Page 29 of The Safest Place She Knows

“There areparts of the house that will be of more interest than others forher. Soundproof parts.”

“Oh. Right.Fine, we will be ten minutes behind you. I am going to grab somesnacks for everybody.”

The boys hootedand darted off to do whatever they needed to. The dogs caught onand danced on their paws, and when the address had been shared,they were off to Ymer’s SUV, and Oren decided to stay in the backwith her to cuddle.

Ymer glanced atthem when they were on the highway. “I am keeping track of you now.I am owed an hour for your time with Brexel, and now, the clock isticking on your time with Oren. I will average it out.”

She didn’t havea chance to comment; Oren had a fairly thorough command of hermouth.

She recognizedthe area they were driving through. It was very exclusive and veryexpensive.

The huge gateat the drive caused her to wrench her head from Oren’s. Her bodywas humming, but the enormous manor that they drove up to wasdistraction enough to push Oren aside.

“Here we are.Home sweet home, once we make a few adjustments.” He pulled up tothe front of the house.

In thedistance, landscapers were at work, and things were gettingtidy.

Ymer got out ofthe car and opened the rear door. She scooted herself away fromOren, and her third took her hand to help her out. He pulled heragainst him and ran a hand down her back. “You have no idea howglad I am that we were the right combination for you. To imagineyou in the same shape as Tonlya makes me ill.”

“I hope she’sdoing okay. I would like to say that I would never be in herposition, but if anything happened to Brexel, I would do anythingto keep the boys safe.”

He squeezedher. “The boys have their uncles to fall back on. I am more worriedabout you at the moment.”

She snorted. “Iam fine.”

“With the Elitecoming after you? We need to be on alert.”

“Right. Why doI keep forgetting about that?”

“Perhaps theshot to your skull had an effect on your memory? More likely thatthere is a magical block that keeps you from thinking about them.The odd thing is, only an Elite can place that kind of block. LikeOren. The mind is his playground.”

She leaned herhead to the side, and Oren was watching them with an innocentexpression. “Let me guess. Once he latches on, he can read yourmind.”

Oren twitched.“Yes, but you are playing dirty.”

Shegrinned.

“Where arethose photos, by the way? I would like to see the completecollection.”

She snickered.“A friend wanted to practice boudoir photos, so I did some warm-upshots with different outfits. The images are on a thumb drivesomewhere in my effects.”

Ymer asked,“What does the drive look like?”

“Pink with aglittery teddy bear on it.”

He opened hishand. “This one?”

“Wow. What isyour specialty?”

He grinned.“Finding things. Money, success, your clothing, thumb drives.”

She reached outand put her hand over the drive in his palm. She curled herfingers, and it was gone.

“Oh, I am notletting this out of my sight until I see the contents myself.” Hechuckled and wove his fingers with hers. “Now, let’s go and look atyour new domain.”

She was pulledinto the house that was smelling of lemon and beeswax. Cleanerswere working it over in preparation for the family to arrive. Ymerdidn’t waste time.

Chapter Six

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