Total pages in book: 362
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
“Oh! I have a tiny job for you.” I clasped my hands together as Rhain faced me. “Is there a small table or something we can bring in here to place refreshments and stuff on? And have it not be removed like the other tables? I would do it myself, but I’m not sure I should randomly take a table from another room.”
Rhain tilted his head. “I can find one for you.”
“Great.”
“Is that all?” he asked.
I nodded and then thought differently. “Maybe an additional chair? Or two?”
Rhain stopped at the doors. “Two chairs?” he repeated, and I nodded. “Nyktos tends to be a minimalist regarding the spaces he spends time in.”
Didn’t I know it. “The space is big enough, isn’t it, Reaver?”
He nodded. “It is.”
“We could maybe place them across from the settee,” I suggested. “I’m sure Nyktos won’t even notice.”
“He’ll notice,” Rhain stated flatly.
“It’ll be okay,” I assured him.
Rhahar grinned. “We’ll get some chairs.”
“A table and two chairs,” Rhain said. “Is that all?”
“Yes.”
He hesitated. “You sure?”
I nodded. “Thank you.” Then I gave him a wave, which Jadis mimicked, nearly smacking Reaver in the face.
My redecoration plans took center stage as I watched Jadis and Reaver, who quickly devoured the sandwiches Rhain had returned with. It was nice to think about something so mundane. Figuring that at least Jadis would soon be taking a nap, I found her blanket in the credenza and tossed it onto the couch. Her eyes were getting heavy-lidded—
My chest suddenly hummed, causing me to stiffen. I knew what that feeling meant.
A Primal was here.
And I knew in my bones it wasn’t Ash.
CHAPTER THIRTY
The humming intensified as instinct warned me this wasn’t Attes either. I spun toward the younglings. “Stay here.”
“A Primal is here.” Reaver halted in the process of lifting Jadis. She giggled as her feet dangled above the floor. “And you’re worried.”
Damn that notam.
I crossed the distance between us and knelt. “I am, and that’s why I need you to stay here with Jadis.”
His stubborn gaze met mine as he set Jadis aside. “But you are meyaah Liessa—”
Jadis had stopped laughing, having picked up on the swift changes in the chamber. She dropped her doll and pressed herself against Reaver, wrapping her arms around him. “Scary,” she whispered, her eyes bigger and rounder than I’d ever seen them.
“It’s okay,” I assured her, placing a hand on each of their cheeks. “You don’t need to be scared, sweetheart. Not when Reaver is with you. He will keep you safe.” My gaze shifted to Reaver. “Right? Remember what I asked of you before?”
He glanced between us and nodded. “Always,” he said. “I promised you.”
“That’s right.” I kissed his forehead and then Jadis’s.
Reaver folded an arm over Jadis’s shoulders as I rose and turned. Forcing myself not to bolt from the chamber and scare Jadis further, I walked out of Ash’s office.
Damn it. I shouldn’t have been thinking about how calm things were. I’d jinxed myself.
I closed the doors behind me. “A Primal has arrived,” I told Rhahar, who now stood with Kars. “And it’s not Ash or Attes.”
Then I ran.
“Sera!” Rhahar exclaimed.
I didn’t slow down as I raced down the corridor, picking up speed as I reached the closest exit. Kars’ curse got lost in the pounding of my heart. I willed the door open, catching it before it crashed against the shadowstone wall.
I spotted Aios in the courtyard, speaking with Bele. Her buttercream-colored gown fluttered around her slippered feet as she turned toward me, just as Bele’s eyes flashed an intense silver.
“Fuck,” Bele spat, her hand going to the sheath on her forearm. “I feel them.”
It occurred to me then that I’d picked up on the Primal’s arrival before any of them had, just as I had felt Kyn’s presence before even his brother did, but there was no time to boast. “Aios,” I said, slowing. “Make sure Reaver and Jadis remain inside. They are in the office.”
Aios nodded, grabbed fistfuls of her skirt, and without hesitation, took off in the direction I’d come from just as a horn blew at the entrance of the Rise, snapping my head around. My hands fisted. The Primal was at the gates. I started for them but stopped as Kars and Rhahar poured out the door.
“Do you know who it is?” Bele asked.
I shook my head. “I want to see them before they see me.” I pivoted back to the side of the Rise that faced the Dying Woods. “Go to the gates and ensure that no one gets past them,” I ordered.
A savage smile appeared as eather lit up the veins under her eyes. “You got it.”
Bele was a blur of black and gray as I turned to Rhahar and Kars. “The same—”
“Nyktos is at the Pillars,” Rhahar cut in. “He’s bound to them until he finishes. That means we back you up whether you like it or not,” Rhahar cut in. “That is our duty.”