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 heavy shot
THE ASSASSINS SERIES: NEXT GENERATION
TONI ALEO
Copyright © 2023 by Toni Aleo
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or
mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without
written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a
book review.

Editing: Silently Correcting Your Grammar: Lisa Hollett - AS ALWAYS, THANK YOU!
Proofer: Jenny RaRden - THANK YOU!
Cover: Lori Jackson - THANK YOU!!
Created with Vellum
 contents

Introduction

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Epilogue

Acknowledgments
Also by Toni Aleo
About Toni Aleo
introduction
 BEFORE YOU GET STARTED!

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Chelsea, Samantha, & Tonya.
Puck you.
 one

Austen

I hate how intimidated I am by Shelli Adler.

I may have only been in her presence for ten seconds, but it
doesn’t take long for me to realize that truth and to pop the rubber
band at my wrist.
Snap. Snap. Snap.
I don’t know why, but the pain still gets me, and I crave it. I pull
myself from my inner monologue and focus on the incredibly
powerful girlboss coming toward me. She’s medium height, with
long, luscious brownish-auburn hair and bright-blue eyes that are
framed by long dark lashes. Her makeup is light but with a deep-red
lip that means nothing but business in my opinion. She’s wearing a
pair of jeans and a tank with a blazer over it and rather high, high
heels. I’m pretty sure I see a bump, but surely not with how high
those heels are.
As she walks toward me, I am immediately intimidated, but I
don’t know if it’s because of the power that rolls off her in waves or
if it’s because my peepaw’s words are playing repeatedly in my
head.
Don’t. Fuck. This. Up.
Snap. Snap. Snap.
 I don’t know why his words are messing with me or why I feel
the need to punish myself for feeling so nervous. It’s a normal
emotion, in my opinion, yet I’m scared. While I am the most
responsible one out of all my sisters, I know this is a very important
opportunity for my family. I’m not even the eldest. I’m the middle,
with two older sisters and two younger, but I’ve always been the one
who didn’t push back or try to go against the grain. Well, I guess
that’s not true since I was the one to leave New Beginnings five
years ago.
Something I am still in awe of myself for doing.
We didn’t grow up with my peepaw. He tried—man, did he try—
but my mother was so deep into New Beginnings, there was no
getting out. No matter what my peepaw did, he couldn’t get her
away from my father. I honestly don’t know what hold the cult had
over my mother, but even when my father passed, she wouldn’t
leave. She was even offered an out, before she was given to the
next-in-line male, but she stayed.
When word got back to my peepaw that my father had died, he
did everything he could to get us back. He offered the Grandmaster
money, he offered my mother money, he tried to get the court
involved, but nothing worked. Even when our colony moved to hide
us so he couldn’t “influence” us to leave, my mother’s hold on us—or
really, the Grandmaster’s hold—was too much. That is, until I found
my voice.
Snap. Snap. Snap.
Jesus, just thinking of all this has awakened my flight senses,
urging me to run away. I can’t, though. Not now. I’m away from
them, and this is not how I want to start this meeting. I push my
dark hair off my shoulders and stand tall. Shelli may be powerful in
her own right, but so am I.
I escaped a cult. I can do literally anything.
“So, are you excited?” she asks, gesturing her hands toward me
in a very animated way. Her welcoming smile eases my nerves, and
soon, I’m smiling right back at her. With a nod, I start to follow her
down the concourse. Shelli’s eyes sparkle as we walk through the
compound. It’s easy to see how much she loves her job and the
legacy her family has built. The Nashville Assassins is one of the best
hockey programs in the country, maybe the world. Banners hang
everywhere, highlighting their achievements and past players.
Everyone wants to play for the Assassins.
The organization looks at each player as a whole. Not just what
they can offer, but what the program can offer them. Since Shelli has
been in charge, they have developed two new parts of the program,
a mental health side and then an advanced physical health side.
That is what my peepaw wants to do. He already owns a baseball
and basketball team; next is hockey, he says. Since he only wants
the best, he wants to mirror our future hockey compound on the
Assassins.
It’s fun to see it all completed and ready to go, rather than the
heap of dust ours is now. When my peepaw told me he was buying
a hockey team, I laughed. And when he told me I’d be the general
manager, I promptly stopped laughing. While I went to college for
business management, I don’t think any degree can prepare you to
manage a hockey team.
I think you’re just born to do it, like Shelli is.
“I am scared out of my mind,” I admit, and she laughs.
Snap.
“Don’t be. It’s going to seem like a lot, but I promise, it’ll be fun,”
she assures, her eyes just so inviting. She is very personable, and it
feels like I’ve known her my whole life. “When Mr. Davenport
reached out to me, I didn’t hesitate to help. We need more hockey
in Tennessee, and this is gonna be a badass program for our up-
and-coming boys.”
“That’s the plan.”
“Don’t worry. You’re going to be training with some of the best in
the biz. This year, you’ll learn more than ever.”
“Awesome,” I say softly as she checks her phone.
“Did my assistant send you over your itinerary for the week?”
“Yes. I have it all loaded in my phone.” Jesus, my hands are
shaking as I raise my phone. I use my other hand to hold it still as I
meet her gaze. Either she doesn’t see my shaking hands, or she
doesn’t care.
 Because Shelli’s face only shows a bright smile. “Great!”
Together, we continue through the compound, and I meet all the
people I will be corresponding with daily. I am basically Shelli’s
shadow for the season. I will live, breathe, and eat hockey. When I
am not training under her, I will be training with coaches and staff to
make sure I will be able to provide our hockey team with the same
perfection that Shelli does. I’m unsure how the deal for moving the
Assassins’ farm team to Tennessee came about, or even how my
peepaw got involved, but he is excited and so is Shelli. I would be
too…if only I weren’t so overwhelmed by my feelings of concern. I
aim to make this a success—and to make my peepaw proud.
It’s the least I can do when he fought tooth and nail to get my
sisters and me back into his life and safe from the shitshow my
mother had gotten us involved in.
“So, Mr. Davenport said you’d drive back and forth to Knoxville
daily?” Shelli asks her question with a look, and I nod grudgingly.
“That’s a long freaking drive in the morning.”
“It is,” I agree. “But our home is forty minutes outside Knoxville,
so it’s only two hours.”
“Austen, that’s insane. I have a place you can stay—for free.”
I wave her off quickly, resisting the urge to pop myself with my
rubber band. Peepaw said not to inconvenience the Adlers, no
matter what. “No, I couldn’t impose on your home with your child
and all.”
Shelli grins. “You’re totally always welcome in my home, but
actually, we have apartments for our players. I have an open one
you can use.”
“Oh,” I say, and the pure joy of not having to drive all the damn
time fills me. “If it’s cool with my peepaw, I’d love that.”
“I’ll make sure it is,” she says with a wink. “It’s fully furnished
and ready to go. Mom leases two floors for incoming players and
single ones. We want our boys to feel at home, and we don’t want
them stressing.”
I quickly take notes and mentally search Knoxville for a similar
building.
 “We don’t want them staying in hotels, so we just do apartments,
and it works great. A lot of teams are starting to do it.”
“Do the players pay for it?” I ask, making notes on my phone.
“They can after a month. We pay for their first month to see if
they stay on the roster and/or to give them time to find a new place.
Not that we’ll charge you a thing since we’re not paying you.”
We laugh together because she’s right, and I truly enjoy working
for free.
Not.
That wasn’t kind.
Snap. Snap.
“But anyway, we have nine single players living up there now.
And we’ll put three to each apartment for training camp,” she
finishes, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.
“Wow, that is so amazing and kind of y’all.”
She nods. “My mom is very family based and wants everyone to
feel at home.”
I eye her. “Are you that way?”
Shelli grins. “I am, and I’m not. For me, I don’t run the team
with my heart. I run it to have a winning team. You don’t perform,
you’re out. But Mom very much treats everyone like they’re her kids.
She gives second chances and believes they’ll come around—or
worse, she makes promises to people that I’m now having to deal
with.” Her anger is visible, and when she looks at me, she shakes
her head. “Sorry. I’m obviously still pissy from my meeting with my
mom this morning.”
“Ugh, yeah,” I joke, and she laughs a laugh that holds absolutely
no humor. “Can I know the situation?”
“For sure. Let’s go into my office. The rumor mill is real,” she
says in annoyance as she enters her office.
I follow, shutting the door, a little confused by her change of
mood. She falls back into her chair as I admire her office once again.
She’s done it in a beautiful gray tone with purple accents. All the
past logos of the Assassins are on the wall, along with photos of her
family. My favorite is the one of her son as a newborn, in her
husband’s gloves. As I sit down, she leans back and lets out a long
huff. “I also need to let you know that I’m pregnant.”
My heart swells. “Congratulations! Though…I did see the bump.”
She laughs. “Really? Everyone assumes I’m just fat.”
“No way! You’re glowing.”
“Thanks,” she says with a smile as she rubs a larger belly than I
had realized. “I apologize for my mood swings. I’m known for them.”
I wave her off. “You’re a gem.”
She laughs. “You’re a liar,” she teases, and I grin. “But I like you,
so it’s cool,” she announces, and I like her a lot too. I mean, this is
only day one and I have a very long season in front of me, but I do
like Shelli Adler. Not only for who she is, but for what she stands for.
I want to be strong and powerful just like her. I know I can be; I just
don’t know if one season will do it. Unfortunately, that’s all the time I
have.
I cross my legs as she clears her throat. “The situation is, I had a
list of players I wanted to bring up from the juniors, college, and our
farm team. I’ve done some really great scouting, and since we need
new players to replace those we traded off to make room in the
salary cap, I’ve made sure to pick some great talent. But then I was
informed that a player my mom promised a spot to on the team, no
matter what, has left the Russian squad for the US.”
I make a face. “That’s a thing?”
She rolls her eyes. “It is for Dimitri Titov.” Shelli grumbles
something under her breath and shakes her head. “I grew up with
him, his dad played with my dad, his uncle is my dad’s best friend,
and yeah, he’s family. But he wanted to play in Russia instead of the
juniors! Though, now that he wants to come back, I have to make
room for him. It’s beyond frustrating because he isn’t even that
good. He’s got bad habits now from the Russian league, and I don’t
want to deal with him.”
I bring my brows together. “This may be a dumb question, but
are American hockey and Russian hockey not the same?”
Gone is her annoyance, and soon, it’s replaced by a grin. “Oh,
Austen, I am going to have so much fun with you.”
 But I soon realize that Shelli’s definition of fun is watching hours
upon hours of this Titov guy playing hockey. First, it’s hard to keep
up. She is talking a million miles a minute about everything wrong
with him. It’s easy to say, she isn’t a fan.
For me, I’m trying to keep up and ignore how damn gorgeous
this man is. He has beautiful olive skin and black hair that has a blue
hue to it and curls at the back of his helmet. When they go in close
for the face-off, I can’t even pay attention to whether he sucks at
that, as Shelli says, because he has some penetrating blue eyes that
are to die for.
It’s almost cruel that I’ve gone from being in a cult where women
are basically an object rather than a partner or a leader, and never
wanting to be touched by anyone, to now finding myself wanting to
know everything about Dimitri, even if he sucks. It’s not long before
I am reminded that I’m not learning about Titov the man, but rather
Titov the hockey player. That is cruel in and of itself, but let’s be
honest, when will I have time for a guy? I am in a crash course in
Hockey 101 and Hockey Management.
As I watch game reel after game reel, I stop seeing the guys and
start seeing the plays. Soon, I’m impressed by the fact that I can see
these “bad habits,” and even I don’t know how he can break them.
Though, I want him to. Not because he’s gorgeous—and I like the
way he fights—but because of how much Shelli hates him and
doubts him. For me, I’m all for the underdog.
Especially when he is a Russian fox like Dimitri Titov.
Oh, those are bad, bad thoughts.
Snap, snap, snap.
Okay, one more snap.
 two

Dimitri

My sister moves by me, purposely hitting me with the side of the

box she carries. Her long, black-as-night hair that goes well past her
bottom sways back and forth as she walks to a spot in the living
room and drops my box. I hear a crash inside and cringe as my dad
hands me the US power cord for my Xbox. Pretty sure those are my
photo frames from high school. Or maybe even my glass pucks.
Great.
“Katarina!” my mom complains, but Katarina doesn’t even
acknowledge her.
She looks at me, her dark eyes like slits as she very aggressively
says in Russian, “No, I refuse to take it easy with his stuff when he
has brought me to this hellhole!”
“This hellhole is your birthplace!” I yell at her in Russian since it’s
our first language. Apparently, it’s also the only language she will
speak in America now that I’ve brought her here. She’s not happy
about it.
“I don’t like it here. I don’t want to be here. You pulled me from
my friends, my life, to follow him, the golden boy! Why? Explain
why?”
My parents have, many times, which is why both of them sigh
very deeply as they head for another box or two. To save them the
argument, I say, “Because my career is more important than you
getting slutty with your friends, okay?”
She glares, and it’s terrifying. But I know my mom won’t let her
claw my eyes out. Like my sister said, I’m the golden child. My mom
loves me most. “The only slut I know is you, thank you very much.”
She hurls that at me very fast and very antagonistically.
I shrug. Am I a saint? No. Am I slut? Eh, maybe.
“Takes one to know one,” I throw back at her.
Her eyes are even narrower. “Ugh. The newest Top Gun movie
called. They want their mustache back.”
I cover my mustache to hide my hurt. I love my mustache, and I
won’t let her win. “Mean Girls called. They need a replacement for
Regina. Care to take the role?”
“Kids, please,” Mom says as she walks in with a box. Her Russian
isn’t as fluid as ours. Dad made sure we spoke Russian as soon as
we could talk, but the only reason Mom learned was because we
moved to Russia once Dad retired from the Nashville Assassins. She
didn’t like not knowing what was being said. I’m surprised she is
speaking it in the States; I fully expected her to just speak English
now. With Kat only speaking Russian, though, maybe that’s why.
Who knows. I’m ready for them to take Kat and go. She’s been a
bitch from the moment this move was in the works.
I mean, I get it. She hates America and hates hockey, but guess
what, she’s not an adult, so she’s stuck with our parents. Maybe if
she hadn’t been trying to get with most of the Russian mob kingpins’
kids, she could have stayed with our grandparents.
Honestly, though, this move is best for everyone. Mom will be
near her family again, my sister won’t marry a mob heir, and I’ll play
for the Nashville Assassins. A dream of mine since I was a baby. My
dad, well, he’ll do whatever Mom wants. She came with him when
he wanted to expose us to a different life, and now he’s down for
anything. I’m sure, however, he’s not down for Kat’s attitude, which
is why I was smart enough to secure player housing.
Mom is sad I won’t be there since they are moving back in to our
family home that Kat and I were brought from the hospital to, but
she understands I need to focus. While Elli Adler, the owner of the
Assassins—who has always been my biggest fan and promised me a
spot as soon as I was able to hold a hockey stick—is behind me a
thousand percent, her daughter and the GM, Shelli Adler-Brooks, is
not feeling me.
I think her exact words were, “You’re sloppy, messy, and
nowhere near our standard.” I won’t take offense that she described
me negatively. I don’t think she likes me—ever has, really—but I will
prove her wrong. I don’t feel I’ve developed bad habits, but habits
can be broken if so, and I will play for the Assassins. Just as my dad
did and my uncle, and I will further the Titov family legacy.
I glance over at my dad, who is on his phone, while Kat argues
with Mom about how our parents are ruining her life. They’re not.
She could have ended up dead with the people she was messing
with.
“Dad, my mustache is cool, right?”
“The coolest,” Dad agrees. Then he clears his throat. “Ladies,
Jakob and Harper have invited us over to the house. Ally is home
with the baby since it’s wedding month.”
I furrow my brows. “Wedding month?”
“Yes, Stella Brooks is getting married, and so is Owen Adler.”
Kat makes a face of disgust and says, in Russian, “To outsiders or
within the family?”
Listen, it’s cute and all, how the Assassins team keeps it in the
family, all the kids marrying each other. But I think it also tiptoes the
line of Stockholm syndrome. They were all stuck together as
adolescents, and because of that, they all want each other. It’s
weird.
My mom doesn’t agree with us, though. She married her sister’s
husband’s brother. Or as he so bluntly puts it, “Knocked her up and
it forced me into marriage, and I couldn’t be happier.”
I swear he loves her.
“Stella is marrying a hockey player but an outsider.”
“Surprising,” Kat mutters.
“Owen is marrying Lucy and Benji Paxton’s daughter Angie.”
“The one that gained all that weight, right?” Kat asks, and I glare
at her.
 “Not everyone is born a walking pole,” I snap at her because, of
course, she has a perfect, thin body. I have struggled with my
weight, and as a man, that’s embarrassing. We’re meant to have
twenty-pack abs and muscles galore, but that’s not the case for me.
I have to work out a lot and watch what I eat. Kat can eat anything
she sees and doesn’t gain an ounce.
“Oh, sensitive?” she says with no concern for anyone but her
annoying self. “And am I to assume we must make an appearance
for these? Why is Ally back in town?”
“Yes, we are invited. All of us. And Ally is married to Asher,
Stella’s brother,” Dad replies.
“They got married?” I ask, confused. “Didn’t they have a baby,
too, and didn’t tell anyone?”
Dad laughs. “Yes, very private, those two. Didn’t tell Harper or
Jakob about anything.”
“Or even Lucas and Fallon,” Mom supplies. She then looks to me
before asking, “Can you come?”
“I have a three-hour workout with the trainer, but I should be
able to come after.”
“Fantastic,” Mom says, walking over to me and hugging me
tightly. “I moved here with you, so don’t be a stranger, okay?”
“Yes, Mom. I know,” I say, kissing her cheek as I hold her close.
Like Kat, she is very slender and petite. Beautiful. Her eyes are the
most stunning color of light blue, almost like the sky.
She kisses my cheek once more and whispers “Love you” before
tapping my bicep. She heads out the door as Dad shakes my hand,
and we hug tightly. I notice Kat walking out, but there is no way I’m
stopping her.
When Dad pulls back, his eyes lock with mine. We are the same
height; I’m bigger, but that doesn’t discount my dad at all. He is
massively strong even at his age, and I respect him more than
anyone in this world. My dad is everything to me. I love my mom, I
do, but there is something about my dad’s quiet demeanor that
pushes me to be the very best for him. While I’ve always wanted to
play for the Assassins, I was fine in the Russian league. I was happy,
but it was he who asked when I was going to play for the Assassins.
 I contacted Elli the next day.
I want nothing more than to please my dad and make him proud.
Which is why I kill myself on the ice and in the gym.
“You’ve got this, you hear?”
I nod. “Yes, sir.”
“I love you. Call me if you need me.” Any normal father/son dual
exchange of love wouldn’t have anything else tied to it but love. But
between my father and me, there is more to it. His “I love you” also
means, Do your best and don’t embarrass me. Make the team, or
don’t call me. Don’t get distracted by pussy. Do what you came here
to do.
I don’t answer his concerns. I just hug him tighter and say, “I
will. Love you too.”
After an hour of weight training, I suit up and hit the ice. I’m not
gonna lie. The moment my skates hit the rink in Luther Arena and
the crunch of the ice under my blades fills my ears, I feel at home. I
know I’m where I’m supposed to be. I look around at all the empty
seats, and it’s almost as if I’m taken back to when I was a child. My
last time skating on this ice was when I was six, I think. Dad and the
team had won the Cup, and we had an after party. I outskated
everyone. I wasn’t getting off the ice, no matter what. Too much
fun.
As I pepper the goal with pucks, I think I am alone. But then I
hear, “You’re dropping your shoulder too late and not leaning back
on your back leg.”
I look back to see Posey Adler on the ice, in sneakers and with a
baby on her hip. Wow, I forgot how beautiful Posey is. Wild auburn
hair up in a huge bun and thoughtful blue-green eyes that can stop
a room. Of the two Adler sisters, most would choose Shelli for sheer,
classic beauty. For me, it was always Posey. She’s just gorgeous, but
she never gave me the time of the day. I smile widely at her. If I
were to do what everyone else did and marry one of the people I
grew up with, it would be Posey.
Though, it looks like that ship has sailed for me.
“Is that right?” I ask as she comes toward me, her face radiant.
 “Yeah. Go ahead,” she says and holds up her phone. I do as she
says, and then together, we watch the film back. She slows it down,
and she is right. Shit. “See? You know better.”
“I do,” I say, and then I turn back to the goal.
“You’re used to trying to play fast and get the puck off your stick
without remembering your technique,” she explains, tapping my
side. I drop my shoulder the way she instructs me. I take a deep
breath and slow down my mind before taking the shot the way I’m
supposed to. Everything is so quick in the Russian league. It wasn’t
about clean play; it was about making the next play or the next goal.
Quickly. Hockey is a very fast-paced sport, but you also have to
remember the foundation, your skills. And sometimes I forgot when
I was playing in the Russian league.
“Good. Again, really lean into your back leg for more power,” she
coaches, and I do as she says. “Attaboy. Now, make sure you keep
that left eye open. You’re letting it drift closed. You’ve got to make
sure to watch from the stick, to the puck, to the goal.”
I only nod as I do as she says, and soon I notice how much
quicker and more precise my shot is.
“Very good, Titov. Very good. See? You’re coachable.”
“Shelli says I’m not?” I jeer.
“Oh yeah, she hates you,” she laughs, leaning in for a hug. I hug
her tightly, kissing her cheek.
“Not you, though. You still love me, right, Posey?”
She grins. “I do. How are you? It’s really good to see you.”
“Good, excited.” I reach out, shaking the hand of the little guy
she holds. “Your son, Zac, right?”
“Yup. Momma’s baby,” she gushes, tickling under his chin. He
giggles loudly, and I smile. “No kids? No girlfriend? No wife?”
I shake my head. “Nothing. Just me.”
“Good. You can’t be distracted right now.”
“I know,” I say softly, nodding. “Can I employ you to work with
me a couple times a day?”
She scoffs. “Employ me? Please. Let me know times, and I’ll be
here. Just don’t tell my sister.”
 We share a laugh before she squeezes my arm. “You’ll have to
come over for dinner. Hang with Boon off the ice. You’ll like him.”
“Your husband?”
“Yup,” she says proudly. “He’s great.”
“He has to be to snatch you up,” I say with a wink, and she
snickers.
“Very true. You have my number still?”
“I don’t,” I admit, and together, we head toward the bench.
We exchange numbers, and before she walks away, she says,
“Hundred more shots. Watch the shoulder, lean into your stick,
Dimitri. I’ll be watching.”
She wiggles her phone at me, and I make a face. “Huh?”
“Cameras,” she says with a grin before she walks away.
I laugh and shake my head. Great. Means Shelli has more than
likely been watching me too. I inhale deeply and then notice a
message on my phone.
Saw you’re back in town. Early dinner?
It’s from Emery Brooks, and I can’t help but smile. She’s been all
over my Instagram since I announced I was coming home. When
she asked for my number, I didn’t even hesitate. She’s family. But
then our conversations became very flirty and very suggestive. I had
to make sure she was legal because, hot damn, she’s hot.
Me: Time and place?
Emery: Brooks House. An hour?
Me: Two hours. I’ve got to finish up my workout, and then I’ll be
there.
Emery: Good. See you soon.
I send her a winky face, and then I find myself grinning as I
skate around, gathering pucks. I know I don’t need the distraction,
but if I am picking up what she’s throwing down, I’m pretty sure she
doesn’t want the distraction either.
She just wants the fun, and I love to have fun.
 three

Austen

I can feel the anger rolling off Shelli as we look out at the ice. The
arena is beautiful and super state-of-the-art, with a huge scoreboard
that is currently playing ads. High-quality seats and fun food areas
are empty, but they hold so much promise. I know the season hasn’t
started, but it’s very clean, too. But none of that matters to Shelli;
she is seething.
A player—who, if I’m correct, is the very bane of Shelli’s
existence, Dimitri Titov—listens intently to a woman slightly bigger
than Shelli, who is holding a child on her waist and looks as if she is
coaching him. How she is demonstrating everything with a baby on
her hip is commendable, but Shelli does not look happy. She almost
looks betrayed. I glance back at the ice as he takes a shot, and the
coach beside him nods, pleased. She looks a lot like Shelli—thick
auburn hair and piercing blue-green eyes—but thicker. It pleases me
to no end to know the Assassins have a female coach. After being in
a place where women are basically the mud on a man’s boot,
coming here and watching women run things without the help of
any men, I am more than pleased. I’m proud.
“Who is that?” I find myself asking, but I instantly regret it by the
way Shelli looks at me. It seems as if it was wrong of me to ask.
Snap.
 “My sister,” she seethes as she strikes her hips. That’s when I
notice that her sister is heading up the stairs from the penalty box,
toward us. “Please don’t think differently of me,” she says without
looking at me.
But before I can respond, I look up to see that her sister is
mirroring Shelli’s expression.
“Before you come at me sideways, I’m not the one with the issue
with him. You are.”
That makes Shelli even madder.
“And I’m pretty sure Aiden said for you to let it go, to let it
happen. You’re upset for no reason.”
Oh man. I hook my thumb over my shoulder. “Should I go back
to your office?”
“Not at all,” Shelli snaps at me, and instantly, I pop myself on the
wrist. Not sure why, but their interaction is a lot for me.
“I am upset because he doesn’t belong on the team, he isn’t
good, and you’re out there coaching him!”
“Yes, because I am a coach, and he is my player.”
“Posey! Are you kidding me?”
What an odd name. I may like it? Posey seems very unfazed by
her sister and shrugs. “This is not a joking matter, Shelli. I am a
coach. I am here to help the guys and help them help us get the
Cup back in Nashville.”
“I don’t want him to be a part of that. He is sloppy!”
“So, I’ll clean him up.”
“He took part of my salary cap.”
“So? That’s over and done with. We’re moving on, sister. You’ve
been holding on to whatever you’ve got against him since Christmas.
Let it go. He just wants to play, and if he makes the cut, that’s
great.”
“Of course he’s going to make it if you’re helping him!”
I scrunch up my face in confusion, just as Posey does. The
Assassins have been built on the notion that they are a family and
care for everyone who skates into their life. Shelli’s words don’t
match the foundation and philosophy I just spent hours listening to.
Since I have no leg to stand on, I don’t say anything.
 Posey, on the other hand, has a lot to say. “So, let me get this
straight. You want him to fail?”
Shelli presses her lips together. “Posey, he won’t be an asset to
this team.”
“I disagree. Mom disagrees—hell, I bet if your assistant knew his
background, saw the tapes, with my commentary, she’d see it too.”
Then Posey shakes her head. “Is this why you’ve been dodging
Dad’s calls? ’Cause you know he’ll tell you the same? You’re being
ridiculous, Shelli. And since you aren’t getting your way, your
spoiledness is hanging out. Tuck it back in and do your job.”
Shelli takes a step toward her sister. In her heels, she’s Posey’s
height, but in my view, Posey doesn’t even back down an inch.
Though, I may have taken a step back.
Snap, snap, snap, and snap.
“Watch your tone with me, Posey. I am your boss,” Shelli says in
a very low and demanding voice.
Posey laughs at that, and even I react. By cringing and backing
away more. Shelli, she starts shaking. “A boss is a leader. You aren’t
acting like a leader. You’re acting like a spoiled brat, mad ’cause the
guy you tried to sleep with wouldn’t sleep with you a thousand years
ago. You’re married, pregnant, and have a child at home. GM of the
best team in the NHL, and you’re holding a grudge against a guy
who doesn’t give two shits about you.” Posey moves closer. “Get
your hormones under control, Shelli. God don’t like ugly.”
With that, Posey turns on her heel, but then she pauses. Her
eyes fall on me, and she says, “Sorry, she’s hormonal, and I’m not
one to deal with her. It’s nice to meet you.” She holds out her hand
to me. I take it, wide-eyed, as she adds, “I’m Posey Adler-Hoenes.
It’s nice to meet you.”
“Austen McDavid.”
Her lips curve as she adjusts her child, who isn’t really on her
hip, but in a sling against her body. “Are you the new farm team
GM?”
I grin, and whoa, talk about a 180 in tone. “I am.”
“Nice. I met your grandpa. He speaks very highly of you.”
I smile proudly. “I’m ready to learn from the best.”
 She chuckles, nodding. “I mean, we are, not that she’s showing
that right now.” She cuts her gaze to Shelli. “Do us all a favor. Have
her take you to the med concourse, and check her in for some
therapy.”
Shelli flips her sister the bird, and Posey just laughs as she walks
away. As I watch her and Shelli seethes with fury beside me, I
wonder what it’s like at family events. They both seem like such
firecrackers, and I assume their mom is the same.
“Don’t you have three brothers?”
Shelli looks over at me. “I do.”
“Are they all like the two of you are together?”
“What do you mean?
“You two are explosive.”
Shelli scoffs. “My brothers are worse.”
I smile because even though she is trying to be mad and serious,
she has a small smile on her face. “I bet holidays are fun with such a
big family.”
Gone is the loving look as she shakes her head. “It’s World War
Three, but none of us has died yet, so we keep gathering. But I see
our demise on the horizon if I don’t get my hormones under control.”
“I mean, you’re passionate,” I say kindly, and she laughs.
“I’m a handful, and she’s right. But…” She pauses and then
exhales loudly. “This is completely unprofessional—hell, all of this
has been—but I need you to know. I did sleep with him when we
were sixteen and they were visiting. I was under the impression they
weren’t going back. Posey suspected what was going on, and I told
her I hadn’t, but I did. I don’t want him here because he’s a shitty
player—and because he told me he loved me, and then the next day,
he told me he was leaving for Russia and that he wasn’t really in
love with me. Pretty sure he said what he did to get in my pants,
and I was dumb enough to allow him to do it.”
With that, she walks away in a huff, and I’m speechless.
I have no clue what to do with that information, but I feel for the
girl she was. I know, as a sixteen-year-old girl, I didn’t have the
luxury of being brokenhearted by a guy. That would have entailed
my feeling something for the men who were thrust into my body, but
I can feel for Shelli. She was scorned. But given who she is, I’m sure
she knows better than this. I don’t approve of her letting personal
things from her past affect her business dealings. It must be
hormones or something, but I sure don’t agree with how any of this
is playing out.
But who am I to even question her?
Snap.
I’m learning from her.
Snap. Snap.
But. I. Don’t. Agree.
When I don’t snap myself, I exhale as I look at the red marks on
my wrist and how the rubber band is digging into the bend of my
thumb. I feel my body vibrate with uneasiness. I was raised to
always listen to the powerful people around me, but I’m not that girl
anymore. I am my own person. I slowly bring the rubber band back
to my wrist and exhale once more. When I look up, I find Shelli
watching me.
“You okay?”
My chest is shaking from how hard my heart is beating. “I don’t
think it’s right that you are allowing your feelings from so long ago
to bleed into your business.”
She turns to face me and holds my gaze. “It’s more than my
feelings. It’s the fact that I don’t think he belongs.”
“Because of your feelings.”
She shrugs. “And because I lost the salary space for a really
great player. Though, you and Posey are right. I am wrong. But it
doesn’t change how I feel.”
I slowly nod, understanding what she means. “Which is fair, but
you must control how those feelings seep into everything around
you. You are my example, and I want you to be what everyone says.
And all this has been very messy.” I’m hesitant because I really don’t
want to lose my opportunity to work with her. But I also know she
must respect my honesty.
Slowly Shelli nods as she holds my gaze. “Noted, and thank you.”
I let out the breath I was holding. “I hope my candor won’t
cause you to hate me.”
 She laughs. “Not at all. I may be coming off as a spoiled brat, but
I’m not. I’m just frustrated, and I’d rather you be honest than kiss
my ass.”
“I assumed so,” I say as I move toward her, walking in step with
her. “But for real, screw him on a personal level.”
She smiles, her eyes sparkling as she nods. “For sure.” She looks
ahead and tips her chin forward. “Let’s hit up the med concourse. I
wanna show you all the cool stuff we have, and maybe I should look
into some therapy.”
Something shifts in my stomach, fear maybe, but I don’t let it
hold me back. With my head held high, I walk with Shelli.
Two incredibly powerful women, with what I assume to be a lot
of emotional baggage.
Or maybe that’s just me?
No.
Ugh.
Snap, snap, snap.
 four

Dimitri

After a hard workout session, I take a shower and head toward

Brooks House, Emery’s family’s restaurant. I am in somewhat of a
bad mood since everything hurts and I don’t love hearing that Shelli
hates me, but that all fades away once I see her. I knew Emery had
grown up. The last time I saw her was for Shelli’s wedding a couple
years ago, and even then, she was beautiful. I’ve followed her on
Instagram and Snapchat for years, so I’ve had the opportunity to
admire her from afar, but man, I wasn’t prepared for the off-social-
media Emery.
She’s sitting at the bar, her legs crossed as she wears a pair of
super-short jean shorts that give a peek of the bottom of her ass.
Her legs are long and toned, a beautiful tan, sending chills down my
spine and heat to my groin. She’s got on high-top green Chucks that
lace up in a bow at her ankle and a black crop top that looks more
like a sports bra than a shirt. Her shoulders are defined and bare.
Her wild, curly dark hair is up in a huge topknot on the top of her
head as she leans on her hand, kicking her sexy leg up and down. A
nice curve to her jaw, full cheeks, and dark lashes. In an instant, I
see at least two spots I want to kiss.
I walk over, and when she spots me, her eyes dance with mine.
Oh yeah, this is going to be a lot of fun. She stands up once I reach
her, and we embrace tightly.
“It’s good to see you,” she says against my chest, her fingers
bouncing along my back.
“Same, Em. You look incredible.” I step back, taking her in. I hold
her hands, getting a look at her beautiful body. “Not a kid anymore.”
She waggles her brows at me, smiling from ear to ear. “Nope.
And wow. You’ve put on a lot of muscle, haven’t you?”
I nod proudly. “About twenty pounds.”
“I can tell,” she says, squeezing my bicep, and heat surges
straight to my gut as she grins up at me. “The mustache is top-
notch.”
I grin widely. “Katarina had the gall to say that Maverick the
movie had called to ask for it back!”
She snorts. “Sounds like Kat. How is she?”
“Spawn of Satan. How are your siblings?”
Emery nods. “Same. Though, I’m sure they’d say that about me.”
“Oh, for sure,” I tease, and she grins.
“Have you been here yet?”
“No. First time,” I answer as she sits back down. Once she’s
seated, I take the seat beside her, looking around the posh
establishment. Wooden barrels make up the tables of huge, dark
booths. The bar takes up most of the place, with large barrels and
wineglasses everywhere. Along the stone walls are shelves holding
the wine collections belonging to family members. The lighting is low
and romantic, but the place is busy and loud. Big TVs hang from the
ceiling, baseball playing as people eat and enjoy one another’s
company.
I used to go to places like this back home, but at that time, I
didn’t have any ambition or any goals. I’d get black-out drunk and
sleep with any willing woman. I’m not like that now. I’ve turned over
a new leaf, as my mother says. “It’s nice.”
“Yeah, my mom has put a lot of work into it,” she says, leaning
on her hand and fluttering those long lashes at me. “The food is
awesome, and of course, the wine is delectable.”
I flash her a half grin. “Can you even drink?”
 Her smile turns sheepish as she shakes her head. “Not legally,
but I can own a company.”
“Which is even more impressive—and a total turn-on,” I say with
a wink.
Just then, her sister Stella comes over to us, placing a napkin in
front of me.
“What can—” She pauses as soon as she recognizes me. “No
shit! Dimitri!” she gushes, rising over the bar to hug me tightly. I
meet her halfway, hugging her back as she kisses my cheek. I’ve
always thought of Stella as a gorgeous girl, and that hasn’t changed
a bit. Her style screams fashionista, just like Katarina’s. A cowboy
hat adorns her head, and she wears a very stylish blue dress. I’m
not surprised; she always looks good. The only difference is the
huge rock on her finger. “I didn’t know you were back in town yet.”
“Got settled today,” I answer, holding on to her hand. “Man, you
must have carpal tunnel from carrying this sucker around.”
Her face fills with such happiness, and I find myself envious of it.
“Isn’t it beautiful? Just as perfect as the man who put it on my
finger. I am so excited to see you’re coming to the wedding.”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” I cup her cheek. “I’m very
happy for you.”
She beams. “Thank you. But please tell me my sister will not be
your date.”
She cuts a look to Emery, who gives her one hell of a dirty look in
return. “Um, mind ya business.”
Stella rolls her eyes. “Be careful with this one. She’s a
heartbreaker.”
I chuckle. “According to my sister, I’m heartless.”
Emery gives me a very sultry half-lidded smile. “According to
some, so am I.”
Perfect.
Stella isn’t amused. “Man, Dad is gonna have a field day with
this.” Emery ignores her, but I chuckle. Their dad won’t know a
thing. In and out, baby. Stella asks for my drink order before
handing me a beer and wandering off.
 When I turn to Emery, she holds out her glass of water, and I tip
the top of my beer to it. She locks eyes with me and says, “To old
friends making new memories.”
I take a long pull as her eyes stay locked with mine. I have a
feeling this is a very bad idea, hooking up with Emery Brooks, but I
think I don’t care. I think she’s just the reward I need for a long,
hard day.
“Are you excited to be back in the States?”
I nod. “I am, but I already miss home. I’m thankful my family
came.”
“Absolutely. But why did they? Do you not plan on going back?”
I shrug, surprised by that question. “I guess we always knew
we’d come back to the States. My mom’s whole family lives here,
and my dad’s family has gotten to see a lot of us.”
“True. I’m just surprised they picked up and moved for you to
play hockey, especially when you were already playing in Russia.”
“I needed the challenge and the change.” I smile. “And I’m the
favorite.” We both chuckle at that. “Plus, Kat was getting into a lot of
trouble and doing some suspect shit.”
Emery laughs. “Don’t we all do suspect shit?”
“I do, on occasion,” I admit.
“As do I,” she tells me, her eyes dancing with all kinds of suspect
stuff. “But guess what? If she wants, she’ll find it here too.”
“’Cause it’s easy to find?”
Her gaze moves down to my lips. “For me, it is.”
Hot damn, if I were a betting man, I’d bet I am going to get laid
tonight.
I run my fingers through my hair, ignoring the pulsing feeling in
my pants. “Well, let’s hope Kat stays out of trouble, because my
mom is happy now, and I think my dad is going to open his own rink
here,” I say, trying to regain some kind of composure.
“That’s awesome,” she says, tucking her hands between her
thighs. It’s hard for me not to notice or want to touch, but I’m a
gentleman, so I only scoot closer so my knee touches hers. She
looks up at me through those incredible, dark-lashed eyes, and my
pants get a little tighter.
 Yup, if I were on the ice, it’d be a hat trick kind of night.
Once I gulp the pull of beer I took, I ask, “So, how’s business?”
“Really good,” she answers, setting down her glass. “I’m trying to
figure out if I want to sell my company or if I want to continue
developing more software for it.”
“Sell? Weren’t you just in Forbes magazine?”
She grins. “I was, but a lot has happened, and I’m unsure about
it. Don’t get me wrong, I love helping law enforcement get the bad
guy. But I don’t know. I don’t love it the way I used to. Things have
changed.”
“Why is that?” I ask, but then I notice she isn’t looking at me any
longer. Her whole demeanor changes, her eyes widen, and she goes
still. I look to where she is staring, but all I see is a group of dudes.
After a second, I ask, “Emery?”
She clears her throat and takes a deep breath. Under her breath,
she whispers, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
“What’s wrong?”
But still, she doesn’t answer me, her gaze fixed on someone
behind me. I look over my shoulder just as a rather tall, athletically
built, very familiar guy with dark-blue eyes and shaggy brown hair
comes toward us. It clicks who he is, and I grin widely.
“Holy shit, Quinn,” I laugh as I stand up. Surprise falls on Quinn’s
face as recognition comes to him, and he smiles back at me. We
embrace, and he hugs me tightly, smacking my back in a true bro
hug. “Damn, man, you’ve shot up. You weren’t this tall at the
wedding!”
Quinn laughs as he nods, squeezing my shoulder. “Yeah, I can
beat up both my brothers now.”
Emery snorts. “Hardly.”
I smirk over at her, but Quinn doesn’t laugh as I say, “Hell, the
last time I saw you, you were smaller than her.”
By the looks of it, no one appreciates my joke. I laugh by myself,
looking like a dumbass. I glance back at Quinn, confused by the way
they’re staring at each other. I almost feel as if I’m interrupting
something intimate and private, but he came up to us.
 “Emery,” he says after a second, and Emery sits up taller, spine
straight as she crosses her arms over her chest. In doing so, she
makes her breasts look way bigger than they did a few moments
ago. I watch as Quinn’s breath catches when his gaze moves to her
chest and then back up to her face.
Damn. I don’t know what is happening, but by the way he says
her name and is looking at her, there must be something going on.
With a dip of her chin, she says, “Quinnifer.”
“Quinnifer?” I ask, but neither of them looks at me.
“It’s what she calls him when he pisses her off,” Stella says from
my side.
I chuckle, but neither of them pays us any mind. With a deep
rumble in his throat, Quinn bites out, “What are you doing here?”
She points to her glass. “Drinking water.”
He nods. “With him, or was this coincidental?”
Emery’s brows knit together tightly as I look between them. Man,
the sexual tension between these two is palpable. It’s coming off
them in waves, smacking me right in the face. “If you’re asking if I’m
here with Dimitri, then the answer is none of your gosh darn
business.”
“Cute, Em. Cute.”
“Whoa,” I say, exhaling as I sit down. “So, history, eh?”
“Something like that,” Emery says as Quinn says, “A bit.”
“So, you’re dating now?” he asks, pure venom in his voice.
“Because I thought you said you weren’t looking for a relationship.”
“I did, and just so you know, dating for a relationship and dating
to fuck are two different things,” she snaps, and his eyes darken as I
choke on my beer. Well, okay, I guess I read the situation just fine.
But I’m pretty sure I’m out of the picture now. Especially with the
way they’re looking like they’re about to tear each other’s clothes off
and do it against the bar. Maybe I should leave? “I’m here for the
latter.”
Her shoulders are taut, her eyes dark and full of challenge as he
shakes his head. His eyes darken, and I’m pretty sure she’s about
two seconds from kicking him with how fast her leg is swinging.
“Wow. Real rich, Emery. Real fucking rich.”
 “What’s it to you?” she snaps, glaring at him. “I thought you
moved on with what’s her name… Oh, that’s right. My cousin.
Penelope Odder.”
These people can’t find partners outside of the Assassins’ world.
I swear it.
His eyes flash with something, I’m not sure what, but I’m pretty
sure I should go. “You know that was only to make you jealous, and
it was over before it started.”
“Oh, you think you can make me jealous?” she says, her words
dripping with so much sarcasm, I’m surprised he doesn’t laugh.
“How cute.”
“Funny, you’re the one who brought it up.”
“To state a point that you’ve moved on, so I can too.”
“I didn’t move on, Em,” Quinn says, shaking his head, and then
he leans in. “If you wanted to be fucked, Emery, I could take care of
you, and you know I can.”
Emery’s eyes widen as her breath catches, and I hold up my
hands. “Jesus Christ, do I need to go?”
Quinn looks over at me. “Dude, I’m sorry, but I’m in love with
her, and she keeps playing this game with me.”
Emery throws her hands up. “There is no game, Quinn. I don’t
want to be in a relationship, and you’ve proven over and over again
I can’t just fuck with you ’cause you throw feelings around. And next
thing you know, I’ve got a ring on my finger and a baby in my belly.
I can’t fucking do it!”
Quinn looks away, and his nostrils flare. “So, you want me to sit
here and watch you hook up with someone else?”
“No one says you gotta watch.”
“I can’t not watch you. Need you. Love you.”
“Quinn,” she practically begs. “Not here, please.”
“Embarrassed? Think of how I feel.”
“I know how you feel! I get it, but damn, let me be. I’m not
ready for you…this…us. I need to experience the world. Respect
that!”
He nods slowly and then leans back in. “I am doing my goddamn
best, and I get that’s not what you want. You want me to disappear,
let you be, but I can’t. You’re everywhere I go, everywhere I look. I
can’t not love you.”
“Damn,” Stella says, handing me a little bowl of popcorn. “This is
some show.”
I snort as I take a handful. “Who you telling?” I throw some into
my mouth. “Ooh, cheddar popcorn.”
“Shh,” Stella demands as we both look back to the other two.
“That’s not my fault. I told you not to fall in love with me.”
“So, you can fall for me, but I can’t for you?”
“Yes! ’Cause I can control my feelings!”
He’s shaking with anger, and I can’t help myself. I lean in. “That’s
the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. If you love him, be with him.”
“Fuck off,” Emery snaps, her eyes wild.
“Well, hot damn,” I say, a bit offended, and Stella nods.
“Very touchy subject, these two.”
Quinn doesn’t even chance a glance at us or acknowledge
anything we’ve said. His eyes are only on Emery, his heart on his
sleeve. “Fine. Keep playing these games. But know this, Emery
Elaine Brooks… No one, and I mean no one, will make love to you
the way I do. Worship your body the way it’s meant to be
worshiped. Good luck trying to come with anyone else.” She glares,
and I’m unsure if she’s breathing as he backs away. His gaze then
falls on me, and he shrugs. “I’m sure you’re a capable fuck, but she’s
mine.”
“I am no one’s, Quinn. No one’s,” Emery bites out.
I hadn’t even noticed how close they had gotten, his lips so near
to hers, they could kiss at any moment. “Lies.”
“It’s not a fucking lie. I belong to only myself.”
Man, I feel like I’m in a romantic drama and they’re about to
start fighting or kissing.
Quinn doesn’t even hesitate. “You’ll always be mine. Just as you
carry my heart, I carry yours. And guess what?”
Her words come out as a whisper, and she’s unable to back down
from the challenge he presents. “What?”
“I’m not giving it back.”
 When he kisses her, hard, even my breath catches as Stella sighs
deeply. Out of nowhere, though, Emery pulls back from his kiss,
wide eyes, rosy face, and slaps the living shit out of Quinn. I’m
surprised the nonexistent record didn’t scratch to a halt, with
everyone staring at them. I look between them. Quinn is completely
unfazed by her display of anger, his chest rising and falling with
every breath he takes. Emery is the same, wild-eyed and completely
flushed with color.
“You’re absolutely impossible!”
“Am I?”
“Completely!”
“Maybe I am, but it’s all because of you.”
With that, he walks away. And I’ll be honest, even I’m left
speechless. I have never seen anything like that. Quinn didn’t care
who was around, who saw, who listened, or even if Emery would kill
him. He stood there, fighting for her, and she… Well, damn, she just
let him walk away. I don’t know if I could do what either of them
did. When I hear laughter, I turn to see Stella shaking with it as she
hands me another beer. “And you thought you were gonna hook up
with her without a hitch, huh?”
My eyes are wide as I ask, “What the fuck just happened?”
“Quinn Adler happened,” Stella says, and Emery glares at her.
“Shut up.”
“Hey, I told you. Once you go Adler, you never go back. Ask our
brother.”
I snort at that. Word is Aiden Brooks is head over heels in love
with Quinn’s older sister, who unequivocally hates my guts.
“Oh my God, will you shut up?” Emery complains, her eyes a little
watery. I know Emery, though. She won’t let those tears fall.
Just then, a piano starts the melody to a fucking banger,
“Careless Whisper.” I know it right off the bat, and when I look at
the stage, Quinn is there, playing, and then he’s singing.
Holy shit, this kid has one hell of a voice. Those Adlers are a
talented bunch.
“He is so unreasonable,” Emery protests, her eyes a fiery gray
stare. I didn’t even know gray could spark like that. As much as she
follows all those true crime podcasts, I don’t know if I’d make her
mad. She probably knows how to hide a body and get away with it.
Quinn, though, he gives no fucks. Emery reaches for her purse,
grumbling, “I’m gonna have to move. I’ve got to get away from
him.”
“I think it’s romantic,” Stella says, and Quinn sings the lyrics from
his soul. “Even if the song is kind of a bitch slap.”
“I love this song,” I say, and Stella nods eagerly.
“Same!”
We high-five as Emery gets up. “I never cheated on him.”
“I know,” Stella says, “I think he means how everything played
out. Y’all have been doing this dance for years, Em. He loves you.”
“If he loved me, he’d give me space.”
“Or maybe you’re doing it to protect yourself, when he doesn’t
care about anyone but you,” her sister lobs back at her.
Emery gives Stella a look that tells her to shut up, but she
doesn’t say the words. Instead, she mumbles, “I gotta go.”
“I figured,” I say, holding out my hand. “This wouldn’t have
worked anyway, kid. Not with what’s going on with Quinn.”
“Whatever,” she says, moving past my hand and heading toward
the door.
“Oh, she’s big mad,” I say, and Stella nods.
“She’s in love with him, and instead of letting it happen, she’s
fighting it. Don’t know why.”
I shake my head. “Hey, a girl sings to me, I’m putting a ring on
it,” I tease, and Stella laughs.
“Sure you would. We all know the Russian Stallion doesn’t settle
down. He needs free rein, which is why you showed up to hook up
with my sister.”
I grin at her. “Hey, I didn’t know she was taken by an Adler.”
Stella laughs. “Dimitri, she doesn’t even know that.”
We share a laugh as I watch Quinn’s eyes follow Emery out of
the restaurant. He looks so wounded, and I feel for the kid. I’ve
never been in love, never even come close to it. To know she doesn’t
want anything to do with him, to be smacked square in the face and
not care one bit, is mind-blowing. Is he dumb? I know the kid is a
genius, but damn, why is he putting himself through this? To just
look at someone and know they are worth more than a fuck, that’s
magical. That’s insane. And yeah, now that I think of it, I don’t envy
the dumbass one bit.
 five

Austen

“So, what do you think?”

I smile over at my peepaw as I throw a full-ish suitcase in the
back. I drove back to Knoxville to gather the few things I have. I’ve
been meaning to go shopping for myself, but I’ve been too
engrossed in learning about my future endeavors that I haven’t had
time. Plus, I’ve been making sure the girls are good. I think it’s the
guilt of leaving when I did. I now put their needs before mine. I’ve
also been working on adding to my degree so I can accomplish what
Peepaw wants from me. Since he saved me, I want to make him
proud. I know I can; I just need to stay focused and trust myself.
“I’m excited. It’s a really great opportunity to be learning from
such incredibly knowledgeable people.”
Peepaw nods while he helps me put a box of books in the car. He
leans into the bumper as he meets my gaze. “I thought so. There is
no one else I’d want you to learn from than the Adlers.” I nod in
agreement as he clears his throat. “It’s a pretty impressive complex.”
“Oh, goodness yes,” I agree, still overwhelmed by the whole
building. “They have everything. State-of-the-art equipment and so
technologically advanced, it’s amazing. I am really taken aback by
the whole thing. I mean, they even have a med wing for mental and
physical health.”
 “Exactly. Elli Adler has built one hell of a program, which is good
for us because it means our boys will play hard for us to get to the
Assassins—because everyone wants to play for the Assassins.”
After today, I can see why, even with Shelli’s bout of
unprofessionalism. Hell, if I could play hockey, I’d want to play there.
“I’m overwhelmed and terrified, but I am going to make you proud.”
He smiles gently. “Austen, you continue to make me proud just
by waking up. I know you are the right person for this job. That’s
why I chose you and not Louisa.”
I was surprised he didn’t. Louisa is the eldest after all.
“I know. But still, I want to do everything right.”
“And you are. You wrote me a whole report with pictures
included, and then you drove home. You’re already exceeding my
expectations.”
My face warms. “Thanks, Peepaw.”
“Absolutely, darling. I know you’re in good hands. I’ve known the
Fishers for a long time. Elli’s uncle, Bryan, and I were close friends
before his passing. I watched Elli grow up, went to her wedding and
all the kids’ weddings. We’ll go to one of the twins’ at the end of the
month. They’re good people.”
“I didn’t know you knew them so well,” I say, surprised, and then
fear creeps in. I want to snap my wrist, but I can’t in front of my
peepaw. He’ll take the rubber band and break it. I may have an
endless supply of them, but they’re packed away, and I can’t drive
without it. He hates the rubber band. I think, as it does for me, it
reminds him of what happened when I was with New Beginnings. As
much as I want to leave all that in the past, I know the rubber band
is something I can’t. I sure as hell don’t want anyone knowing about
it, though. “So, they know about us?”
He shakes his head. “God, no. Bryan knew, but our secret died
with him.”
Oh. Thank God. “If you told him, he must have been special to
you.”
“Greatest man I knew.” He lets out a breath, and I can tell he is
uncomfortable. After a moment, he changes the subject. “I’m a little
worried about you staying in the players’ housing.”
 I wave him off. “I’ll be fine. If I can survive the Grandmaster, I
can survive anything.”
He grimaces. “True, but be careful. And remember, athletes are
players.”
I make a face. “I feel like you’re implying I can’t make that
decision on my own.”
“Never,” he says with a sheepish grin. “But watch out. A gorgeous
girl like you? With the future you have? You’re prime marriage
material.”
“Please,” I snort. “After what I went through, the last thing on
my mind is men.”
And it’s not a lie. Or even an effort to ease Peepaw’s concerns.
It’s just how it is.
Sadness fills my peepaw’s face. Out of all the girls, I was the one
who was treated the worst. “I hear you,” he whispers, squeezing my
hand. “But also, please remember not to inconvenience the Adlers.
They’re doing a huge favor for us.”
“I know, Peepaw.”
He squeezes my hand lovingly once more, just as the door to our
farmhouse flies open and my sisters come running out joyously with
a few of my bags. A smile takes over my face at the sight of them,
all so free and happy. Five years ago, there was hardly any laughter
between us. We were always scared, always worried about what
could happen next. My mother was no help, and she’d just as soon
throw us into the Halo before disappointing the Grandmaster. I don’t
like to be so vicious, but I hate her with all the fibers of my being.
She allowed us to be endangered for her own personal gain. To get
closer to the Grandmaster, who would lead her into the heavens. It’s
all trash, and it was all for something we girls didn’t even believe in.
She forced it on us. Religiously, repeatedly.
Oh, how lucky I am to be away. How grateful I am to Peepaw for
saving me. When I left five years ago, I was only able to get two of
my sisters to come, Eliza and Elliot. The two closest to my age.
Louisa, the eldest, always wanted to leave. There wasn’t a day that
passed when she didn’t talk about getting away from everything, but
she couldn’t leave us behind. I owe her so much, and while she is a
basket case most days, her love for us protected us.
When Louisa did something wrong, or any of us did, they took it
out on her. Especially my mother. She would beat Louisa with a cane
across her shoulders anytime she disobeyed—and Louisa always
disobeyed. She has scary scars. As do Eliza and I, but ours are
across the backs of our thighs. Some from our mother and some
from the Grandmaster, and even some from the men of the Halo. I
hated that Louisa didn’t come with us when we left, but I knew she
couldn’t leave Clara. She was a second mother to us all, and she had
to protect the youngest one.
What we didn’t plan on was Louisa being chosen to marry. She
endured that man for six years before she couldn’t take it any
longer. After a fourth beating to a bloody pulp by her “husband,” she
had to go. They weren’t legally married, only married by the New
Beginning’s God. But we all quickly learned there was no God in our
family.
The only thing I can say about that man is he is a spawn of
Satan. As are all the men in New Beginnings. While I didn’t get
beaten as much, I was continually put in the Halo.
I was so lucky I got out before I was chosen to marry, as was
Eliza. I think that’s what convinced me to leave—when I watched my
sister be forced to marry a man who not only beat her, but forced
himself on her. I can still feel the anguish of watching her get
slapped on her binding day. She hesitated to kiss him when it was
time, and he hauled off and smacked her. Hard. No one in the hall
even winced but my sisters and me. This wasn’t what we wanted.
As soon as Louisa called from the cell phone I had hidden for her
when I was leaving, Peepaw picked her up moments later. He
wished Clara were with her, but Clara didn’t turn eighteen until six
months ago. She called us multiple times a day from the hidden cell
phone Louisa left her and begged us to smuggle her out. But we
knew where she was, and if we tried to take her, they’d move or
have us arrested for kidnapping a minor. So, the day she turned
eighteen, we showed up at the end of the road to the compound at
midnight, with balloons and a cake.
 And once more, my family was whole.
Without the fear and torment of the Grandmaster.
Eliza throws a bag in the back of my car, and Clara clasps her
arms around my waist. Louisa and Elliot stand beside Peepaw,
leaning into him. He wraps his arms around them tightly, and my
heart swells. We never have to question if we are loved by him; he
loves us wholeheartedly, and it shows.
“Are you sure you have to go?” Clara asks, and I kiss her on the
top of her head.
“Yes. The drive will kill me.” I laugh, and she smiles.
“Will you come home on weekends, or are you going to leave me
with these girls?” Peepaw teases, and we all laugh.
“Probably until the season starts, and then I’ll be traveling with
the team.”
They all nod as Eliza steps closer to me, hugging me tightly. “I’ll
miss you,” she says against my shoulder.
“I’ll miss you, all of you,” I say, and soon my eyes burn with
tears. I know this is the best thing to do. I wasn’t kidding when I
said the drive would kill me. It would. I hate driving as it is, and now
I have an opportunity to be completely immersed in the hockey
world.
I have to take it.
Even if it means leaving my sisters behind once more.
At least now I know they’re taken care of and loved.

The Assassins housing is beautiful. The apartment complex is secure

and very classy. It’s crazy that I’ve gone from living in a barn, to a
farmhouse, to now a very high-end apartment. The concierge, Jake,
helps me with my bags. After I tip him, he tells me to make sure to
ask for him if I have any questions. I don’t miss the way his eyes
travel down my body, but I pay him no mind. After locking my front
door, I turn to look at my new place, only to find it’s a mess. My
brows knit together as I glance around in confusion. I open the door,
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 Page.
Plate, figures 1–6. To face 29
Figure 7. Microscopic structure of sandstone 36
„ 8. Microstructure of crystalline limestone 39
„ 9. Microstructure of Gneiss 40
Plate, figure 10. View on the broad branch of Rock Creek,
48
Washington, D. C., to face
Figure 11. 82
„ 12. 84
„ 13. Regnault’s apparatus for determining the specific heat
105
of soils
„ 14. Soil thermometer 113
„ 15. Zalomanoff’s apparatus for determining absorption of
126
salts by soils
„ 16. Müller’s apparatus to show absorption of salts by soils 127
Plate, figure 17. Capacity of the fine soil for holding moisture.
136
Method of Wolff modified by Wahnschaffe, to face
Figure 18. Fuelling’s apparatus 140
„ 19. Apparatus to show capillary attraction of soils for water 145
Plate, figure 20. Apparatus for determining coefficient of
148
evaporation, to face
Figure 21. Method of Heinrich 150
„ 22. Method of Welitschowsky 162
„ 23. Ground plan and vertical section of lysimeters and
166
vaults showing position of the apparatus
Plate, figure 24. Deherain’s apparatus for collecting drainage
168
water, to face
Figure 25. Knop’s silt cylinder 190
„ 26. Siphon cylinder for silt analysis 191
„ 27. Bennigsen’s silt flasks 195
„ 28. Nöbel’s elutriator 208
„ 29. Dietrich’s elutriator 209
„ 30. Masure’s silt apparatus 211
„ 31. Schöne’s elutriator 212
„ 32. Schöne’s elutriator outflow tube 213
„ 33. Schöne’s elutriator, arrangement of apparatus 214
„ 34. Schöne’s apparatus for silt analysis, modified by Mayer 221
 „ 35. Hilgard’s churn elutriator 226
„ 36. Improved Schöne’s apparatus with relay 228
„ 37. 257
Plate, figure 38.
„ figures 39–44. To
face
„ figures 45–50. 264
„ figures 51–56.
Figure 57. Machine for making mineral sections 267
„ 58. Thoulet’s separating apparatus 272
„ 59. Harada’s apparatus 275
„ 60. Brögger’s apparatus 276
„ 61. Apparatus of Wülfing 277
„ 62. Schloesing’s soil-tube for collecting gases 291
„ 63. Schloesing’s apparatus for collecting gases from soil 292
„ 64. Schloesing’s apparatus for determination of carbon
293
dioxid
„ 65. Knorr’s apparatus for the determination of carbon
338
dioxid
„ 66. Bernard’s calcimeter 339
„ 67. Smith’s muffle for decomposition of silicates 381
„ 68. Apparatus by Sachsse and Becker 401
Plate, figures 69 and 70. To face 480
Figure 71. Sterilizing oven 491
„ 72. Autoclave sterilizer 492
„ 73. Arnold’s sterilizer 493
„ 74. Lautenschläger’s thermostat 494
„ 75. Schloesing’s apparatus for nitric acid 501
„ 76. Warington’s apparatus for nitric acid 505
„ 77. Spiegel’s apparatus for nitric acid 509
„ 78. Schulze-Tiemann’s nitric acid apparatus 511
„ 79. DeKoninck’s apparatus 514
„ 80. End of delivery-tube 514
„ 81. Schmidt’s apparatus 516
„ 82. Lunge’s nitrometer 519
„ 83. Lunge’s improved apparatus 521
„ 84. Lunge’s analytic apparatus 523
„ 85. Stoklassa’s nitric acid apparatus 535
„ 86. Variation of the sodium amalgam process 537
„ 87. McGowan’s apparatus for the iodometric estimation of
544
nitric acid
„ 88. Apparatus of Gooch and Gruener 547
„ 89. Method of Chabrier 566
„ 90. Schaeffer’s nitrous acid method 568
„ 91. Retort for distilling ammonia 572
„ 92. Gooch’s apparatus for boric acid 581
„ 93. Apparatus for determining sulfur 587
 PART FIRST.

INTRODUCTION.

1. Definitions.—The term soil, in its broadest sense, is used to

designate that portion of the surface of the earth which has resulted
from the disintegration of rocks and the decay of plants and animals,
and which is suited, under proper conditions of moisture and
temperature, to the growth of plants. It consists, therefore, chiefly of
mineral substances, together with some products of organic life, and of
certain living organisms whose activity may influence vegetable growth
either favorably or otherwise. The soil also holds varying quantities of
gaseous matter and of water, which are important factors in its
functions.
2. Origin Of Soil.—Agriculturally considered, the soil proper is the
older and more thoroughly disintegrated superficial layer of the earth,
which has been longest exposed to weathering and the influences of
organic life. It is usually from six to twelve inches, but occasionally
several feet in depth. The subsoil, which lies directly under this, is not as
a rule so thoroughly disintegrated, since it is protected in a measure by
the overlying soil. It usually contains less organic matter than the soil.
There is a freer circulation of air in the soil than in the subsoil, and the
metallic elements usually exist therein as higher oxids. There is usually
a notable difference in color between the soil and subsoil, and
frequently a very sharp color line separating the two.
Geologically considered, the soil is that portion of the earth’s crust
which has been more or less thoroughly disintegrated by weathering
and other forces from the original rock formations, or from the
sedimentary rocks, or from the unconsolidated sedimentary material.
The soil has, therefore, the same essential constitution as the general
mass of the earth, except that this débris has been subjected to the
solvent action of water and the influence of vegetable growth.
 Preliminary to the proper understanding of the methods of the
analysis of soils, there should be some definite knowledge concerning
the composition of the earth’s crust, so that the analyst may understand
more thoroughly the origin and nature of the material he has to deal
with, and thereby be better equipped for his work.
3. The Chemical Elements Present in the Soil.—The chemical
elements present in the soil are naturally some or all of those which
were present in the original rocks. For analytical purposes relating to
agriculture, it is not necessary to take into account the rare elements
which may occur in the soil, but only those need be considered which
are present in some quantity and which enter as an important factor
into plant growth. Of the whole number of chemical elements less than
twenty are of any importance in soil analysis. These elements may be
grouped into two classes, the non-metals, and the metals as follows:

Non-metals. Metals.
Oxygen, Aluminum,
Silicon, Calcium,
Carbon, Magnesium,
Sulfur, Potassium,
Hydrogen, Sodium,
Chlorin, Iron,
Phosphorus, Manganese,
Nitrogen, Barium.
Fluorin,
Boron.

4. Atomic Masses.—For the purpose of facilitating the calculation

of results the latest revised table of atomic masses is given below. All the
known elements are included in this table for the convenience of
analysts who may have to study some of the rarer elements in the course
of their work.

This table represents the latest and most trustworthy results reduced to a uniform
basis of comparison with oxygen = 16 as starting point of the system. No decimal
places representing large uncertainties are used. When values vary, with equal
probability on both sides, so far as our present knowledge goes, as in the case of
cadmium (111.8 and 112.2), the mean value is given in the table.
 Table of Atomic Masses of the Elements.
Revised by F. W. Clarke, Chief Chemist of the United States Geological
Survey, to January 1st, 1894.
Name. Symbol. Atomic mass.
Aluminum Al 27
Antimony Sb 120
Arsenic As 75
Barium Ba 137.43
Bismuth Bi 208.9
Boron B 11
Bromin Br 79.95
Cadmium Cd 112
Cesium Cs 132.9
Calcium Ca 40
Carbon C 12
Cerium Ce 140.2
Chlorin Cl 35.45
Chromium Cr 52.1
Cobalt Co 59
Columbium[A] Cb[Nb] 94
Copper Cu 63.6
Erbium Er 166.3
Fluorin F 19
Gadolinium Gd 156.1
Gallium Ga 69
Germanium Ge 72.3
Glucinum [B] Gl[Be] 9
Gold Au 197.3
Hydrogen H 1.008
Indium In 113.7
Iodin I 126.85
Iridium Ir 193.1
Iron Fe 56
Lanthanum La 138.2
Lead Pb 206.95
Lithium Li 7.02
Magnesium Mg 24.3
Manganese Mn 55
Mercury Hg 200
Molybdenum Mo 96
Neodymium Nd 140.5
Nickel Ni 58.7
Nitrogen N 14.03
Osmium Os 190.8
Oxygen[C] O 16
Palladium Pd 106.6
Phosphorus P 31
Platinum Pt 195
Potassium K 39.11
Praseodymium Pr 143.5
Rhodium Rh 103
Rubidium Rb 85.5
Ruthenium Ru 101.6
Samarium Sm 150
Scandium Sc 44
Selenium Se 79
Silicon Si 28.4
Silver Ag 107.92
Sodium Na 23.05
Strontium Sr 87.6
Sulfur S 32.06
Tantalum Ta 182.6
Tellurium Te 125
Terbium Tb 160.0
Thallium Tl 204.18
Thorium Th 232.6
Thulium Tu 170.7
Tin Sn 119
Titanium Ti 48
Tungsten W 184
Uranium U 239.6
Vanadium V 51.4
Ytterbium Yb 173
Yttrium Yt 89.1
Zinc Zn 65.3
Zirconium Zr 90.6
A. Has priority over niobium.
B. Has priority over beryllium.
C. Standard or basis of the system.
 PROPERTIES OF THE ELEMENTS.
Following is a brief description of the most important elements
occurring in the earth’s crust in respect of their relations to agriculture.
5. Oxygen exists in the free gaseous state in the atmosphere of which
it constitutes about one-fifth by bulk, whilst in combination with other
elements it forms nearly half the weight of the solid earth, and eight-
ninths by weight of water. It enters into combination with all the other
elements, except fluorin, forming what are known as oxids, and with
many of the elements it unites in several proportions, forming oxids of
different composition. Combined with silicon, carbon, sulfur, and
phosphorus, it forms an essential part of the silicates, carbonates,
sulfates, and phosphates, most of which are very abundant and all of
which are very widely distributed in the earth’s crust. In this form it is
exceedingly stable and is rarely set free. With the exception of the oxids
of silicon these oxids seldom occur uncombined with the metals as
constituents of rocks or soils. The oxids of iron very commonly occur as
such in rocks and soils, and play a very important part in organic life.
The several oxids of iron very frequently determine the color of soils; as
the iron in a soil is more or less oxidized, or as it is exposed more or less
to access of air, the color of the soil changes. These oxids of iron also
play an important part in the absorption capacities of soils for moisture
and other physical conditions of soils, and also in the oxidation of
organic matters in the soil. Many organic substances, and even the roots
of growing plants when deprived of free access of air, can readily secure
oxygen from the iron oxid, thus reducing the iron to a lower form of
oxidation, the oxygen being used for the oxidation of the organic matter
or for the needs of the growing plant; while the lower oxid of iron can
more readily take up oxygen of the air and again be converted into a
higher oxid, ready again to give up a part of its oxygen and thus serve as
a carrier.
6. Silicon never occurs in the free state, but combined with oxygen it
forms silica, which constitutes more than one-half of the earth’s crust.
The oxid of silicon occurs in the very common form of quartz, and
likewise, as silicate of alumina, lime or magnesia. Silicon forms an
essential part of many minerals, such as the feldspars, amphiboles,
pyroxenes, and the micas, besides being an essential ingredient of many
other minerals. Silica is relatively very slightly affected by the ordinary
forces concerned in the decay of rocks, and even after the crystals of
feldspars, micas, and other common minerals occurring in rocks have
been disintegrated the silica remains as hard grains of sand, forming the
bulk of most soils. By far the larger part of silicon in soils is in the form
of grains of quartz or silica. This form, however, is probably chemically
inert in regard to plant growth, but it plays a very important part in the
physical structure of soils and in the physical relation of soils to plant
growth.
7. Carbon as an elementary substance occurs as diamond and
graphite and in an impure form as anthracite and bituminous coals. In
peats and mucks carbon is the chief constituent. This substance is also
contained in the organic matters of the soil known as humus, and the
relation of the carbon to nitrogen often throws important light upon the
amount and character of the nitrogenous matters. In composition with
oxygen it forms the chief food of growing plants, the carbon of the
carbon dioxid of the air being elaborated into the tissue of the plants
and the oxygen returned to the atmosphere. The content of carbon
dioxid in the air is from three to five parts per thousand by volume. As
carbonates this element helps to form some of the most important
ingredients of the earth’s crust, namely, limestones, marbles, dolomites,
etc., and in an organic form it is found in the shells of the crustaceans.
The calcareous matter of the soil, that is, the carbonates of the earths
therein found, are of the highest importance from an agricultural point
of view. The carbonates in the soil not only favor the process of
converting nitrogenous bodies into forms suitable for plant food, but
also exert a most potent influence on the physical state of the soil and its
capacity for holding water and permitting its flow to and from the
rootlets of the plant.
8. Sulfur occurs in nature in both the free and combined state. In
the free state it is found in volcanic regions such as Sicily, Iceland, and
the western United States. Its usual form of occurrence is in
combination with the metals to form sulfids, or with oxygen and a metal
to form sulfates. Sulfur and iron combine to form iron pyrites or iron
disulfid (FeS₂), while sulfur, oxygen, and calcium are found in gypsum,
an important fertilizing compound.
Sulfur plays an important part in the nourishment of plants, being
found in them both as sulfuric acid and in organic compounds. Methods
for estimating the sulfur in both forms will be found in another part of
this manual.
 9. Hydrogen is a colorless, invisible gas, without taste or smell. It
occurs free in small proportions in certain volcanic gases, and in natural
gas, but its most common form is in combination with oxygen as water
(H₂O), of which it forms 11.13 per cent by weight. It also occurs in
combination with carbon to form the hydrocarbons, such as the mineral
oils (petroleum, etc.) and gases. Hydrogen is of no importance to
agriculture in a free state, but water is the most important of all plant
foods.
10. Chlorin occurs free in nature only in limited amounts and in
volcanic vents. Its most common form is in combination with hydrogen,
forming hydrochloric acid, or with the metals to form chlorids. It
combines with sodium to form sodium chlorid or common salt (NaCl),
which is the most abundant mineral ingredient in sea water and which
can usually be detected in rain and ordinary terrestrial waters. In this
form, also, it exists as extensive beds of rock salt, which is mined for
commercial purposes.
Chlorin is found uniformly in plants and must be regarded as an
essential constituent thereof. Common salt applied to a soil modifies its
power of attracting and holding water.
11. Phosphorus never occurs in nature in a free state but exists in
combination in greater or less quantities in all soils. Its combinations
are also found in large deposits of minerals known as phosphorite and
apatite and as so-called pebble deposit and phosphate rock. Phosphorus
in some sort of combination is one of the most essential elements in
animal and plant food. In animals its compounds form almost all of the
mineral matter of the bones, and in plants they are the chief
constituents of the ash of seeds.
The mineral deposits of phosphorus, as well as bones, are chiefly tri-
calcium phosphate, while the slag compound resulting from the basic
treatment of iron ores rich in phosphorus is a tetra-calcium salt.
The pebble deposits and some rock phosphates are supposed to be of
organic origin, derived from the remains of marine, terrestrial, and
aerial animals.
Cereal crops remove about twenty pounds of phosphoric acid per acre
from the soil annually and grass crops about twelve pounds. The total
phosphoric acid removed annually by the cereal and grass crops in the
United States is nearly four billion pounds.
Gautier[1] calls attention to the fact that the oldest phosphates are met
with in the igneous rocks such as basalt, trachyte, etc., and even in
granite and gneiss. It is from these inorganic sources, therefore, that all
phosphatic plant food must have been drawn. In the second order in age
Gautier places the phosphates of hydro-mineral origin. This class not
only embraces the crystalline apatites but also those phosphates of later
formation formed from hot mineral waters in the jurassic, cretaceous,
and tertiary deposits. These deposits are not directly suited to nourish
plants.
The third group of phosphates in order of age and assimilability
embraces the true phosphorites containing generally some organic
matter. They are all of organic origin. In caves where animal remains
are deposited there is an accumulation of nitrates and phosphates.
Not only do the bones of animals furnish phosphates but they are also
formed in considerable quantities by the decomposition of substituted
glycerids such as lecithin. The ammonia produced by the nitrification of
the albuminoid bodies combines with the free phosphoric acid thus
produced, forming ammonium or diammonium phosphates. The
presence of ammonium phosphates in guanos was first noticed by
Chevreul more than half a century ago.
If such deposits overlay a pervious stratum of calcium carbonate, such
as chalk, and are subject to leaching a double decomposition takes place
as the lye percolates through the chalk. Acid calcium phosphate and
ammonium carbonate are produced. By further nitrification the latter
becomes finally converted into calcium nitrate. In like manner
aluminum phosphates are formed by the action of decomposing organic
matter on clay.
Davidson,[2] explains the origin of the Florida phosphates by
suggesting that they arose chiefly through the influx of animals driven
southward during the glacial period. According to his supposition the
waters of the ocean, during the cenozoic period contained more
phosphorus than at the present time. The waters of the ocean over
Florida were shallow and the shell fish existing therein may have
secreted phosphate as well as carbonate of lime. This supposition is
supported by an analysis of a shell of lingula ovalis, quoted by Dana, in
which there were 85.79 per cent of lime phosphate. In these waters were
also many fishes of all kinds and their débris served to increase the
amount of phosphatic material. As the land emerged from the sea came
the great glacial epoch driving all terrestrial animals southward. There
was, therefore, a great mammal horde in the swamps and estuaries of
Florida. The bones of these animals contributed largely to the
phosphatic deposits. In addition to this, the shallow sea contained
innumerable sharks, manatees, whales, and other inhabitants of tropical
waters, and the remains of these animals added to the phosphatic store.
While these changes were taking place in the quaternary period, the
Florida Peninsula was gradually rising, and as soon as it reached a
considerable height the process of denudation by the action of water
commenced. Then there was a subsidence and the peninsula again
passed under the sea and was covered with successive layers of sand.
The limestones during this process had been leached by rain water
containing an excess of carbon dioxid. In this way the limestones were
gradually dissolved while the insoluble phosphate of lime was left in
suspension. During this time the bones of the animals before mentioned
by their decomposition added to the phosphate of lime present in the
underlying strata, while some were transformed into fossils of
phosphate of lime just as they are found to-day in vast quantities.
Wyatt,[3] explains the phosphate deposits somewhat differently.
According to him, during the miocene submergence there was deposited
upon the upper eocene limestones, more especially in the cracks and
fissures resulting from their drying up, a soft, finely disintegrated
calcareous sediment or mud. The estuaries formed during this period
were swarming with animal and vegetable life, and from this organic life
the phosphates were formed by decomposition and metamorphism due
to the gases and acids with which the waters were charged.
After the disappearance of the miocene sea there were great
disturbances of the strata. Then followed the pliocene and tertiary
periods and quaternary seas with their deposits and drifts of shells,
sands, clays, marls, bowlders, and other transported materials
supervening in an era when there were great fluctuations of cold and
heat.
By reason of these disturbances the masses of the phosphate deposits
which had not been infiltrated in the limestones became broken up and
mingled with the other débris and were thus deposited in various
mounds or depressions. The general result of the forces which have
been briefly outlined, was the formation of bowlders, phosphatic débris,
etc. Wyatt therefore classifies the deposits as follows:
1. Original pockets or cavities in the limestone filled with hard and
soft rock phosphates and débris.
2. Mounds or beaches, rolled up on the elevated points, and chiefly
consisting of huge bowlders of phosphate rock.
 3. Drift or disintegrated rock, covering immense areas, chiefly in Polk
and Hillsboro counties, and underlying Peace River and its tributaries.
Darton,[4] ascribes the phosphate beds of Florida to the
transformation of guano. According to this author two processes of
decomposition have taken place. One of these is the more or less
complete replacement of the carbonate by the phosphate of lime. The
other is a general stalactitic coating of phosphatic material. Darton
further calls attention to the relation of the distribution of the
phosphate deposits as affecting the theory of their origin, but does not
find any peculiar significance in the restriction of these deposits to the
western ridge of the Florida peninsula.
As this region evidently constituted a long narrow peninsula during
early miocene time it is a reasonably tentative hypothesis that during
this period guanos were deposited from which was derived the material
for the phosphatization of the limestone either at the same time or soon
after.
Darton closes his paper by saying that the phosphate deposits in
Florida will require careful, detailed geologic exploration before their
relations and history will be fully understood.
According to Dr. N. A. Pratt the rock or bowlder phosphate had its
immediate origin in animal life and to his view the phosphate bowlder is
a true fossil. He supposes the existence of some species in former times
in which the shell excreted was chiefly phosphate of lime. The fossil
bowlder, therefore, becomes the remains of a huge foraminifer which
had identical composition in its skeleton with true bone deposits or of
organic matter.
Perhaps the most complete exposition of the theory of the recovery of
waste phosphates, with especial reference to their deposit in Florida,
has been given by Eldridge.[5] He calls attention to the universal
presence of phosphates in sea water and to the probability that in earlier
times, as during the miocene and eocene geologic periods, the waters of
the ocean contained a great deal more phosphate in solution than at the
present time. He cites the observations of Bischof, which show the
solubility of different phosphates in waters saturated with carbon
dioxid. According to these observations apatite is the most insoluble
form of lime phosphate, while artificial basic phosphate is the most
soluble. Among the very soluble phosphates, however, are the bones of
animals, both fresh and old. Burnt bones, however, are more soluble
than bones still containing organic matter. Not only are the organic
phosphates extremely soluble in water saturated with carbon dioxid, but
also in water which contains common salt or chlorid of ammonium. The
presence of large quantities of common salt in sea water would,
therefore, tend to increase its power of absorbing lime phosphates of
organic origin. It is not at all incredible, therefore, to suppose that at
some remote period the waters of the ocean, as indicated by these
theories, were much more highly charged with phosphates in solution
than at the present time.
According to Eldridge, the formation of the hard-rock and soft
phosphates may be ascribed to three periods: First, that in which the
primary rock was formed; second, that of secondary deposition in the
cavities of the primary rock; third, that in which the deposits thus
formed were broken up and the resulting fragments and comminuted
material were redeposited as they now occur.
“The first of these stages began probably not later than the close of
the older miocene, and within the eocene area it may have begun much
earlier. Whether the primary phosphate resulted from a superficial and
heavy deposit of soluble guanos, covering the limestones, or from the
concentration of phosphate of lime already widely and uniformly
distributed throughout the mass of the original rock, or from both, is a
difficult question. In any event, the evidence indicates the effect of the
percolation of surface waters, highly charged with carbonic and earth
acids, and thus enabled to carry down into the mass of the limestone
dissolved phosphate of lime, to be redeposited under conditions
favorable to its separation. Such conditions might have been brought
about by the simple interchange of bases between the phosphate and
carbonate of lime thus brought together, or by the lowering of the
solvent power of the waters through loss of carbonic acid. The latter
would happen whenever the acid was required for the solution of
additional carbonate of lime, or when, through aeration, it should
escape from the water. The zone of phosphate deposition was evidently
one of double concentration, resulting from the removal of the soluble
carbonate thus raising the percentage of the less soluble phosphate, and
from the acquirement of additional phosphate of lime from the
overlying portions of the deposits.”
“The thickness of the zone of phosphatization in the eocene area is
unknown, but it is doubtful if it was over twenty feet. In the miocene
area the depth has been proved from the phosphates in situ to have
been between six and twelve feet.”
 The deposits of secondary origin, according to Eldridge, are due
chiefly to sedimentation, although some of them may have been due to
precipitation from water. This secondary deposition was kept up for a
long period, until stopped by some climatic or geologic change. The
deposits of phosphates thus formed in the Florida peninsula are
remarkably free from iron and aluminum, in comparison with many of
the phosphates of the West Indies.
The third period in the genesis of the hard rock deposits embraces the
time of formation of the original deposits and their transportation and
storage as they are found at the present time. The geologic time at which
this occurred is somewhat uncertain but it was probably during the last
submergence of the peninsula.
In all cases the peculiar formation of the Florida limestone must be
considered. This limestone is extremely porous and therefore easily
penetrated by the waters of percolation. A good illustration of this is
seen on the southwestern and southern edges of Lake Okeechobee. In
following down the drainage canal which has been cut into the
southwest shore of the lake the edge of the basin, which is composed of
this porous material may be seen. The appearance of the limestone
would indicate that large portions of it have already given way to the
process of solution. The remaining portions are extremely friable, easily
crushed, and much of it can be removed by the ordinary dredging
machines. Such a limestone as this is peculiarly suited to the
accumulation of phosphatic materials, due to the percolation of the
water containing them. The solution of the limestone and consequent
deposit of the phosphate of lime is easily understood when the character
of this limestone is considered.
Shaler, as quoted by Eldridge in the work already referred to, refers to
this characteristic of the limestone and says that the best conditions for
the accumulation of valuable deposits of lime phosphate in residual
débris appear to occur where the phosphatic lime marls are of a rather
soft character; the separate beds having no such solidity as will resist
the percolation of water through innumerable incipient joints such as
commonly pervade stratified materials, even when they are of a very
soft nature.
Eldridge is also of the opinion that the remains of birds are not
sufficient to account for the whole of the phosphatic deposits in Florida.
He ascribes them to the joint action of the remains of birds, of land and
marine animals and to the deposition of the phosphatic materials in the
waters in the successive subsidences of the surface below the water line.
 12. Nitrogen as a mineral constituent of soils, is found chiefly in the
form of nitrates, but, owing to their solubility, they can not accumulate
in soils exposed to heavy rain-falls. The gaseous nitrogen in the soil is
also of some importance, since it is in this material that the anaerobic
organisms which accumulate on the rootlets of some plants probably act
in the process of the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen in a form
accessible to plants. Nitrogen in the free state, it is believed, is not
directly absorbed into the tissues of plants. It is necessary that it be
oxidized in some way to nitric acid before it can be assimilated. The
importance of nitrogen as a plant food can not be too highly estimated.
It is as necessary to plant growth and development as water, phosphoric
acid, lime, and potash, and far more costly. While a large quantity of
nitrogen exists in the air in an uncombined state, it is, nevertheless, one
of the least abundant of the elements of high importance in plant
nutrition.
The conservation and increase of the stores of available nitrogen in
the soil is one of the chief problems occupying the attention of
agricultural chemistry. Nitrogen, which is not immediately available for
the growth of plants, is conserved and restored by natural processes in
various ways.
The waste nitrogen finds its way sooner or later to the sea, and is
restored therefrom in many forms. Sea-weeds of all kinds are rich in
recovered nitrogen. Many years ago Forchhammer[6] pointed out the
agricultural value of certain fucoids. Many other chemists have
contributed important data in regard to the composition of these bodies.
Jenkins[7] has shown from the analyses of several varieties of sea-
weeds that in the green state they are quite equal in fertilizing value to
stall manure, and are sold at the rate of five cents per bushel. These data
are fully corroborated by Goessmann.[8]
Wheeler and Hartwell[9] give the fullest and most systematic
discussion which has been published of the agricultural value of sea-
weeds. Sea-weed was used as a fertilizer as early as the fourth century,
and its importance for this purpose has been recognized more and more
in modern days, especially since chemical investigations have shown the
great value of the food materials contained therein.
To show the commercial importance of sea-weed, it is only necessary
to call attention to the fact that in 1885 its value as a fertilizer in the
State of Rhode Island was $65,044, while the value of all other
commercial fertilizers was $164,133. While sea-weed, in a sense, can
only be successfully applied to littoral agriculture, yet the extent of
agricultural lands bordering on the sea is so great as to render its
commercial importance of the highest degree of interest.
A large amount of nitrogen is also recovered from the sea in fishes. It
is shown by Atwater[10] that the edible part of fishes has an unusually
high percentage of protein. In round numbers, about seventy-five per
cent of the water free edible parts of fish are composed of albuminoids.
Some kinds of fish are taken chiefly for their oil and fertilizing value, as
the menhaden. Squanto,[11] an American Indian, first taught the early
New England settlers the manurial value of fish.
Immense quantities of waste nitrogen are further secured, both from
sea and land, by the various genera of birds. The well-known habit of
birds in congregating in rookeries during the night and at certain
seasons of the year tends to bring into a common receptacle the
nitrogenous matters which they have gathered and which are deposited
in their excrement and in the decay of their bodies. The feathers of birds
are particularly rich in nitrogen, and the nitrogenous content of the
flesh of fowls is also high. The decay of remains of birds, especially if it
take place largely excluded from the leaching of water, tends to
accumulate vast deposits of nitrogenous matter. If the conditions in
such deposits be favorable to the processes of nitrification, the whole of
the nitrogen, or at least the larger part of it, which has been collected in
this débris, becomes finally converted into nitric acid and is found
combined with appropriate bases as deposits of nitrates. The nitrates of
the guano deposits and of the deposits in caves arise in this way. If these
deposits be subject to moderate leaching the nitrate may become
infiltered into the surrounding soil, making it very rich in this form of
nitrogen. The bottoms and surrounding soils of caves are often found
highly impregnated with nitrates.
While for our purpose, deposits of nitrates only are to be considered
which are of sufficient value to bear transportation, yet much interest
attaches to the formation of nitrates in the soil even when they are not
of commercial importance.
In many of the soils of tropical regions not subject to heavy rain-falls,
the accumulation of these nitrates is very great. Müntz and Marcano[12]
have investigated many of these soils to which attention was called first
by Humboldt and Boussingault. They state that these soils are
incomparably more rich in nitrates than the most fertile soils of Europe.
The samples which they examined were collected from different parts of
Venezuela and from the valleys of the Orinoco as well as on the shore of
the Sea of Antilles. The nitrated soils are very abundant in this region of
South America where they cover large surfaces. Their composition is
variable, but in all of them carbonate and phosphate of lime are met
with and organic nitrogenous material. The nitric acid is found always
combined with lime. In some of the soils as high as thirty per cent of
nitrate of lime have been found. Nitrification of organic material takes
place very rapidly the year round in this tropical region. These nitrated
soils are everywhere abundant around caves, as described by Humboldt,
caves which serve as the refuge of birds and bats. The nitrogenous
matters, which come from the decay of the remains of these animals,
form true deposits of guano which is gradually spread around, and
which, in contact with the limestone and with access of air, suffers
complete nitrification with the fixation of the nitric acid by the lime.
Large quantities of this guano are also due to the débris of insects,
fragments of elytra, scales of the wings of butterflies, etc., which are
brought together in those places by the millions of cubic meters. The
nitrification, which takes place in these deposits, has been found to
extend its products to a distance of several kilometers through the soil.
In some places the quantity of the nitrate of lime is so great in the soils
that they are converted into a plastic paste by this deliquescent salt.
The theory of Müntz and Marcano in regard to the nitrates of soils,
especially in the neighborhood of caves, is probably a correct one, but
there are many objections to accepting it to explain the great deposits of
nitrate of soda which occur in many parts of Chile. Another point, which
must be considered also, is this: That the processes of nitrification can
not now be considered as going on with the same vigor as formerly.
Some moisture is necessary to nitrification, inasmuch as the nitrifying
ferment does not act in perfectly dry soil, and in many localities in Chile
where the nitrates are found it is too dry to suppose that any active
nitrification could now take place.
The existence of these nitrate deposits has long been known.[13] The
old Indian laws originally prohibited the collection of the salt, but
nevertheless it was secretly collected and sold. Up to the year 1821, soda
saltpeter was not known in Europe except as a laboratory product.
About this time the naturalist, Mariano de Rivero, found on the Pacific
coast, in the Province of Tarapacá, immense new deposits of the salt.
Later the salt was found in equal abundance in the Territory of
Antofogasta and further to the south in the desert of Atacama, which
forms the Department of Taltal.
 At the present time the collection and export of saltpeter from Chile is
a business of great importance. The largest export which has ever taken
place in one year was in 1890, when the amount exported was
927,290,430 kilograms; of this quantity 642,506,985 kilograms were
sent to England and 86,124,870 kilograms to the United States. Since
that time the imports of this salt into the United States have largely
increased.
According to Pissis[14] these deposits are of very ancient origin. This
geologist is of the opinion that the nitrate deposits are the result of the
decomposition of feldspathic rocks; the bases thus produced gradually
becoming united with the nitric acid provided from the air.
According to the theory of Nöllner[15] the deposits are of more modern
origin and due to the decomposition of marine vegetation. Continuous
solution of soils, gives rise to the formation of great lakes of saturated
water, in which occurs the development of much marine vegetation. On
the evaporation of this water, due to geologic isolation, the
decomposition of nitrogenous organic matter causes generation of nitric
acid, which, coming in contact with the calcareous rocks, attacks them,
forming nitrate of calcium, which, in presence of sulfate of sodium,
gives rise to a double decomposition into nitrate of sodium and sulfate
of calcium.
The fact that iodin is found in greater or less quantity in Chile
saltpeter is one of the chief supports of this hypothesis of marine origin,
inasmuch as iodin is always found in sea and not in terrestrial plants.
Further than this, it must be taken into consideration that these
deposits of nitrate of soda contain neither shells nor fossils, nor do they
contain any phosphate of lime. The theory, therefore, that they were due
to animal origin is scarcely tenable.
13. Boron occurs chiefly in volcanic regions, but is much more
widely distributed in the soil than formerly believed. It is a regular
constituent of the ash of many plants,[16] and is, therefore, thought to be
a true plant food. It is one of the least abundant of the elements, not
occurring in sufficient quantity to find a place in the table showing their
relative abundance, which is to follow. Boracic acid is used to some
extent as a preservative.
14. Fluorin does not occur free in nature, but it exists chiefly in
combination with calcium, forming fluorspar, and traces of it are found
in sea water. It occurs in bone, teeth, blood, and the milk of mammals.
It is the only element that does not combine with oxygen, and it can be
isolated only with the greatest difficulty. Only very small traces of it are
found ordinarily and it is usually not considered in the chemical
analysis of soils. Fluorin is found, however, in considerable quantities in
certain phosphate deposits.
15. Aluminum is, probably, next to oxygen and silicon, the most
abundant element of the earth’s crust, of which it is estimated to form
about one-twelfth. It has never been found, in nature, in the free state,
but commonly occurs in combination with silicon and oxygen, in which
form it is an abundant constituent of feldspar, mica, kaolin, clay, slate,
and many other rocks and minerals.
By the weathering of feldspar, mica, and other minerals containing
aluminum, kaolin or true clay is formed, which is of the greatest
importance in the constitution of the soil. The compounds of aluminum
are not so important as plant food as they are as the constituents of the
soil, forming a large part of its bulk, and modifying in the most
profound degree its physical properties. It is the custom of some
authors to use the word clay to designate the fine particles of soil which
have in general the same relations to moisture and tilth as the particles
of weathered feldspar, etc. In a strict chemical sense, however, the term
clay is applied only to the hydrated silicate of alumina formed as
indicated above. The fertility of a soil is largely dependent on the
quantity of clay which it contains, its relations to moisture and
amenability to culture being chiefly conditioned by its clay content. The
determination of the percentage of clay in soils is an operation of the
highest utility in forming an opinion of the value of a soil on analytical
data alone.
16. Calcium is one of the commonest and most important elements
of the earth’s crust, of which it has been estimated to compose about
one-sixteenth. It does not occur free in nature, but its most common
form is in combination with carbon dioxid, forming the mineral calcite,
marble, and the very abundant limestone rocks. In this form it is slightly
soluble in water containing carbon dioxid, and hence lime has become a
universal component of all soils and is very generally found in natural
waters, in which it furnishes the chief ingredient necessary for the
formation of the shells and skeletons of the various tribes of mollusca
and corals. In combination with sulfuric acid calcium forms the rock
gypsum. Lime is not only a necessary plant food, but influences in a
marked degree the physical condition of the soil and the progress of
nitrification. Many stiff clay soils are rendered porous and pulverulent
by an application of lime, and thus made far more productive. On