Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 235897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1179(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 786(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 235897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1179(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 786(@300wpm)
“Can they talk?” I move forward just enough to see down the line of our squad and watch the same scene playing out among riders and fliers. Even Xaden is paused before Sgaeyl, though it looks like any conversation they might be having isn’t going his way.
“We all can,” Tairn replies with a sound I’d almost call a sigh of contentment.
I give myself a second to smile, to revel in the happiness of my friends who have been denied the closest of their relationships for the last couple of weeks. Then I look up at the mass of people gradually quieting and taking their seats, and scan down the rows to the bottom without finding a single weapon out of its scabbard. Color fills the crowd, but everyone sitting in the front row is dressed in identical sleeveless tunics the shade of apricots.
For as much excitement as they’re showing, none of them rush forward to greet us. In fact, the people joining climb the seats farthest to the right as they enter the field, as though not to obscure the crowd’s view for even a second.
A wisp of a shadow brushes against my mind, and my smile deepens.
“Hi there,” Xaden says as he strides toward me, the corners of his mouth curving. He’s shucked his flight jacket, too, and pushed up the sleeves of his uniform to his elbows.
“Hi there.” I grin, somehow having found home thousands of miles away from the Continent. “Everything good with Sgaeyl?”
“She’s yelling, but I’ll take it over silence any day.” A muscle in his jaw pops as he reaches my side, then turns to face the crowd. “Pretty sure she’s spent the last week or so cataloging every one of my missteps, given how quickly she listed them.”
“I’m sorry.” I brush the back of my hand against his.
“She has every right to be pissed.” He laces our fingers and holds tight as he studies our surroundings. “I need you to make me another promise, Violet.”
“That sounds serious.” I smile at Ridoc as he heads our way with a definite bounce in his step. The others aren’t far behind him.
“Look at me.” Xaden softens the sharp command with a brush of his thumb over mine.
My gaze snaps to his and my smile falls at the intensity in his stare. “What do you want me to promise?”
“That you’ll never do that again.”
I blink. “You’re going to have to be more specific.”
“You put yourself between Ridoc and me—”
“It seemed like you might hit my friend.” I lift my brows. “And you weren’t exactly yourself.”
“That’s my point.” Fear flashes across his face before he quickly masks it. “There’s no telling what I could have done to you. It’s all I’ve been able to think about.”
“Is it just me? Or are we the equivalent of the circus coming to town?” Ridoc asks.
“You won’t hurt me,” I argue for the hundredth time. “Even when you wanted to kill me last year, you never hurt me. Even when you lack your emotions, you’re still…you.”
“Oh, we’re definitely the show,” Cat answers Ridoc.
“This might be my favorite isle.” Trager takes Cat’s hand. “What do you think, Violet?”
“Me, without any restraint or reason.” Xaden lowers his brows.
“How about I decide when I think you’re too dangerous to approach.”
“I think I know when I’m too dangerous to approach.” He leans in.
“Don’t mind them.” Ridoc’s tone sings. “They’re back to doing…whatever it is they do when they ignore everyone around them and pretend they’re the only people in existence.”
“This from the same man who thinks I need to know how to kill him?” I lift my chin. “Which is it, Xaden? Am I too precious to get close? Or am I the one who needs to know which shadow is yours?”
He gives me a look Sgaeyl would be proud of, and I hold his gaze. “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I hurt you.” The sun catches the amber flecks in his eyes, and I nearly relent at the plea in his tone.
“And I won’t be able to live with myself if I stand there and watch you hurt Ridoc.” I squeeze his hand. “I take full responsibility for my safety. You are a giant battle flag waving in the wind right now, Xaden, but you’re my battle flag, and you’d do the same thing in my position.”
“Hey, I hate to break up whatever moment you’re having,” Ridoc says, “but everyone’s here and their emissary is headed this way.”
“This discussion isn’t over,” Xaden warns as we turn our attention to the field.
“Happy to win the fight again later.” I squeeze his hand one last time, then let go as a woman in an orange tunic and matching scabbard walks toward us, carrying a cone-shaped object half my height. “I love you.”
“So fucking stubborn.” He sighs. “I love you.”