Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 448(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 448(@300wpm)
Her mouth tightened as a mini web of magick showed on each of the Rabid’s eyelids.
Motherfucker.
The air in his lungs hot with rage, Ripper stormed up the path toward the manor. He could hear a vehicle approaching fast; knew it would be the Watchers. One of his wolves had called to say that Emberlyn had reported yet another Rabid incident. Ripper had leaped into his truck and hightailed it here in record time, determined to get to her; having no fucking clue if she was injured or not.
Again. She’d found herself fronting a Rabid again. There was something very fucking wrong with this picture. No way was it a coincidence.
He cleared the porch steps with a single leap. The front door opened . . . revealing no one. The manor’s sentient power had apparently decided to bid him entrance. A thought he shoved aside, his only interest in tracking down the occupant.
He stalked inside. ‘Emberlyn?’ he called out, his voice unintentionally sharp.
No response.
Knowing she’d reported that the Rabid had entered her backyard, he made his way toward the rear of the house, again calling out her name.
The back door creaked open, and there she was. Her brow creased in a surprised confusion. ‘How did you get in?’
Making a beeline for her, he swept his gaze over her body. There was no blood or visible injuries. No indication she was shaken or upset. In fact, she looked her usual calm and steady self. ‘The manor let me in,’ he replied.
Her brows hiked up. ‘Well, that’s a – no, you don’t want to get close to me right now, Rip, I have dirt on my clothes.’
He kept on forging forward. ‘I don’t care.’ Finally reaching her, he curved his arms around her. She stilled in surprise. Okay, so he wasn’t much of a hugger – so what?
Relaxing, she settled her hands on the twin columns of his back.
He pulled in a breath through his nose, clenching his teeth so hard a shooting pain lanced through his jaw. Frustration, agitation, fury – the emotions boiled in his gut. ‘You hurt?’
‘No. I managed to get behind the house’s defensive barrier before the Rabid could get to me.’
Relief should have coursed through him at that, but the dark emotions simmering in his system left no room for anything else. He smelled the spot behind her ear, taking her scent inside him. ‘You should have called me,’ he insisted, his voice roughening with a barely contained growl. They weren’t an official couple, no, but she was under his protection.
‘I knew one of the Watchers would call you, so I also knew you’d already be on your way here by the time I’d put the Rabid to sleep – assuming you weren’t busy with other things.’
Feeling his brows snap together, Ripper pulled back enough to meet her gaze. ‘Look at me. It wouldn’t matter what was going on around me. If you had even the slightest brush with danger, I would come to you.’
She stared at him, her expression unreadable. ‘Even when there’d be nothing you could do?’
‘Even then.’ He smoothed a hand up her spine. ‘Now, where’s the Rabid?’
‘Outside, asleep. I was pruning herbs in the garden when I saw that Lucie was staring at the woods. Then she started growling. I walked over to see what had unsettled her, and I noticed the Rabid in the trees. I fended it off with magick as I fled to the porch, knowing it wouldn’t manage to bypass the protective barrier.’
‘How long will it stay unconscious?’
‘Until I or another witch awakens it. Don’t worry, it isn’t going anywhere.’
A brisk knock came at the front door.
‘That’ll be the Watchers.’ Ripper slowly released her. ‘I’ll let them in.’ He stalked to the door and opened it wide. Kerr, Shane, Logan and a male witch filed inside. The latter was Ward’s brother but, unlike Ward himself, Marvin was a decent guy.
‘How’s Emberlyn, and where’s the Rabid?’ Logan asked.
‘She’s fine,’ Ripper replied. ‘And it’s outside.’
Moments later, they were all gathered in a circle around the sleeping Rabid.
‘You don’t often see any Rabid in town this early,’ Shane noted.
Crossing his arms over his chest, Ripper planted his feet wide. ‘This is the second time one came at Emberlyn. It happened last month, too.’ It was no coincidence. It had likely been lured this way using a dead animal, just like the last Rabid.
‘There’s a chance this guy is one of my wolves, Lincoln Mathers,’ said Shane, his expression grim. ‘He turned Rabid two years ago. That scar on his throat? Lincoln had one just like that. What’s that crisscross pattern of magick on its head?’ he asked Emberlyn. ‘The sleeping spell?’
Beside Ripper, she nodded. ‘As for the little webs over its eyelids, they had nothing to do with me.’
He regarded her closely. Her tone was cool and controlled, but it held the slightest edge of anger. If Ripper hadn’t spent so much time around her, he wasn’t sure he would have picked up on the latter.