Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91049 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91049 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
I realize it’s a bedchamber. A bed is on one side of the room. In a sitting area before a balcony is where she sits with her cello, and then there’s the side of the room I’m on, farthest from her and the bed.
I’m before the table the rose rests on. It calls to me. I reach to touch the dome that covers it.
“No.” The word is roared by my captor as she appears before me.
I take a step back. She covers the table with her back to the rose. Her breasts are exposed as they heave in the confines of a corset. Her hood has fallen back from her face.
Fear and anger cover her features. Anger wins out as she moves toward me. The blaze in her eyes turns to flames. Smoke comes from her nose.
“Who let you in here? What are you doing here? Do you know what you could have done?” she growls.
“A mirror brought me here,” I reply.
“A mirror?” she furrows her brows. “What? Don’t lie. You could have ruined us all.”
“I never lie,” I growl. “The mirror appeared and brought me through to this room. It showed me the image of you and the rose.”
“Enough,” she roars, her voice sounding through the room.
The force of her single spoken word pushes me back. I cross my forearms before my face and dig my heels into the floor to stop my backward motion. When I’m no longer being pushed back, I stand straight once again and glare at her.
I tilt my head. “Why are you so hostile toward me? Am I not your prisoner? First, you imprisoned my father, and now me for something as simple as that rose you’re protecting now.
“Are you so barbaric that you have no regard for the life of others over plants that die and regrow?”
She vibrates with anger, taking a step away from the table and the rose. Her eyes turn the color of white-hot fire. She flips her cloak out to her sides.
“You know nothing of what you speak. It is life that I preserve with this rose.” Her words come out with so much pain. “You look at something that’s more precious than gold and know not its value.
“Stand there and judge me, but you will never understand how much I value life, whether man, creature, plant or beast. Now go,” she exclaims the last words.
I clench my fists at my sides. An ache within keeps me rooted to my spot. Not the same pain as when she placed her hand on my chest. Something else I can’t explain.
If I didn’t know better, I’d say it’s the pain of a spirit link. However, my betrothed back home has not begun to bond with me. It’s one of the reasons I’ve questioned the elders.
This feeling is too strong to be her. If I didn’t feel her when I was in my realm, I wouldn’t feel her here. Blaise groans and clenches her chest.
I narrow my gaze. The amber color of her eyes returns, her face contorting with pain.
“What…what are you doing to me?” she says tightly.
“I have done nothing.”
She lifts her gaze to me. I go to step closer, but she takes a step back. Her face softens as if she’s a frightened bird.
I continue to move forward. She holds out a hand and roars at me, pushing me back again. I take the same stance to shield my face and slow my backward motion.
“Get away from me. Get out. You’re a thief and a liar. Get out.”
Anger rises within, overriding the pang in my chest. I turn and storm from the room without further thought. It’s a great disgrace to call a Kunglig a liar. I will not stand here for this.
It’s clear I’ve given my word to a madwoman. There seems to be no reasoning with her. I would never go back on my word with a sane person. However, this Blaise isn’t sane.
I keep moving until I reach the front doors of the castle. I release my powers and fling my arm out, causing the doors to burst open.
I grind my teeth as the action takes more energy than it should. I don’t stop moving. I step out into the dark night.
A howl sounds in the distance, but I keep moving. I fear not what lives in the woods of this place. I need to find a location with enough energy to tear through to the next realm.
My instincts lead me farther into the brush. Agitation rises as my power seems to remain bound somehow. I bare my teeth and focus.
The howling continues as I get deeper into the woods. I’m getting closer to the source of great energy. My powers start to pulse in response to it.
I’m so focused on it I don’t pick up on the wolf that attacks me until it’s right on me. It lunges through the air, clawing my shoulder as I turn out of its way. I bite back the grunt from the searing pain.