Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70294 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70294 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
“Mom, leave her alone. We’ve got this. We’ll lock it up once we’re done, and remember—” Olivia started.
“Don’t tell anyone why you’re really in here. I know.” Her mother glanced between the five of us, then settled on Avianna. “We really are so very honored that you’d join us for the rest of the festival.”
“I’m honored to be here.” Avianna reached out with her gloved hand and took the duchess’s. “And I can’t wait for you to show me around your beautiful home.”
The duchess preened.
Benedict shifted his weight.
Avianna was good.
The duchess shooed her other daughters out of the chamber, leaving the five of us alone with the Hunters, and we got to work.
One by one, we worked our way around the circle of Hunters, replacing their current blood bags with the ones that had been supplemented with a vial of Lyric’s blood.
“Will one be enough?” Avianna asked as Olivia finished with the first bag.
“Should be. Lyric’s blood is incredibly powerful.” Her smile was part cringe for her best friend. “I’m sorry you had to travel all this way.”
“Are you kidding me?” Avi’s eyes lit up. “I’ve been dying to meet your family for the past two hundred years!”
“I haven’t,” Hawke mumbled.
Avi rolled her eyes but otherwise ignored him.
“You checked the security film?” Benedict asked as we moved to the next Hunter.
Saint. All of this would be for nothing if he woke up with blood madness.
“Tapes?” I gasped with false alarm. “You think I should check the security tapes?” The sarcasm was thick enough to make every eye roll.
“Fine, you checked the tapes. What else do you have?” He asked.
“The only person to access the chamber was Olivia’s mother. Her sisters helped open the doors, but only the duchess entered,” I answered.
“Is there any chance…” Hawke lifted his eyebrows.
“No way!” Olivia snapped, glaring at Hawke. “My family has kept watch over the Hunters for hundreds of years. If they’d wanted to kill them, they would have done it way before now.”
Hawke tilted his head, as if giving the idea merit, then nodded. “Storage?”
“Possibly,” I agreed. “Once I got here, and the Sorokins realized that some of us can’t quite stomach the synthesized stuff, they brought over enough supply from the mainland for the Hunters and a few guests. Anyone could have had access at that point.”
“Picky eater,” Olivia teased with a wink.
“I’ll eat—”
She slammed her hand over my mouth and blushed crimson.
Avianna grinned. “So I guess that part of the mission is going well. You seem to be fooling everyone.”
Hawke scoffed.
She elbowed him in the ribs. He didn’t even grunt.
“Any enemies?” Hawke asked Olivia.
“None that we can think of. But the island has hundreds of guests, mostly aristocracy, but anyone is suspect. No one is even supposed to know these guys are here, let alone that we’re reanimating them.” She picked up another bag and moved to the next Hunter.
“So how long until they’re awake?” Avi asked. “A few hours?”
“Another week now that we’re back on track,” Olivia said, checking the drip she’d just set up.
I took the next bag to help speed us along and got going on Zachariah.
“A week?” Benedict balked. “It takes a week?”
“Yep.” Olivia strained for the next bag, revealing a tempting strip of skin on her abs. “This is more of a six-part miniseries than an hour-and-a-half blockbuster film. You have to bring them out slowly to lessen the chance of blood madness.”
“So what do we do for the rest of the week?” Avi asked as we hooked up the last bag.
Olivia grinned. “We dance.”
12
Olivia
“I love your dress,” Katya said to Avianna as we head toward her rooms.
“And your gloves are so lovely,” Marisha added.
“I like your shoes,” Annika chimed in, and I bit back my laugh, eying Zasha, the only one with any chill around the princess.
“Thank you,” Avianna said as we reached the doors of the rooms my mother arranged for her to have. She practically beamed with pride to discover the princess was coming, and it might’ve been the first time I ever felt she was truly proud of me for my position. Not that she knew the truth of it. “You’re all so gracious and kind for allowing me and my guards to come and stay for Kranitel Days.” She flashed me a conspiratorial look at her use of the word guards, and I smiled at her before glancing behind us to where Benedict and Hawke and Ransom trailed after us.
Hawke examined every inch of the estate, every turn and exit and window. I knew for a fact he’d already committed every detail to memory. All the Assassins were trained to do so, but Hawke in particular was like a machine when it came to his duties. Only Avi wasn’t his duty, but mine. But in my absence? I’m sure he’d been more than happy to take over the job.