Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 119846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
“It’s okay now,” she whispered softly in Spanish, pressing a kiss to the top of her abuelita’s head. “Los monstruos se han ido, abuelita. Ya pasó todo.”
The quiet street glowed with strings of Christmas lights—twinkling reds, greens, and blues that blinked cheerfully from sagging porches and bushes half-dead from frost. But the festive glow felt surreal, like something out of a parallel universe. It didn’t belong to the chaos that had just erupted in front of her grandmother’s house. It didn’t belong to the woman she used to be.
That woman would’ve begged Branson—given in. Sacrificed herself to protect her family.
But she didn’t have to—not this time. Not with Bright and Burn here.
Across the dry lawn, she watched as the two massive Kindred warriors finished strapping Branson and the four masked agents into the back of the purple and gold shuttle—the same one they’d stolen from Thune.
Because of its sheer size, the shuttle had no trouble fitting all five of them in the back compartment. Branson, still whining about his shoulder, was shoved in first—his face twisted in pain and outrage. The others followed, scowling and silent—stripped of their weapons and their bravado.
“You have any last words to say to your ex-mate?” Burn asked, turning back to her, his deep voice low and dangerous. “Because you’re never fucking going to see him again.”
Noelle looked at Branson.
The man who had terrorized her, hunted her, tried to ruin her life and destroy the only family she had left.
He met her gaze and sneered, though there was fear behind his eyes now—real fear, for once—and she saw him shift uncomfortably, his mouth twisting in pain as he tried to cradle his blaster-singed shoulder.
Her lip curled.
She stepped forward, her voice cool and steady as steel.
“I have nothing to say to this trash,” she snapped, then spat on the ground at his feet. “They hurt people and tear families apart—they make people disappear. Now it’s time for them to disappear.”
A stunned silence followed her words, broken only by her grandmother’s soft sigh beside her.
Then Bright gave a low whistle.
“I’m glad you feel that way,” he said, stepping up beside Burn. “Because we’re going to disappear them for good, sweetheart.”
Together, the two Kindred slammed the rear hatch of the shuttle shut. The heavy thud of the seal locking into place was deeply satisfying, Noelle thought, like the lid closing on a coffin.
Burn strode up to the front of the shuttle and Noelle watched as he reached inside and pressed a glowing red button in the middle of the control panel.
With a sharp hydraulic hiss, the shuttle sealed completely.
Then, with a low mechanical growl that deepened into a roar, the engines lit beneath it, flooding the quiet neighborhood with golden-purple light. The ship hovered for a heartbeat—just long enough for her to hear Branson screaming something unintelligible inside—then it launched into the sky in a blazing arc, vanishing into the stars like a comet of vengeance.
Noelle stared up after it, her heart pounding.
“I’m glad they’re gone, but where did you send them?” she asked.
Burn came back to her side, a grin curving his stern mouth.
“I hit the Homeward Bound button,” he said. “It takes the shuttle straight back to where it came from.”
“Dios mio!” Noelle put a hand to her mouth as the realization dawned. “You mean you sent them all to Thune? Back to that big ugly Trollox?”
“Exactly.” Burn’s grin widened. “Looks like old Thune is going to have some new ‘piggy-wigs’ to play with this holiday season.”
Noelle blinked at him… and then the image hit her all at once—Branson, stripped of his guns and his ego, stumbling into the pleasure dungeon of an enormous, three-headed Trollox with a taste for humiliation.
And she couldn’t help it.
A giggle burst from her lips—then another. She tried to cover her mouth, but laughter shook her shoulders. It was shocked laughter, yes—but real and cathartic and healing.
Her ex and his horrible coworkers were going to get exactly what they deserved this Christmas.
But she didn’t think they were going to like it.
Not one little bit.
81
NOELLE
Noelle sat on the splintered front steps of her grandmother’s house, one arm around her Abuela’s delicate shoulders, the other resting on her own knee. The old wood creaked beneath them, still showing signs of the brutal invasion that had just taken place. The door hung crooked on its hinges, the screen ripped half-off, its metal frame twisted. But her grandmother was safe, and that was all that mattered.
Bright and Burn stood a respectful distance away, speaking in low voices as they waited for a new shuttle to arrive, their huge bodies silhouetted against the glow of the rising moon. Burn’s arms were crossed over his broad chest while Bright looked skyward, watching for the incoming ship.
Noelle wasn’t ready to look up just yet. She wasn’t ready to leave.