Read Online 5 - Together To Join by Jackie Ivie - Free Book Online Page B

you were right! It’s not something I can fight. He can’t, either…although it’s taking him a bit longer to realize it.”
    “This will end badly, Angel. There’s no other path open to the man.”
    “You don’t know him.”
    “Garrick Wolfgar Von Holstaad. Twenty-seven. Six foot, four, two hundred twenty-one pounds. In spectacular physical condition. Benches 410. Runs the 60 meter dash in 6.8 seconds. Can do push-ups and sit-ups and pull-ups for hours on end. Perfect diet. Perfect stats on his blood-work. Sleeps exactly 6.2 hours every day, strength and agility exercising four hours, spends three more on weapons and combat training. Honed to killing strength and weight and speed. Orphaned at birth and left at the hospital. Norwegian mother, father not listed. Probably some stuck-up British lord. Family never claimed him. Poor kid. Life in an orphanage isn’t a bed of roses. That’s where Lord Beethan found and fostered him. Von Holstaad was six. Unloved. Unwanted. Impressionable. And hungry. Got turned into a killing machine. I don’t think he has a heart. And if he does, it’s rotten. How am I doing?”
    “Anyone can change. You know that.”
    “There’s something even he doesn’t know, Angel. It’s the real reason Beethan found him and took him in.”
    “What?”
    “His mother didn’t die because of the birth. She was a mugging victim. Margolis came upon her and then showed his stupidity. He says he gave her his fluid to try and save her. It might have worked if she hadn’t gone into labor…and if the authorities hadn’t decided to arrest him. That’s how I got involved actually. I had to post his bail.”
    He stopped as if waiting for her to insert words. So, she did, although they were whispered. “Garrick didn’t feed from one of us?”
    “He got half-turned in the womb. He was always gifted.”
    “It wasn’t another vampire?” Her voice was back.
    “Jealous?”
    “Appalled. And angered. Margolis should be warned.”
    “You can’t hurt a fly.”
    “He’s my mate, Akron. Mates have no secrets. How am I to prevent him from knowing this?”
    “Maybe I just told you so he will know it.”
    “What?”
    He sighed so heavily, it made a boom sound through his mic. “You say he’s your mate. You say he can change. You say he has a heart. Or did I get anything wrong?”
    “ Non. I said all that.”
    “Then, maybe I’ve decided to help your cause. If he has a heart, it got played with long before you came along. I’ll warn Margolis, although he may have saved Von Holstaad. I’ll let Old Beethan worry over the rest. But first things first. I have a business to run. That’s why I called. I need you.”
    “But—.”
    “The contract will be in Vegas. Tonight. The Palace. You leave in an hour. Len is your contact.”
    “Isn’t there anyone else?”
    “All right. I’ll give you an hour and a half. Be ready. Angelic-looking. That will certainly stand out in Vegas.”
    He was chuckling at his wit when the screen went blank.
    o0o
    He didn’t have to escape. It didn’t even require breaking a sweat. He didn’t resort to semantics, either, because after she told him she was leaving him to his own devices for the rest of the evening, she didn’t even ask for his vow not to try and escape. She might’ve assumed he was so overcome by their lovemaking episode, it was a given. Or maybe that was what got reflected to him in the liquid warmth of her beautiful eyes when they’d glossed over with unshed tears. Or maybe she just thought her little castle creation was inescapable.
    No. No. And no.
    Garrick had waited a full thirty minutes after she’d disappeared before acting. It was almost too easy. He’d found the wardrobe rooms and donned another outfit - he’d be a moving target in English hunting attire - and then he’d gathered a few essentials: The steak knife got added to his razor for obvious reasons; he cut away a section of her copper tubing for signaling or electrical