Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 121389 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121389 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
She swallowed hard. “Monroe’s mate and child died in the massacre. I couldn’t do anything to help them.” Their blood had flowed like water, drenching the soil to a viscous darkness. “I think he must’ve gone a little mad from the loss.”
“A healer’s heart is a too-kind thing at times, Lei.” He lifted a finger to his lips on the last word and she realized they’d reached the boundary from where they’d have to move in absolute silence.
“Be sneaky like a cat,” Ivan murmured.
She stared at him. That hadn’t sounded like a Psy thing to say. But she’d ask him about that later. For now … she’d be sneaky like a cat.
Chapter 24
Loving
Extraordinary
Ocelots (*Teacher’s note: interesting choice, K. Tell me why it fits.)
Playful
Aleine!
Roaming
DarkRiver
Stealthy
—Completed school word challenge on subject of the student’s choice by Keenan Aleine (age 7.5)
SOLEIL’S OCELOT ROSE to the surface of her mind, taking over her movements. Her feet were light on the fallen leaf debris, her body sliding through the forest with the comfort of a creature at home. Because though this wasn’t her territory, it felt more hers than any city ever would.
Beside her, Ivan was a ghost. If she hadn’t known he walked right beside her, she’d have doubted he was even there, the cloak of stealth he’d wrapped around himself impenetrable.
It annoyed her. She wanted to poke at him to get a response, barely restrained the very catlike urge.
Ivan held up a hand, the movement sharp.
She curled fingers into her palms, her heart squeezing, an image of the cubs in her mind. Please, please be alive.
That was when she caught a faint scent on the air currents. The hairs on her nape bristled, ice in her veins. Touching Ivan’s arm to catch his attention, she mouthed leopard. The half moon lit up the night enough that he saw her.
A quick nod, after which he tested the direction of the wind, and indicated that the two of them should stand exactly where they were, in the shadow of a tree with enormous roots so tangled it was a piece of art. She did so in silence, her ears pricked for any hint of sound, of a presence … but her pulse still kicked like a horse at the gleam of black on gold that passed in the distance.
Biting down hard on her lower lip, she tried to control the beating of her heart, though she knew even the leopard’s sharp hearing wouldn’t be able to discern that from such a distance. Far more likely that he’d catch her scent, but the leopard moved on, unaware of the two watchers who stood frozen in the night.
Her ocelot allowed its muscles to soften.
Ivan turned toward her right then, a cobweb of stars in his eyes. It was gone the next second, that silvery network that both haunted and protected her, and he was nudging her to move on. They didn’t talk, but she never lost her awareness of Ivan, the lethal stealth of him a love song to her cat.
A glimpse of light through the trees.
Her pulse was a racehorse by the time they hit the final edge of trees, beyond which lay a large yard. On the left was a garden lovingly tended that held thriving vegetables with large leaves and rounded fruits, while to the right sat a wooden climbing frame full of ladders and ropes and all kinds of other things that rambunctious cubs would appreciate as they learned their bodies and their skills.
When she went to go that way, Ivan snapped out a hand, clasped her forearm. “They’ll have cameras watching the back of the property.” Not an ounce of emotion in his tone, but his grip on her told a different story. “Motion-activated lights are a guarantee.”
“I need to see if there’s a scent on the play equipment,” she whispered. “It’s the best possible spot.” She tried to think, but her mind was in chaos, because tonight, she would know. Good or bad or crushing, she would know.
“You’re much smaller in your ocelot form.”
The haze cleared. “Yes. I’ll shift.” God, she could kiss him right now. “I may not set off the sensors and even if I do, all they’ll see is a small feline shadow they might dismiss as a large housecat.”
“If an alarm does go off, you’ll have a very short window of time.” He paused. “We may be able to slip out if you run back to me the instant the lights come on or you hear an audible alarm. Nathan Ryder won’t leave his family and cubs unprotected to chase after us, and the young soldier on duty is someone I can handle.”
Soleil hesitated, looked at him. “You won’t hurt him?” He was just a boy, one who’d been given a duty to perform and who was probably incredibly proud of it.