CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
“I SAID AN exotic location, and you pick Alaska? This wasn’t on my bucket list.” As I looked around, nothing but flatlands piled with snow greeted me, and I was a tad bit pissed.
Calind stood at my side looking toward an estate nestled between a dense forest…and not much else. “There is something I want you to see if you can behave yourself.”
“Fuck you. I have been behaving myself.”
His eyes narrowed at me.
“It was a joke. Heard of those?”
“And now it’s pulled you into trouble.”
SORE AND FUCKED into a stupor, I hardly had the strength to lift my head from the mattress to see if my hand landed where it should have—on Calind’s body. My fingers touched an empty space instead.
I slid out of the bed, half asleep and drunk on the aftermath of Calind’s marathon sex session. I snatched up the first thing I could find from the walk-in-closet and threw it on.
By the time I found the final empty room inside the palatial ranch, I was wide awake and panicking.
I shoved on a pair of boots and my coat before venturing out into the frigid weather.
I wandered, calling Calind’s name along the way. My feet sank into the snow, leaving tracks and a way to get back if needed. Stuck deep inside a dense and dark forest in a foreign land, I thought I’d better turn around before a bear mauled me.
Someone grabbed my hips and pushed me against a tree, knocking the wind out of me.
I was ready to put up a fight and scream until a man in a mask and commando gear greeted me. I erased the idea of fighting back because a man decked out in tactical gear had a reason, and could’ve been a killing machine.
I went for the poor me, take pity on me route: “I’m pregnant! Don’t kill—”
A gloved hand went over my mouth and the mask lifted to reveal Calind’s face.
I shoved his hands away and put my hands on my hips. “Why the fuck are you out here skulking around in commando gear? It’s a little early for Halloween. Calind, you have some mansplaining to do.”
“It’s a temperature controlled suit, this place is heavy with sensors to detect temperature abnormalities—namely, mine.”
“It’s kinda hot.” I grinned. “Wait a second? Temperature abnormalities? A place loaded with sensors? Is this another business trip for you?”
A crease formed on his otherwise perfect face. The one that always popped up when I was trying his patience. “Can we return to your earlier statement? You think you’re pregnant?”
“While I haven’t had my period since…I don’t remember when, it might be a side effect of lots of things. I said it to defend myself.” Looking at his uncharacteristically shocked face, I squinted at him. “You’re looking at me like it’s impossible. Why is it impossible, Commando Calind?”
“It’s not possible.”
“Isn’t it? You are a virile man who travels with some pretty heavy and advanced tech that makes me think what isn’t real is and shit. Anything is possible.”
“Regan, you don’t understand. It’s not—” He covered my mouth and pressed me against the tree trunk. Bringing a hand to his mouth, he directed me to stay silent. His eyes shifted to the left, his chin remained pointed toward me. He extended an arm, and I heard a gasp in the wind, then a grotesque cracking sound. “Turn away, Regan.”
I shoved his hand down from my mouth. “What? Why?”
“Turn. Away.”
I slipped out of his grip and turned my back on him. I heard a pop and a muffled groan. A splintering, similar to the sound of a cracked tree trunk mixed with a broken sprinkler resounded. A heavy splash covered my legs. When I looked, I spotted a chunk of something bloody decorating my calves. I leaned in for a closer peek and realized it was a piece of brain matter.
“D-do you have radius control on that?”
Unclear images flooded my brain as if memories, leaving me with a pounding migraine. A fear as encompassing as any sane woman should have consumed me, but I couldn’t make myself terrified.
Standing in front of me, Calind lifted my chin until I stood upright. A brow quirked up and a half smile appeared. “No,” he replied, mildly entertained.
What the hell was funny about a guy exploding and spraying me with his gray matter? Calind had a dark and sick sense of humor. “Again, why are you out here, dressed like that, killing people?”
“We don’t have time to talk about this. Double back and return home.” He looked at the ground and then over his shoulder. “Go, Regan.”
I marched away, muttering, “I feel like I’m missing out on all the fun. All I can do is evade, or run away. I want to kick ass, too.”
“Regan.”
I whirled around to Calind pointing at the rainbow of lights radiating and dancing in the sky. “Is this what you wanted to show me?”
“It was.” His boyish smile rapidly faded. “Go home, Regan.”
A sudden whizzing sound left my inner ears ringing. In an instant, my indomitable man was on his knees.
“Calind?” One stride of my legs and I was also on my knees for an inexplicable reason. A burning at the back of my neck forced me to place my hand there. Needlepoint spikes poked through my flesh and back under my skin, injecting a warm and viscous fluid.
“Calind?” I asked, blinking up at him. Stuck frozen in place, Calind closed his eyes. Black veins popped to the surface and appeared on his face before he slumped on the ground. I struggled to get closer to him. Instead, I tumbled to the ground, back first. A figure stood over me, staring and still. Emile.
An acidic, boiling sensation erupted inside my stomach, urging me to expel blood.
Emile picked me up and pulled me into his arms.