Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 151384 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 606(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151384 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 606(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
“Today is a free day,” she told him. “Swear as much as you want.”
She and Jenner had just put two trays of cookies in the oven when Tobias’s phone rang. He stood and left the room.
“Oh God,” she cried, feeling ill. “Do you think she’s all right?”
Jenner picked her up, holding her so she was pressed to his chest and then he started humming to her, rocking her back and forth.
She hadn’t had a chance to explore her Little side more. If she was honest, she wasn’t really sure how. What to do or how to do it or what the heck she was doing. Apparently, her Little side popped out a lot and she was just supposed to fully embrace her.
But how the heck did that happen? And no matter what they all said, she was still kind of concerned about being too much, about being annoying. About making a fool of herself.
Not that she thought the guys would think that about her, or make fun of her or anything like that.
It was just . . . how did she relax and fully let go?
She was trying to be kinder to herself. And to not listen to her father’s voice telling her all the time how childish and useless she was.
It was difficult, though. She wasn’t immediately fixed or anything. Maybe she should be thinking about therapy again. But she didn’t know if she could bring herself to go. It was hard to talk to a stranger about all of this. They didn’t have any idea what it was like to grow up the way she and the others had.
Tobias strode back in just as everyone’s phone beeped. She saw the guys checking their messages. Relief filled their faces and then something else. Something darker that scared her.
“They’ve found her,” Tobias said with clear relief. “She’s safe. She’s well. Rafael is in the hospital, though. He was heavily drugged.”
“Oh no. Poor Rafael,” she said, even though she’d never met the guy. “But Cat is all right?”
“Cat’s fine,” Sampson said. “But we’ve got another fucking problem.”
“What is it?” Jenner asked. “I can’t reach my phone.”
“Her kidnapper, Mikey, he had a Sentinel tattoo,” Tobias told them.
Oh no.
No, no, no.
“What does this mean?” she cried. “Is he back? Has he come back?”
“He’s not back,” Jenner said fiercely. “He’s fucking dead. They told us all that he’s dead. Him and our fathers.” He nodded to Sampson and Isaiah.
Isaiah stared at them all grimly while Abe had his head in his hands, his shoulders slumped.
“But there must be a copycat,” Sampson said. “It’s the only explanation. Someone out there fancies themselves the new Deity. And for some reason, they’re coming for us. Or, at least, for our girls.”
A shiver ran through Immy.
That could mean she was next.
29
There was a knock on her bedroom door and Immy walked over to open it. Jenner was sitting on the armchair in her room, sipping on a glass of Scotch and eating chocolate chip cookies.
Interesting combination.
But hey, whatever got him through. She couldn’t blame him for needing a drink and some sugar.
She’d eaten so many cookies that her stomach hurt.
She opened the door, expecting to see Abe or Sampson. Instead, Tobias was standing there.
Surprise filled her. “Tobias, hi. I wasn’t expecting you.”
“I wanted to check up on you. Make sure you were all right.”
“I’m fine,” she told him.
“Immy.”
Surprisingly, the warning came from Jenner, not Tobias.
She shot Jenner a look. “What?”
“You’re lying.”
“I am not!”
“Baby, you’re doing the potty dance.”
“I am not doing the potty dance!” she cried, outraged. Then she glanced down at where her feet were dancing.
Shoot.
“This is not a potty dance!” she said.
“But you were lying,” Jenner said. “You always do the potty dance when you’re lying.”
“Jenner! Stop calling it a potty dance,” she commanded.
He simply grinned over at Tobias. “It’s a potty dance.”
“No, it’s not. Because if it was a potty dance, I’d need to go potty.”
“Do you need to go potty?” Tobias asked in a deep voice.
“No, I do not.”
Oh cupcakes!
“You need to go potty,” Tobias said in a confident voice.
She raced toward the bathroom. “I didn’t until the two of you started talking about it. And can we please stop calling it a potty dance!”
Lord.
They were exasperating. She raced into the bathroom, and used the toilet. Then as she washed her hands, she stared into the mirror. There was a light flush on her cheeks and her eyes were twinkling.
She shouldn’t be feeling so . . . happy right now.
Cat had just been kidnapped. Rafael was still in the hospital. There were people out there with Sentinel tattoos. Two of them were dead, but who knew if there were more? And if one of them might come after her?
So yeah, she shouldn’t feel so light and happy.
But she did. And it was because of the two men in that room.