Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 123190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
Kendrick arches a brow. “A man?”
“I can’t send you in there as a faerie, certainly not when she’s so afraid of our kind. I need you to go in there as the human version of yourself. You’re to give her hope. Courage. You’re to be the reason she wants to wake up tomorrow. And after. You’ll watch over her, and I will hand you the Magical Seven on a platter.”
“You free my queen today, and I’m at your service.”
My eyes fly open. Rage, as black as night and twice as fearsome, pumps through my blood. The room tilts sideways, and my stomach lurches.
Kendrick sits up beside me. “Are you okay?”
Not at all.
“What’s wrong?” He brushes my hair back from my face. “Talk to me.”
I lock my gaze on his fae ears. His glamour is still in place, but his forehead is unmarked where he wore a tattoo in my dreams. To reassure myself, I reach up with my unbound hand and skim a finger from temple to temple.
He shivers and his eyes drift closed for a beat. “Jasalyn.”
“It was just a nightmare,” I say—to him? To myself?
This is Kendrick. This is the man who is rallying against the evil fae who have destroyed his realm—my realm.
You’ll watch over her, and I will hand you the Magical Seven on a platter.
No. It was just a dream. A nightmare. An elaborate concoction of my broken psyche.
“You would never hurt me,” I whisper.
His blue eyes look haunted as he brings our bound hands to his lips, brushing a kiss across my knuckles. “I’d rather die.”
The curtains are thrown open, and light pours into the room. “Get up, Hale,” Remme grumbles. “We’re heading to—Oh. Shit. I’m sorry. I’ll just—”
“Wait, Remme,” Kendrick says, adjusting the sheet over me with his free hand.
I shift under the covers and study his face. “Did it work?” I ask. “Do you remember?”
He nods, but there’s something sad on his face I don’t quite understand. “It worked.”
“You two spent the night together, and you thought he might forget?” Remme asks. He frowns. “How could he forget a night with you?”
“Hey, Remme?” Skylar calls from the hall. “Have you seen Hale? Shae’s back and needs to talk to him, but he’s not—” She appears in the door and freezes when she spots us in Kendrick’s bed together. “Oh. Jasalyn. How did you sleep?”
Kendrick sits up, chest bare. “Good morning, Skylar. Good morning, Remme. We saw you both last night and explained that Jasalyn’s ring won’t come off, but you don’t remember because, obviously, she was wearing the ring, just like you won’t remember this, but please get the fuck out anyway.” He adds a smile to soften the command.
Remme’s brows creep up his forehead as he looks back and forth between us. “I knew it was a matter of time.”
I lift up our bound hands. “Nothing happened. We slept next to each other so Kendrick would stay connected to me and wouldn’t forget. Now please go?”
He nods. “As you wish, Princess.”
“Do you need anything, Jasalyn?” Skylar asks. “I could run you a warm bath?”
I bite back a smile. This is going to get old fast, but right now it’s still amusing.
“I’m good,” I tell her. “Why don’t you get yourself some breakfast, and we’ll meet you downstairs.”
“Oh. Okay. Thank you. That’s so kind of you. I’m so lucky to know you.”
We wait while they back out of the room and close the door behind them.
“Wow,” Kendrick says, dropping back onto his pillow. “If she was able to remember that, she would absolutely hate it.”
“I’m sure.”
He rolls to his side to look at me, and my dream flashes to the forefront of my mind. Kendrick talking to Mordeus. Kendrick, as fae, promising to keep me from destroying myself so Mordeus could use me.
He cups my face in his big hand and rubs his thumb across my bottom lip. I attempt a smile, but I can’t shake the dream. It’s making me question this man who’s saved me again and again.
“How are you feeling this morning?” he asks.
My dreams were nothing more than the ring messing with my mind, just like it distorts the perceptions of those around me when I’m wearing it. Or maybe it’s the blood magic—maybe Mordeus is able to plant things in my mind as he draws power from me.
Whatever the reason, I’m sure there’s an explanation. Kendrick was helping me plot my escape from the dungeons. He wouldn’t have done that if he’d been working with Mordeus.
I shove down the surge of unfair doubts and suspicions. Kendrick deserves better.
“So far, so good,” I whisper. The truth is, I already feel tired in a way that has nothing to do with the number of hours we slept. This ring isn’t meant for the daylight, and every survival instinct tells me to stay in bed. Another kind of instinct is telling me to keep Kendrick here with me.