Total pages in book: 230
Estimated words: 217798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1089(@200wpm)___ 871(@250wpm)___ 726(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 217798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1089(@200wpm)___ 871(@250wpm)___ 726(@300wpm)
He couldn’t know it was me, because it wasn’t like he’d paid attention to me. It wasn’t like anyone paid attention to me. I was a ghost in most rooms, unseen even when I wanted to be seen and heard. That was one thing that hadn’t changed after the attack. And it was freaking ironic that the one thing I hated the most about myself, how easily I took to just blending in, had become my greatest asset.
I willed my heart to slow, but when he closed the door behind him, my heart launched into my throat. He was supposed to be good, but he was here, and if it came down to fighting, there was a slim chance I’d win.
Or land a single kick.
“You’re alone.” His voice… God, his voice was deep and melodious, an odd accent that reminded me of twinkling lights and lush flowers. “Are you alone?” he repeated.
I let the façade of being entranced slip over me and murmured, “Yes?”
“Is that so?” He strode forward, coming closer, into the dim light offered by the exposed lightbulb screwed into a ceiling fan. The Prince was…. God, he was strikingly beautiful.
Golden blond hair brushed broad shoulders and framed high, sharp as a blade cheekbones and a jaw that could’ve been carved out of marble. His brow was several shades darker than his hair and his nose straight, aristocratic. Full, expressive lips were currently pressed together in a hard line. There was no glamour to fade away. This was what he looked like, an example of inhuman perfection designed to lure the prey in.
My pulse pounded as I kept my gaze level.
“You were in here with someone.”
Oh God, there was a good chance I was going to vomit. Just a little. In my mouth.
“Where did he go?” He was now in front of me, standing a few feet away.
“I… I don’t know?” I said it like it was a question, like I knew humans under a trance would speak.
“Really?” His voice dripped with derision.
A fine sheen of sweat broke out along my skin. Not for one second did he sound like he believed me, so I didn’t answer. I stared at his stomach and chest—his rather defined chest that stretched the black thermal he wore.
“Look at me.” His voice was a crack of thunder, and I felt like I was tranced.
I lifted my gaze, and I immediately wished I hadn’t. I was no short woman, but even if I wasn’t sitting down, he would’ve towered over me. The Prince was around six and a half feet and every inch of him was intimidating. To meet his gaze, I had to tilt my head waaay back.
His eyes…. They were the palest blue color that was startling against the blackness of the pupil and the thick, heavy fringe of his lashes. Only a fae had eyes like that.
Something flickered over his face, gone too quickly for me to figure it out. “What is your name?”
“Sally,” I rasped out, throat dry.
“Is it? That’s… odd.”
One of two things was going to happen at this point if he recognized me. Either he wasn’t on Team Good Fae and he was most definitely going to kill me, because there was no way I was going to win a fight with a Prince. That would… suck. Or he was going to haul my ass out of here, report what I was doing to the Order, and then everything would be over. I couldn’t allow that to happen either. Not when I was so close to finding the last two fae. So close to complete retribution.
His hand snaked out faster than my eyes could track. Warm fingers folded around my forearm, sending a jolt traveling up my arm, much like the static charge I got from dragging my feet over a carpet. He eyed the bracelets with a sardonic twist of his lips. Would the Prince recognize what they were? I wasn’t sure.
Then his gaze lifted to mine as he folded two fingers under my chin, guiding my head farther back. A sound rumbled from him, reminding me of a very animalistic growl. My stomach hollowed. A long, tense moment passed and then he pulled his fingers away from my chin.
“So, Sally, I am confident that you entered a room with someone I am looking for.” His thumb slipped over the skin just below the cuff I wore. “Those outside told me he was in here.” He paused. “Then again, those outside this room are unable to tell me anything else.”
What did that mean?
I thought about the odd thump against the wall. Had he done something to the fae out there?
“He was in here and now he’s not.” The thumb moved in a slow circle along my skin, causing a tight, confusing shiver to hit me. “Now, what could’ve happened to this fae? There’s only one small window behind you, but I doubt he’d be able to climb out of that. So, it appears as if he… disappeared into thin air.”