Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 727(@200wpm)___ 581(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 727(@200wpm)___ 581(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
She’s alive, Vasilisa. She’s here in this borehole. I will go down first to see her condition and bring her out. Finish and get your brother here. She will need someone she knows.
That was the encouragement she needed. She locked on to the targets, thinking of them only as that, and she squeezed the trigger twice. Both men tumbled from the vehicle they were shooting out of. One hung out the window on the driver’s side, his weapon hitting the ground but still in his hand. The other fell backward onto the back seat.
Andros. She is found. She will need you. I’m coming around to take your place so you can go to Alyona. Siv is bringing her out and she will be terrified.
Vasilisa had automatically crawled backward on her belly until she felt that depression behind her. A rock and a bush helped to hide her as she secreted herself there. Now, certain the two men were dead, she crawled farther away from the Lycans she’d killed and began to circle back toward the other side of the road.
My targets are dead. Head for the borehole. Give me the coordinates. I’ll be right behind you.
The relief in her brother’s voice made her want to weep. She gave him the exact location of the borehole and took off running, avoiding the road leading into the area where all the cars were parked. Andros fell in behind her. Once out of sight of the vehicle holding the government agents, they used Lycan speed to get to the location. Klim would bring the agents to the location as soon as they finished examining the dead and then looking over the oil field. He had been told to guard them.
Andros was done taking care of business, even the kind of business that would ensure he looked like a cop doing his best to cover a large territory, not like a member of a royal ruling family. Vasilisa thought it was the same thing, being a cop and doing what they did to protect their people.
Poor baby is so frightened she is trying to fight me, but she is starved, needs water and is covered in oil. I am bringing her up if Andros is there. I keep saying his name, and that is the only reason she will be calm for a moment.
Afanasiv had to appear as human as the Lycans did in front of the government agents. Vasilisa reminded him. We don’t have time to get ropes in there. Dimitri and his brother Fen have brought them to set up. Zev is here as well, and they’re working as fast as they can to make sure it looks as if you climbed down with rope. We have no idea when the government agents will get here, but when they do, everything has to look legitimate.
Vasilisa and her family dealt with humans, such as the government agents, so she knew what it took to make the rescue operation look very legitimate. Afanasiv, by his own admission, avoided being around humans or even Lycans, for that matter. He might not think or even care about being seen and then disappearing.
Soft laughter slid into her mind. He was as overjoyed at finding Alyona alive as she was, and Vasilisa felt the change in him.
Seriously, my lady, I do take care that my differences are not discovered. Have no worries that I will endanger you, your family or the Lycans. Since you guard the gate of the beast, I will presume that we will make our home here.
She felt a melting sensation around her heart. At the borehole, Dimitri, Fen and Zev tossed anchored ropes into the opening while several Lycans quickly set up lights. Andros peered down, gripping the warm blanket someone thrust into his hands.
“Get her up here,” he called down to Afanasiv.
“Bringing her up now,” Siv answered. He didn’t grip the ropes. He just ascended, his arms around the child, making his body smaller to fit the close confines of the borehole. “I’m bringing you to Andros,” he assured her in a soothing voice.
He had reached into the child’s mind to help calm her. Vasilisa had stayed partially merged with him and found Alyona was more wild wolf child than human. Afanasiv had gently and skillfully reached the animal in her, allowing it to read his intentions. That also helped to calm her.
When Afanasiv emerged from the borehole with the little girl in his arms, his clothing was stained with oil, as was the gear he wore. He looked like any member of a search-and-rescue team who had volunteered to go into the hole and retrieve the child. She was even messier, the oil covering every inch of her, including her face and hair. The Lycans erupted into wild cheers, some yelling out, “She’s alive! She’s alive!”