Total pages in book: 401
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
My brows flew up as my surprise was echoed in those before us. The steadiness in her tone…
Fuck.
I was getting hard.
Behind me, Kieran chuckled. “Someone is catching on.” He paused. “Finally.”
Malik stared at her and then rose, snapping out of his stupor. “You’re…”
Or perhaps he had not snapped out of it.
Poppy stepped forward, Delano right with her. “Awake? Yes.”
My brother started to move but clearly thought better of it as his wide, amber eyes shifted to me and then darted back to her. “It’s good to see you, Penellaphe.”
“It’s good to be awake,” she replied.
Malik gave her a faint smile that was more brittle grimace than anything. “Though, I wish you were not here.” His gaze met mine. “She doesn’t need to see this.”
“She does,” Poppy said. Her voice remained soft, but there was no mistaking the thread of steely resolve beneath it. “We were told you were the one who notified Naill.”
Malik let out a short breath and nodded. “Yeah, I was in the area and—”
“Why?” I asked.
His shoulders tensed. “No reason other than I like—liked the area. I don’t think I will after tonight.” He dragged a hand through his hair and pulled it back from his face. “Reminds me of home.”
My eyes narrowed on him. Nothing about Stonehill, besides maybe the scent of salt in the air, could even remotely remind him of our homeland.
He lowered his hand. “I saw that Viktoria’s house was dark.”
“Viktoria?” Kieran asked.
“She works at one of the taverns in Lowertown,” he explained. “She and her husband Jathen both do. They would’ve been home by now and still up. At first, I didn’t think too much about it, but then I saw this.” He jerked his chin toward the houses. “The whole street was dark, and it…it didn’t feel right. So, I went and knocked on their door. When nobody answered, I tried the knob and found it unlocked.” A muscle ticked in his temple. “That’s when I found them and got Naill.”
“I’m sorry,” Poppy said and then proved once more how much better she was than me when she reached out and placed a hand on his arm, comforting the man who had once planned to end her life.
Malik looked down at her hand for several moments, likely reminded of the same thing. That she was better than him, too.
“Thank you,” he rasped, stepping back. He swallowed. “I didn’t know about the others at that point.”
“Can you show us?” Kieran asked.
“Perry is in one of the houses,” Malik replied, turning with a frown. “But you can enter any of them and find the same.”
Poppy stopped, her hand lifting to press against her upper stomach. “The whole block?”
“And the next one over,” Malik confirmed.
Fucking gods.
I placed my hand on Poppy’s lower back. “Where is Perry?”
“Three houses down,” he said, leading us the short distance.
There was little open space around the homes in Stonehill, with no front courtyards, only those in the back. The main door of the squat, stucco home sat right off the sidewalk. My gaze moved over the door, seeing that the sconce’s glass globe was blown, as was the one above the latticed windows.
The door opened before Malik could do it, and Naill walked out.
He pulled a Malik and stumbled to a halt. This time, Poppy stopped him before he could bow.
Naill clasped her hand without hesitation, and the only thing that stopped me from caving into the primitive urge to wrench her away was the knowledge that touch was important to her.
“I can’t even tell you how glad I am to see you,” Naill said, the deep-brown hue of his skin carrying an ashen undertone. “But I wish you were not here.” His gaze lifted to mine. “What’s inside is…”
“I need to see it,” Poppy said.
Exhaling softly, Naill nodded. “You should…” His chest rose sharply. “I would say prepare yourself, but I don’t believe that is possible.”
My jaw hardened as I nodded. He opened the door to a small foyer, and a scent slammed into us all at once. Lilacs—stale lilacs.
Delano’s hackles rose as he froze beside Poppy, his ears pinned back.
Yeah, that was a fucked-up sign if there ever was one.
“You don’t have to come in,” Poppy said to him, and then I felt faint stirrings of eather as their communication moved to something just between them. She finally sighed and moved forward with Delano at her side. Emil and Malik followed us as I lowered my hood, surveying the house’s dark interior.
Shoes had been placed by the door—boots dusty with dirt and a smaller pair of leather flats that were far less dirty.
Poppy tugged her hood down, eyeing the other sets. Two pairs of much, much smaller boots caked in mud.
“Most of the homes here are set up the same,” Malik explained as Naill led us into a tight, dark corridor. “The rooms are one after another. A sitting room—it’s empty. Then the bedchambers. They’re also empty.”