Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 47052 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 235(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47052 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 235(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
“I remember,” she said, surprised he did.
“You were speaking from experience. Every Halloween your life becomes a horror movie.”
“Now yours has too.” A veil of web wafted over her. She scrubbed her face, spitting against the strands. Pfft!
This entire castle was a web, and she’d flown right into it, dragging Rök in as well. Thanks, Mariketa. How could Poppy keep fighting to find the cursebreaker? How could she not? “I’ll bet you’ve never gone through this much trouble to get laid. You must be regretting your decision to come here.”
His gaze drifted to her lips. “Worth it just for that kiss.”
Her heart sped up from the memory, and judging from his sidelong grin, he heard it. “Oh, come on, Rök. That’s a steep downside for a kiss. We’ve got hours to go, and more unkillable visitors will come.”
“You’d be dead if I hadn’t hitched a ride here with Desh. So I have zero regrets. Remember, I’m not concerned about me. I just want to keep you safe.”
So she hadn’t imagined the worry in his eyes when Annelise had struck. Despite Poppy and Rök’s history, the demon truly cared about her. “Why is it your job to keep me safe?”
“You hired my sword.”
“Now you’ve been paid. But you won’t be happy with one kiss.”
“No.” He gazed down at her. “I won’t.”
Or maybe the player just wanted to check this box. Ugh.
Thud thud thud. That sound needled her; his attitude grated. Soon irritation hummed inside her like the electricity all around. She was pissed to be trapped here, pissed that some asshole somewhere had cursed her. She was super pissed that the demon still affected her like this.
Over the course of a years-long rivalry, one horrendous date, and a perilous castle jaunt, had she ceded a piece of her heart to him?
What if she never got it back? He’d given her another kiss that had turned her inside out, with the promise of nothing more. His kiss was a curse.
Which meant she’d been doubly cursed.
More webs ghosted over her. Pfft. Spider eggs cracked beneath her boots. Lightning forked out. That leg went thud thud thud. Everything about this place charged her temper.
Rök looked like he suffered the same, his shoulder muscles bunching. In a curt tone, he asked, “Are you dead set on dating a warlock?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You told your ex that you’d bring a hundred other warlocks to the table.”
She’d just been keeping with the theme. “Why are my dating standards any of your business? At least I knew he wouldn’t get summoned.”
“Standards, is it? And one more time, I can’t help summonings.”
“You can break your pact with females.” Thud thud thud. “Admit it: you don’t want to.”
“I don’t go out of my way to hurt them. Once I claim my mate, all this will take care of itself. They know I’ll never stray from her.”
I know this too! So why was Poppy even looking at him? “You can’t convince me that you don’t love the attention. The need. You love it, or else you would stop it.” Thud thud thud. Pfft. IRRITATION. “Why did you have to be such a big disappointment?”
He whirled around on her. “Because I’m a demon and demon things happen? You’re a disappointment too—hating me for things I can’t control!”
Danger, attraction, and that wild electricity charged them up like lightning desperate to strike. Words left her lips: “What was so special about the woman who summoned you from our date? Was she sexier than me?” Poppy’s voice broke with emotion. “A better kisser?”
“Are you high? No one’s sexier to me. No one’s a better kisser. Gods, witch, you nearly made me come in my pants in the parking lot!”
She drew her head back in confusion. “Then why didn’t you return to me? Why? ” Her voice cracked on the word, but she was beyond caring.
“I did come back, and you were gone. I told you I sometimes temporarily disappear, was honest about it. You knew I might get summoned, and you still ditched!”
“I waited for an hour!”
“Because I’m a demon, and you don’t want a . . .” He frowned. “I wasn’t gone an hour.”
“That’s when I left, so it was longer. But hey, males tend to lose track of time if they’re balls deep. Did you give a single thought to me, sitting alone in that restaurant?”
Frustration evaporating, he quietly said, “I didn’t think I’d been gone that long.”
“Explain the situation to me. A woman you used to sleep with summoned you because she needed a chess partner? Or some furniture moved? Or, more likely, for sex.”
Lips thinned, he turned to check behind the door of a storage cabinet. “That’s all I ever get summoned for. I serve a function: empty, emotionless sex.”
“You resent that?”
“Maybe. But I understand it. Everybody knows I’m destined for my mate, so no one wants anything more.” He faced her. “The fact remains: Poppy, I didn’t bed anyone that night.”