off to the side, and a container of what she assumed was lighter fluid.
But none of that was important. The male who was standing on the far side was the thing.
Nate was dressed in black leather, his clothes fitted to his body, his jacket open in spite of the temperature so that some of his holstered weapons showed. In the restless light of the fire, his face was serious, his eyes locked on the flames, and she took a moment to look him up and down.
He was okay. Physically, that was—and going by all the gunmetal and steel under that jacket, she knew that whatever was happening here was a stopover on his way into the field.
Was that a sweatshirt in his hands?
When he didn’t appear to notice her, she glanced over her shoulder, and thought that maybe she should go back to the house—
Nate’s head shot up and one hand jammed under his jacket for his gun. But he stopped in the process of pulling the weapon out.
“Jesus!” he said. “You should be careful when you sneak up on someone.”
She lifted a hand in greeting, like an ass. “Actually, I’ve been standing here for a little while. I saw the flames and was worried something was wrong.”
“What are you doing out in these woods?” he asked as he reholstered the gun and hid the sweatshirt behind his back.
“I work at Luchas House.” She glanced at the fire. “What’s going on here?”
“Just felt like roasting some marshmallows.”
“What’s with the sweatshirt?”
He frowned. “Do you always ask so many questions?”
“Yes, I do. When it comes to counseling, that’s kind of what you do.”
Nate shook his head. “You’re wasted as a social worker. You’re a fighter.”
She thought about the way she’d missed that kick in the alley—and everything that had happened afterward. “No, I’m no soldier. My father made sure I was nominally trained in self-defense, but—”
“You can’t teach the way you handled yourself last night.” His direct stare held total respect. “Your aggression, your instincts, the way you moved without fear? It’s in your blood. There’s no instruction that tells the student to stab the enemy in the eyes just to dominate them before you kill them. You do that because you’re a warrior.”
Nalla opened her mouth. Shut it. “I’m not sure what to say.”
He shrugged. “Then silence works.”
She searched his too-lean face and wondered about the tension in it, in his entire body. Something had happened since she’d seen him last.
Or maybe that promise he’d made to her sire was haunting him. But fuck that.
After a long moment, she asked, “So why do you want to burn that sweatshirt?”
* * *
Great, Nate thought. He had not been looking for an audience—and he most certainly hadn’t been interested in this particular female showing up at this particular moment.
With everything that was going on between his ears, he felt like he was naked in front of her. In the cold. With all that entailed in the shrinkage department.
And no, he didn’t want to talk about the stupid fucking sweatshirt—
“I’m saying goodbye.”
The second the words came out of his mouth, he wanted to take them back. But as that wasn’t possible, he tossed the article of clothing into the flames, and watched as there was a greedy rush, a flare of heat and flame bursting up out of the pit where, thirty years ago, a meteor that hadn’t been a meteor at all had landed here.