Total pages in book: 248
Estimated words: 236909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1185(@200wpm)___ 948(@250wpm)___ 790(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 236909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1185(@200wpm)___ 948(@250wpm)___ 790(@300wpm)
I jerked, pulling against his hold.
“Do it.” Rhain tore another root free. “Do it now, or she’s not only going to get herself killed but bring this whole damn palace down on our heads.”
“Fuck,” the Primal snarled, clasping the back of my head. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” His forehead touched mine briefly, and then he pulled back. “Listen to me, Seraphena.” Eather swirled through his eyes, and his voice…it was deeper, slower. “Stop fighting me and listen.”
I stopped struggling.
I listened.
Waited.
Once more an empty vessel.
A blank canvas.
And when Nyktos spoke again, it was just one word, both a whisper and a yell that reached deep inside me, seizing me. Taking control.
Sleep.
Chapter 30
I dreamt of my lake.
I was swimming. That was how I knew I was dreaming. I’d never learned how to swim, but I glided seamlessly through the cool, midnight water. I wasn’t alone. A lone figure sat on the bank, watching.
A white wolf.
The wolf waited in the shadows of the elms, its thick fur a lush silver in the fractured beams of moonlight.
I didn’t know how long I dreamed, but I swam and swam, full of peace. Surrounded by it.
The wolf waited.
My arms and legs didn’t grow tired. My skin didn’t wrinkle and prune. Neither hunger nor thirst found me. I swam above the water and then below.
And the beast waited.
“Sera.”
I slowly blinked open eyes that felt as if they’d been stitched closed. It took a moment for my vision to clear and for me to piece together the rounded cheeks and chin, the onyx-hued hair and eyes that tapered at the corners—irises a luminous silver.
“Bele?” I croaked, wincing at the scratchiness of my throat.
“My name is Nell.”
I inhaled sharply, surrounded by the scent of citrus and fresh air. “W-what?”
A quick grin pulled at her full lips. “I’m kidding.” The goddess looked over her shoulder and yelled, “She’s finally awake.”
I winced, my ears strangely sensitive. Finally awake? Bele disappeared from view, and I saw smooth, black walls and a long, deep couch. My head turned, and my heart stopped as my gaze landed on the small wooden box on the nightstand by the bed.
I was in the Primal’s bedchamber.
Memories surged through me—images of him and her in his office, the bite marks on his throat, and the crushing agony of my mad flight to the pool beneath the palace. The disappointment. The heartbreak—
No.
I wouldn’t go there. Wouldn’t feel that again—any of it. I started to sit up—
“Let’s not do that yet.” Rhain entered the chambers, the straps designed to hold his weapons hanging loosely across his chest.
I halted, remembering him being beneath the palace, breaking off…roots that had grown from the cracks I’d created in the foundation, witnessing my utter loss of control. My face warmed.
Rhain approached the bed I had no idea how I’d gotten into. “How are you feeling?” he asked, the line of his brows furrowed as he sat on the edge of the bed. He sounded concerned but also…relieved, and I didn’t understand why he would feel either of those two things.
Or why he would be in these chambers.
“Okay,” I whispered hoarsely, glancing around and seeing only Bele lingering by the couch, swathed in the gray of the guard. “Thirsty.”
“Bele,” Rhain called out. “Will you do me a favor and get us some water and juice, please?”
“Do I look like I want to do you a favor?” Bele countered.
The answer would be no.
Rhain shot a sharp glare at her over his shoulder. She sighed heavily, rolling her eyes. “Whatever,” she muttered. “I’ll be happy to.”
The god’s lips twitched as he watched her stomp toward the doors. “Thank you.”
Bele flipped him off.
Rhain’s soft laugh faded as his attention returned to me. “Do you have a headache? Any jaw pain?”
“No.” Trepidation mounted, joining the rising confusion. “Should I?”
“Not sure.” He shrugged, and none of that was exactly reassuring. “You want to try to sit up and see what happens?”
“I don’t know.” I stared at him, even more confused. “Do I?”
A grin appeared, one I hadn’t seen since he’d learned of my betrayal. It quickly faded. “Let’s try it.”
I had a lot of questions, starting with what had exactly happened to me under the palace and ending with the one I didn’t want to ask. Where was Nyktos? But I didn’t want to know where he was. Planting my hands on the soft mattress, I pushed up.
“Slowly.” Rhain leaned forward to help, his hand brushing my arm—my bare arm. A flicker of energy buzzed from my skin to his, drawing a hiss from him as he jerked back.
“Sorry,” I gasped. “Did I hurt you?”
“No.” He blinked rapidly. “Just wasn’t expecting the charge of energy to be that strong.”
It was similar to what I felt when my skin came into contact with…with Nyktos’s, but this hadn’t felt that strong to me. The blanket slipped as I sat up, falling to my waist and revealing that I was completely nude. I hastily yanked the soft fur to my chin as my eyes flew to Rhain’s. “Why am I naked? And please tell me it wasn’t you who undressed me.”