Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 57184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
My stomach rocks back and forth, vacillating between massive hunger and unease.
There’s a knock at my door, and I still. “Yes?”
“Lake, it is I, Gabrio.” His booming voice is a welcome sound.
I stand and open the door. “What are you doing here?”
“I did not feel comfortable staying behind in the Blood King’s—I mean—in your palace. There is a restlessness there, everyone tiptoeing and whispering.”
“Did you tell Alwar about it?”
“Yes. Of course. That is the other reason I came.”
“Good,” I reply. “So why are you here, in the Scholar People’s temple?”
“Alwar asked me to come check on you. He said you prohibited him from accompanying you.”
“So he wanted you to spy on me?”
Gabrio shrugs. “He cares about what happens to you. As do I. The journey here can take a while to shake off.”
I take his words with a grain of salt. “You mean the muddy tunnel of horror filled with barbs and teeth?” I leave out the part about seeing my grandma or having a minor freak-out over being a vampire.
“My journey here was completely underwater. I kept drowning over and over again. Not a very glorious death for a warrior.”
I frown with confusion.
“The moment the thorn serpent stings you, your worst nightmares and fears come to life. They have a sort of poison.”
“So those leeches weren’t real?”
“Oh yes, those were real—nasty bastards—but nothing else was. It was a test to see if your intellect is high enough to conquer fear before you are bled to death. The more primitive animals go into a panic and never make it through.”
I fucking hate this world. Every inch of it. “Glad that I could stay sufficiently calm not to die and that my husband couldn’t be bothered to tell me any of this.”
“He had no reason to worry. Your intellect is not primitive.” He smiles. “Most of the time.”
Haha. Funny. “And what’s with the moving tunnels?”
He shrugs. “I spent ten years of my youth here. The soil around this temple is constantly shifting. The Scholar People are wonderous engineers. They’ve found a way to make their home flexible.”
Cool. We’re inside a giant stone Slinky. “Can’t wait to get the hell out of here.”
Gabrio shuts the door behind him and lowers his voice. “And just why are you here, Lake? And do not lie to me.”
I have to lie. I don’t want to, but Gabrio is loyal to Alwar. Mostly. He’s definitely loyal to his people. He’s a Wall Man in his heart, and that will never change.
“I came to learn about the address and how to make sure I don’t go down in some monster coup.”
He leans against the door and folds his meaty arms over his strong chest. “You are lying.”
Gabrio is the smartest of the brothers, so I’m not surprised he sees right through me. It isn’t that Alwar is an idiot, but he thinks in terms of political wars and how to win them, as any good king should. Tiago is the hammer who sees everything as a nail. Bard is…well, I don’t know, really. My heart says he’s the one with the conscience. He quit being a Wall Man, something of an honor for the War People, when his father exiled their mother and pregnant sister. Gabrio is the big-picture guy. He’s all about strategies.
“How can you expect me to be honest after the crap you pulled?” I ask.
“Me? What did I ‘pull’?”
How dare he play innocent. “You literally blocked me from leaving my palace after I woke up as a vampire.” It’s water under the bridge now, because I’m staying until I fix things for good, but that moment was a huge wake-up call. Trust no one.
“I stopped you from leaving because I love my people.” The harsh emotion in his emerald-green eyes is palpable.
“You sided with Alwar. You, Bard, and Tiago. After everything I sacrificed, including marrying your brother and letting you inside me, no one was willing to hear me out, Gabrio. And there I was, freaking the fuck out—a vampire! Told I had to be the queen of a world that has kidnapped, abused, hunted, and manipulated me. A place…” I throw my arms to my sides, “I can’t even begin to understand. A place that killed my parents. And now you expect me to trust you?” I know I’m losing my shit, and somehow I don’t care.
“Yes, I’m asking,” he snarls.
“Why would I possibly do that?”
“Because…” he says with a forced calm, “there is nothing more dangerous for both our worlds than this. All bets are off. Order is gone! The Proxy Vow is gone. This is the apocalypse, woman. It’s here, and you’re too wrapped up in your ignorant human head to see it.”
His words hit a sore spot. It’s not the first time they’ve called me ignorant. While I can accept some of the blame for my hasty decisions, the truth is that they’re the ones keeping me in the dark. They tell me nothing, they scheme, they withhold key information, and then they turn around and call me an ignorant human.