Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 110802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
“Yes?” Knox clipped on answering the call, hand clenching around his pen.
“Oh, um, Mr Thorne,” she said, spluttering, “sorry if this is a bad time.”
It was always a bad time. “What is it?”
“I, well, I thought you should know that Harper is refusing the help of a professional beauty team.”
If that surprised Belinda, she’d clearly learned nothing about his mate. “Is that so?”
“Yes. I have explained that this will make her stand out compared to others —”
“Harper will always stand out, Miss Thacker. And always in a good way.” It was the truth. “Now, if there’s nothing else, I’m a busy man.”
“Of course,” she said, tone curt. “I apologize for disturbing you.”
Ending the call, Knox turned back to his sentinels with a sigh.
Levi seemed to be fighting a smile. “Belinda telling tales again?”
Knox placed his cell on the desk. “Yes.”
“After all the stuff she’s done and said, I’m surprised you haven’t fired her,” said Larkin.
“I promised Harper I would let her deal with the matter herself. I won’t lie, I’ve come close to breaking that promise many times. But if I do, she’ll never confide in me like that again because she won’t trust me not to interfere.” And it was possible that she would sow sequins on more of his clothes. “Now let’s get back to —”
Knox. The pain in Tanner’s tone brought Knox up short and made everything in him tense.
What is it? demanded Knox.
Fucking Crow got the drop on me. He took the car. I’ve tried to call Harper, but she’s not answering me.
The pen in his hand snapped and his heart slammed against his ribcage. Knox broke his connection with his sentinel and reached out to his mate. Harper? Harper?
Nothing. Nothing at all. Not even a brush of her mind against his.
Harper, baby, you need to answer me right now and tell me you’re safe.
But she didn’t. Panic ripped through him and his demon, sending his pulse racing. Breaths coming hard and fast, he asked Keenan, Did you walk Harper to the car?
Of course, Keenan instantly replied. I watched her get in.
Fuck. How long ago was that?
Around half an hour ago, why?
So, Crow had had her for thirty minutes. Thirty fucking minutes. Harper, talk to me. Nothing. Not a damn thing.
A red haze fell over Knox’s vision, heat rushed to his head, and a strange roaring sound filled his ears. He shook his head, jaw clenched. Not again. Not. Fucking. Again. This just couldn’t be happening again. But it was. Someone had taken Harper from him.
Panic. Dread. Fear. Ice-cold fury. It all exploded inside his gut, stealing his breath, and flared through every part of him from his head to his toes. His demon rose up sharp and fast with an animalistic snarl, seething and raring to destroy. “He. Took. Her,” rumbled the demon.
Levi stiffened. “Crow?”
Digging deep for control, Knox shoved his demon back down. His sentinels were eying him warily, and he realized his body was so tense he looked on the verge of springing. He took a long breath to center himself, to think. He needed to plan, but it was hard to do that when everything in him roared, fumed, and ached. “Crow has Harper,” he told them, throat thick.
Levi swore and shot to his feet.
Anxiety bloomed in Larkin’s eyes, but that anxiety was quickly replaced by a fierce determination as she stood. “We’ll find her.”
Yes, they would, because Knox wasn’t fucking losing her. “He’s had her for approximately thirty minutes.” Knox didn’t want to think what the bastard might have done to her in that time.
“The anchor bond still intact?” asked Larkin.
“Yes, which means she’s alive.” And Knox clung tight to that, using it to keep his focus. “He made a mistake; he took the Audi. Unless he knows it has several GPS trackers and has managed to remove them all, he’ll lead us right to him and Harper. Find the Audi.” And then Knox would find them and rain fresh hell on the bastard who dared to take his mate.
I’m coming for you, baby. Just hold on for me. Hold on.
She wasn’t sure if it was the splitting headache, the nausea, or the voice in her head calling to her that woke her. She was cold. Stiff. Worse, she found it hard to breathe while there was a tight, constricting weight on her chest – a weight that was also around her lower legs.
Harper forced her heavy eyelids open, wincing at the brightness of the bulb directly above her. Following the sounds of muttering, she saw Crow near a black countertop of what seemed to be a kitchenette, messing with something she couldn’t quite see. His beard was as scraggly and dirty as his clothes.
Glancing around, she realized she was in a trailer that was set up as an office. It stank of grease and oil, and there were toolboxes, car radios, and other vehicle parts lying around.