Baiting the Royal (Shifter World®: Shifter Affairs Book 3) by Nancy Corrigan

Author:Nancy Corrigan [Corrigan, Nancy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781946672834
Publisher: Cherokee House Publishing LLC
Published: 2019-06-26T18:30:00+00:00

Eighteen

Lyla

The nap I took on the couch in Ella’s office while the coroner finished up with my mother’s body was supposed to be for twenty minutes. That’s all. Just a short power nap, since the cold shower in the gym downstairs didn’t do much to keep me awake and functioning. Power naps always get me through until I can crash. I even set a timer on my phone. Twenty minutes. Not eight hours. I double-checked it before lying down. The alarm should’ve gone off several times even if I hit snooze. It didn’t. Dammit, I would’ve remembered it going off.

“Did you sleep well, baby?”

Inhaling sharply, I roll over, sweatpants-covered thighs filling my vision. My phone slips from my hand to the carpet. I look from Uri’s boots propped on the armrest by my head to where he’s reclining in the desk chair that should be tucked under Ella’s desk.

I jerk up and kick at Uri’s boots, shoving him and the rolling desk chair away from me, then drag myself to the corner of the couch farthest from him. “You were sitting here watching me this whole time, weren’t you? And you let me sleep through my alarm? Why? I wanted to talk to the coroner before he drove back to Virginia tonight. It’s past three in the morning. There’s no way he’s still here. How am I supposed to get the details of the autopsy?”

He rolls the chair closer to me. The amused curve to Uri’s mouth turns into a smirk. “No, I didn’t watch you this whole time. Most but not all. I left for a bit to shower and change. And no, you didn’t sleep through your alarm. I used your finger to unlock your phone, then turned the alarm off. Why? Because you needed to sleep. I could taste your exhaustion on my tongue, and it’s my duty to make sure you’re taken care of. And you’re right. Unfortunately, the coroner is gone, but he documented everything in the Shifter Affairs database for you to retrieve when you’re ready, including the official cause of death as being a massive heart attack incited likely due to the fear and pain of burning alive. He also took extra samples and stored them in the fridge downstairs before the body was taken out to be disposed of. He even left his number and said you could call him with any questions.”

Uri’s calm, factual responses to my rambling string of questions and sharp tone zaps my anger. I was exhausted. I also didn’t want to be anywhere near the basement lab while my mom’s body was being cut up and examined. I stared at her, said everything I’ve kept bottled up all my life, and felt a weight lift from my shoulders. Of course, it might’ve been Uri’s arms looped around my waist and his strong body at my back that gave me the strength to purge my soul. Whatever the reason, I made peace with that chapter of my life, just as I hope Sam did.

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