Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 109477 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109477 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Nothing for it now, though. She didn’t want to think about the sort of people—or creatures—that a fae considered dangerous. She had to get out of here.
She stopped at the waist-high metal railing and tried to fit the laptop into the waist of her pants. Not ideal, but her pant legs would keep it mostly contained. It would have to do. She needed her hands.
A loud bang made her heart lurch. The door to the hotel room burst open.
Daisy quickly stepped into the corner so they couldn’t see her through the glass. She pulled off her heels and flung them over the balcony. They somersaulted through the air. She’d pick them up when she got to the ground level. The knives, too. Too bad the computer wouldn’t survive that fall.
With no time to spare, she hoisted herself up onto the railing. Her hands were slick with a cold sweat. The next balcony over was three feet away. Between them, the agonizing drop seemed to go on forever.
She steadied herself with a breath before jumping. Hesitation would be as dangerous as the jump itself. Maybe more so.
Her hands hit the railing of the next balcony over. The jolt ran up her arms. Her toe hit the bottom and vibrated pain through her foot and into her leg. She climbed over and dropped down, careful not to disturb the table and chairs. No lights were on in the room. She didn’t bother trying the door. This room was much too close to the scene of the crime.
After a glance at the thankfully empty night sky, she adjusted the computer and then leapt to the next balcony railing. Then the one after that. Her palms burned. Her fingers hurt from her desperate grip. All the duct tape had peeled off and fluttered away.
A sliding glass door rumbled along the rollers from the direction she’d come.
She paused, her breath catching in her throat. A head preceded shoulders out of Rutherford’s hotel room.
She flattened herself against the sliding glass door at her back before slinking to the corner of the balcony. The wall at the edge jutted out just enough to hide her body. Only a slice of her head would be viewable in the darkness as she peeked around.
The contour of a man was fully on the other balcony, looking away from her. His head swiveled around, and she kept totally still. Movement of any kind would catch his eye.
He walked to the edge of the balcony and looked at the distance between it and the next before looking toward the ground. That done, he stepped forward to look over the edge at a different point. His hand bounced on the railing twice before he headed back into the room.
She wasn’t the only one who could make that jump. Not even remotely. She was a Chester, for fuck’s sake. If she could do it, a great many could. He didn’t have a solid lead, though. To cover all their bases, they’d have to start knocking on doors.
The sliding glass door didn’t roll shut, and she wasn’t that far away. They’d be able to hear her plight if they were at all paying attention.
She swore softly as she crossed to the other side and once again looked down. Her best bet would be to get to a floor below. At the corner of the building, there was an emergency fire escape. That was her goal point if none of the rooms had an open sliding glass door. Getting to a floor below, though, was a helluva lot more dangerous.
A mental image of the fae dropping from the ledge played through her mind. Did she have that kind of strength? Or dexterity? Likely not.
She reached for the button that would connect her with Zorn, then froze when she didn’t feel the earpiece. That fucking fae.
The panic button, the location device—all removed from her clothes. He’d cut her off from help.
Fine. Fuck him. She could get herself out of this.
Muffled banging made her freeze. Was that knocking on the interior door? Were they already checking the rooms around the crime scene? If they checked out the rooms, they’d check out the balconies. It was only a matter of time before she was found. She had to get down a floor. At least.
“Fuck, this is a bad idea,” she said, looking over the railing at the balcony below. If she jumped to it, her weight plus inertia would be too much for her hands to hold. She’d slip and surely fall to her death. No good. She’d have to drop down at a measured pace. That meant dangling toward the balcony directly below.
She crawled over the railing as her heart picked up speed. That fae had made it look so easy. He’d essentially stepped off the ledge and caught himself, and away he’d gone. The amount of strength that hinted at was beyond her.