Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 81261 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81261 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
“Why?”
“For helping Thalia out of a predicament when I was forbidden from doing so.”
“Because she’s your daughter and you love her,” I surmise.
“Obviously.”
No, it’s not obvious to me. Not all parents love their children. “Did you love her mother?”
“No,” he replies unemotionally as he gets back in bed, settling on his side and once again facing me with his head propped in his hand. “It was a once only. She wanted a baby.”
That’s… weird.
I sit cross-legged, the sheet tucked under my armpits, and sip my coffee. It’s disconcerting, the way he so casually lounges, oblivious to his nudity. My eyes keep darting to his wings, folded tight to his back. They’re fascinating to me.
“You like them,” he says matter-of-factly.
I blush at him calling out my ogling. “They’re stunning. And so soft. And that thing you did last night, lifting us in the air…”
“That felt especially good,” he agrees. “I’ll take you flying sometime.”
My eyes about pop out of my head. “Really?”
“Of course.”
My gaze drops to my cup. This is all so surreal. I’m in freaking Hell, at any given time probably close to landing myself in the Crimson River, and yet some of the best experiences of my life are happening.
“Those look like some heavy thoughts,” Amell observes.
“It’s just…” My eyes lift and I cradle the cup. “I don’t understand why this is in my hand.”
Amell frowns. “Not following.”
“I murdered someone. I got sent to Hell. I should be in the river right now. And here I am with a cup of coffee, in the king’s bed.”
“I see how that might be confusing,” he says, but offers no further explanation. “Why did you kill Vince?”
My body jerks so hard, the hot beverage sloshes over the edge of my cup and discolors the white satin at my lap. “Shit… sorry.”
Amell waves a hand, and the wetness and stain disappear.
I narrow my eyes at him. “You can’t just do that to your own sheets each day and clean them?”
“I could,” he replies blandly. “But then what would I have you do? Now, why did you kill Vince?”
I’m prepared for the question the second time. “He was opportune.”
Shifting up to his elbow, Amell reaches out and drags a finger across my satin-covered thigh. “You know, if you felt just a tiny bit of remorse, I could petition Zora to have you reincarnated.”
I can’t make this any clearer, so I look the king dead in the eye. “I’m not sorry in the slightest.”
“Zora could command me to throw you in the Crimson River,” he says, voice tight with tension.
“It would be deserved,” I reply.
“So be it,” he says, and I can’t tell anything by his tone, it’s so neutral. He exits the bed and heads toward his closet. “I’ve got some things to handle this morning. I’ll grab my own breakfast.”
Reaching over, I set the coffee on the table and slide out of bed, bringing the sheet with. I wrap it around me as I ask, “Are you mad I’m not sorry about it?”
Amell turns, a pair of pants in his hand. “Of course I’m not mad. I’m evil, remember. I don’t care if you murdered a hundred men.”
“I don’t think you’re evil,” I say, clutching the sheet at my chest.
“I was kicked out of Heaven for plotting to overthrow God. I’m absolutely evil.”
Whatever. I don’t see it.
Amell finishes dressing. “I’m going to be gone all day, but I’ll try to be back in time for dinner.”
Sighing, I look around the room I cleaned quite well yesterday. I’ll wash sheets today, even though there are three more sets in the trunk at the end of the bed.
“Can I go back to working in the kitchens?”
Amell’s eyes narrow. “What? Why?”
“Because there’s not enough to do here to keep me busy, and I was bored out of my mind yesterday. I tried to read your books, but they’re in another language.”
“Good thing,” he mutters. “You might have accidentally summoned a demon.”
I ignore the quip. “There’s no more than an hour of work at most in here. I need to stay active, or I’ll go crazy.”
Moving close, he takes me by the chin. “You’d rather work in the kitchens under Rhynda’s rule than work here?”
“All day, any day.” I’ll throw myself in the river from boredom otherwise.
Amell sighs, rubbing his thumb over my cheek. “You’re a strange woman.”
I stare up at him. This man—no, Dark Fae—has the power to blink out my existence with a snap of his fingers. He could hurt me in a million different ways by his strength and darkness alone.
Yet now, he actually looks at me with tenderness and worry.
It makes no sense.
“I’ll let Rhynda know you’ll spend your free hours with her, whatever those might be.”
“Free hours?”
“Don’t think after last night I won’t be spending more time in my room. And if I’m in this room, then my order is you’ll be in this room too.”