Total pages in book: 164
Estimated words: 152666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 763(@200wpm)___ 611(@250wpm)___ 509(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 152666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 763(@200wpm)___ 611(@250wpm)___ 509(@300wpm)
“Yeah. Well, you’d just stabbed me. It gives a guy mixed signals.”
“Right.” My heart sank a little, unsure what to make of that and deciding just to let it go. “I’d just wondered,” I murmured, my face probably flaming.
“Wait, what am I missing?” He reached out to grab my shoulder but Weston’s wolf issued a low warning growl. He jerked his hand away and raised them both in the air. “Not touching.”
I looked over at Weston’s wolf, my eyes widened at the strange flood of desire lighting me on fire. His possessive display of ownership turned me on.
“What am I missing?” Dante tried again. “You have a vibe. What’d I do?”
“No . . .” I waved my hand through the air. This was getting awkward. “It’s nothing. Never mind. I was just surprised to hear that you thought we were friends, that’s all.”
“Why?” He pointed to the side. “Don’t believe what Sixten tells you. I’m loyal as fuck, seriously. I didn’t even care that you tried to stab me. Not for long, anyway.” He paused. “Why, what’s wrong with me? I’m a cool guy. I’m funny. Aren’t I funny, Hadriel?”
Hadriel stood to the side, waiting for the procession to pass. “Wow, spiraling much, Dante?”
“Shut up.” Dante fell back a bit so Hadriel could regain his place.
“He’s funny because he’s too dumb to realize he’s the butt of the joke,” Hadriel said drolly.
“Suck a lemon, Hadriel,” Dante replied.
“Lick a porcupine, Dante.” Hadriel glanced back with a grin. “Haven’t you listened to her stories? She hasn’t ever had friends. People went out of their way to avoid her. It’s surprising to her that her captors would be friendly, let alone declare friendship.”
Heat infused my cheeks and I chewed my lip, the embarrassment washing over me in full force. I sounded desperate. And honestly, maybe I was. It was like having a glimpse into a life you’d only dreamed of and trying to wrestle it into reality. I hated being so obvious about it.
“Oh.” Dante puffed out his chest a little. “It’s not me, it’s her. Cool. I was starting to get a complex.”
Hadriel fully twisted now to stare at Dante for a beat, a dumbfounded look on his face, before shaking his head and facing front again. He then leaned my way like we were coconspirators and said, “If there is ever any doubt, it will always be him, my darling, never you. He’s just a big dumb animal.”
“I’m ignoring you,” Dante told Hadriel. “Yes, Aurelia, we’re friends. Or we will be when we don’t have this abduction thing between us, right? A bit awkward, that. ‘Well, how’d you guys meet? Oh, it was just a little kidnapping situation. She cleaved me with an axe and then I helped keep her imprisoned until she eventually won me over. We’ve been besties ever since.’”
“Do you need us for this, or are you happy talking to yourself for a while?” Hadriel asked him and I devolved into a fit of giggles. These guys were so entertaining when they bantered back and forth.
“This whole thing has been really strange, though, hasn’t it?” Dante mused, looking into the sparse trees along the road. “We did not end up with the person we expected. Not even a little bit. Then there’s the mate situation, which—”
Hadriel turned and punched Dante in the chest.
“Ow, what the fu—” Dante’s eyes widened and his mouth snapped shut as I turned in confusion. Before I could ask what they were talking about, a familiar sensation washed over me. An expectant sort of sensation, with danger and fists and pain on the other end.
Alexander.
My hand drifted to Hadriel’s upper arm, gripping him hard and then pushing him to my other side so that I could hunch near the cart. It probably wasn’t the nicest thing I could do, but I couldn’t help it.
“No, love, you shouldn’t touch—what’s the matter?” Hadriel asked.
“He’s out there,” I whispered, looking through the trees. He wasn’t right there, though. He wasn’t even near, I’d bet anything on that fact—not near enough to attack this moment. The sensation I felt was a promise, a rendezvous with his fists set for a later date. “He’s out there somewhere. I feel it. He’s getting ready.”
“Who?” Hadriel asked.
“Alexander,” I said, holding onto the cart. My gaze found that of Weston’s wolf. “He’s going to come for me.”
To my great surprise and eternal gratitude, no one questioned me. I had a feeling it was because of the emberflies. Before last night, they’d been wary of my claims that the bugs were a warning system. Now they believed me, and they clearly also believed my sixth sense regarding danger and Alexander was just as telling.
Weston’s wolf looked back at Dante, probably communicating through his body language. They seemed to be able to decipher subtle variations in movement.