Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 39991 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 200(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39991 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 200(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
She just nodded and cried harder.
The man spoke again. “You said you were coming here to warn us about that thing. How did you know it was coming here?”
“Because that amber was stolen from a treasure the draugr guarded, so now it’s bound to retrieve all the parts of that treasure. We work for a company called Protective Solutions out of Seattle. We came to offer our services as bodyguards—we just got here a little too late.”
“We can hire our own bodyguards,” the man said snidely. “But I doubt that’s necessary since that was the only piece we still have from the original arm ring the amber was on.”
“It was on an arm ring?” Ivor asked. “Were there other jewels on it?”
The wife started to answer, but the man shot her a fierce glare. “We don’t know these people, so it’s none of their business.”
Her features tightened and her hands closed into fists. “I say it is their business, so yes, there were two other jewels that were long ago given away as gifts. I’ll write down the names of those people and where they live—but my son has the silver arm ring the jewels were on. His father” —she gave her husband another angry glance—“disowned him, so I doubt he’s willing to hire a bodyguard for my Rowan.”
“Where is Rowan now?” Ivor asked.
The man snorted. Ivor really did not like this man.
“He works at a restaurant in town,” the woman said. “I’ll write down the address for you. Please, go to him.”
She scurried from the room. Both Ivor and Emory stayed silent. Ivor, because it was obvious this man didn’t care if the draugr went after his son, and this horrified him.
When the woman returned, she gave them a piece of paper with four addresses, including one for a restaurant. “Please,” she whispered. “He’ll be at the restaurant.”
“We’ll go to him,” Ivor assured her.
His phone rang after they left the house, and Ivor quickly pulled it out to see his boss, Xavier, was calling. Xavier didn’t even bother with a hello, just jumped right into the reason for his call.
“I’ve narrowed down the treasure.”
“To an arm ring, right?”
“You know this already? I take it the draugr showed?”
“It did. We kept it from hurting the family outside of a broken arm, but it took a piece with an amber setting, and we were told there were two other jewels in addition to the arm ring. We have the addresses of the people who have the jewels.”
“It’s too late for them, Ivor. Word came down that two entire families were slaughtered by a draugr. I have some suspicions about this whole treasure, so I’m digging harder into translating the journal. I’ll fill you in as soon as I know more, but you have to get to whoever has that arm ring because they are in danger.”
“We’re on our way now.”
Chapter Two
Rowan
Rowan Forrest loved the noise of the busy kitchen. The clinking of utensils in the pans, the sizzle of searing meat, and the happy voices of people who loved their jobs. The spicy and sweet scents swirled around him, all comforting and familiar. This restaurant would have been the best place to work if it weren’t for the man walking up to him now.
Chef Kevin Angler glared down into the bowl Rowan currently had his hands in. “Pastry relies on water to steam during the cooking process, and yesterday, you overworked the dough. All the pastries were tough.”
They hadn’t been, and Rowan knew that, but Angler couldn’t resist what he called his “teaching moments” when the truth was—and Angler knew it—that Rowan should be the one teaching him. Not that Rowan would ever speak to anyone who worked for him in such a condescending manner. Rowan might be ten years younger than the head chef, but he far surpassed him in both taste and technique. Angler didn’t have a creative bone in his body, and Rowan couldn’t count the number of times the chef had passed off Rowan’s creations as his own ideas.
The others who worked here knew it, though. Kevin Angler was not a popular chef. Maybe that was why he seemed to take out so much anger on Rowan. Or possibly frustration that all the employees knew he was shit.
Tara, one of Rowan’s favorite servers, rushed into the kitchen and waited until Angler moved away from him before she approached. “You have got to see the two men who just sat down out there.” She fanned herself. “They are almost too gorgeous to be real.”
Rowan shot her a surprised grin. “I expect that sort of thing from Rebecca, not you.”
“I know, but you’ll understand when you see them. Tall, and so sexy, and yeah, I’m objectifying horribly right now when that’s normally Rebecca’s MO, but shit, just come take a peek.”