Total pages in book: 241
Estimated words: 229266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1146(@200wpm)___ 917(@250wpm)___ 764(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 229266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1146(@200wpm)___ 917(@250wpm)___ 764(@300wpm)
“As do I.” Kieran grinned, and his sister rolled her eyes.
“Sounds like you and Poppy have that in common,” Casteel said, wiping his fingers on the napkin. It said something about his relationship with Kieran’s sister that he’d called me that in front of her. “She also has a fondness for sharp, deadly objects.”
“I do,” I confirmed.
Vonetta grinned. “Yet another reason to like you,” she said. “So, what do you think of Spessa’s End so far?”
Finishing off the last of the sandwich, I then told her how I hadn’t been aware of what had happened to Pompay and Spessa’s End. “I’m amazed by what has been done here—the homes are so much nicer than what most people have in Solis. And the gardens? There is nothing like that there. After seeing Pompay, I expected nothing but ruins.”
“Solis sounds like a really cruddy place,” she stated.
Casteel snorted. “Understatement of the year, Netta.”
“There are nice parts, but so very few people have access to them.” I picked up a plump strawberry. “And there are good people there. Scared individuals who don’t know any other way to live than what they were born into.”
She nodded as she brushed several braids back over her shoulder. “Hopefully, that changes soon.”
I agreed, and the conversation moved on from there. Casteel asked about Kieran and Vonetta’s parents. I learned that her mother was named Kirha and that Vonetta planned to travel home to see them soon. Their mother had a birthday coming up. They talked about how many new homes they felt would be completed in the next couple of months, and Vonetta mentioned a few people that she knew were interested in settling here. She asked about the potential for electricity, which led to a conversation about power grids and lines that sounded like a different language to me. I learned that Vonetta’s role in Spessa’s End was like one of a Rise Guard, and the way Vonetta and Casteel traded insults made it clear that the three of them had grown up together. The friendship between them was so real, that it made me fiercely yearn for the same thing—made me think of Tawny. She would love Kieran’s sister.
Vonetta then asked about how I’d learned to fight, and minutes ticked away, the sandwiches disappeared, and throughout the afternoon, there was never more than a few minutes where some part of Casteel’s body wasn’t in contact with mine. Whether it was his arm resting against mine or his knee, or him messing with my hair, tucking it behind my ear, or fixing the sleeves on my borrowed tunic. The constant contact, the small touches here and there, made it all too easy to forget that we were pretending.
And it was hard not to notice, at least for me, how different Vonetta was toward me compared to the others. It could be because she was Kieran’s sister and Casteel’s friend, but the wolven in general had entirely different reactions toward me. They weren’t distrustful, and while I did briefly open my senses to Vonetta when I caught her staring at me strangely, all I felt from her was curiosity.
“So, the whole static charge thing,” Vonetta brought back up after Kieran had cleared the table. “I want to see if it happens again.”
My brows lifted, but I was also curious. I extended my hand, and a moment later, Vonetta placed her palm flat to mine. She frowned slightly. “Do you feel anything?”
“No.” She sounded disappointed.
“I only felt it once,” Kieran remarked, letting an arm dangle over a bent knee. “Actually, come to think of it. What does she smell like to you?”
I drew my hand back, twisting toward Kieran. “That’s right. You said I smelled like a dead person.”
“I didn’t say you smelled like a dead person,” he countered. “I said you smelled of death.”
“How is that different?” I demanded.
“That’s a good question.” Casteel turned his head, brows lifting. “You’re really smelling her, aren’t you, Netta?”
I looked to find Vonetta’s head close to mine. “Please don’t say I smell of death.”
“You don’t.” She drew back. “But there is a unique scent to you.” Her dark brows knitted together. “You smell…old.”
“Um.” I shifted uncomfortably. “I’m not sure if that’s any better.”
Casteel dipped his head, and I felt the bridge of his nose along the side of my neck. “You don’t smell like that to me,” he murmured, and a shiver curled its way down my spine. “You smell like honeydew.”
Oh, my gods….
“I’m not saying she smells like mothballs and stale peppermint candy,” Vonetta said, and Kieran laughed. “It’s just… I don’t know how to explain what I mean.”
“I think I understand.” Casteel sat back.
“You do?” I questioned.
He nodded. “Your blood tastes old to me—old in a way that it’s rich. Powerful for someone who is not full-blooded Atlantian. It’s probably the bloodline.”