Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 79726 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79726 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
I want to disseminate. But I’ve just promised not to lie to her. Besides, it’s not like I should want her to think well of me. The sooner we drive her away from here, the better.
So I look her straight in the eye as I tell her the truth. “I, too, am War. As much as I might hate my twin at times, I can’t deny we’re two sides of the same coin. He can stir the chaos and mad bloodlust of war, but I brought the order and genius tactical planning that allowed for true, effective, and total destruction.”
I put my hands on the counter and lean in so she really hears me. “Remus and I have decimated everything we ever touched, and my brothers knew it. Far more than even my brother Death, who is kind-hearted and gave peace to those in the worst suffering imaginable, Remus and I were the most destructive Horseman to your world. And I believe with my whole being that we should still be chained to the dungeon wall downstairs. Because I fear Remus will tear a hole through the heart of this realm with his rage and selfishness if he continues to remain free.”
Chapter Fourteen
LAUREN
Okay, so that’s a little intense. Nothing like hearing that the man of your dreams whom you’ve had the most amazing connection with is. . . well, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
My forehead feels hot with the overwhelm of information and for lack of anything better to do, I grab the dough and put it back in the bowl to rise. I turn away from Romulus to search for a towel to lay over the top of the bowl. I see one on a rack by the wall and am glad for the breathing space while I walk over and snatch it up.
“So, are you ready for me to take you home now?” Romulus asks.
The breath I hadn’t realized I had trapped in my chest expels out in a huge blast. “You just laid a lot on me. Give a girl a minute.”
I keep my eyes averted as I drape the towel over the rounded dough ball. Finally, I give him my eyes. And really take in the face in front of me for the first time.
There are similarities between Remus’s and Romulus’s features. Romulus’s are less exaggerated than his twin’s: his jaw isn’t quite as wide, his forehead isn’t as broad, and his lips are just as full but somehow not as widespread.
I blink a couple times and understand what I couldn’t quite put my finger on when I first looked at him. Aha. He’s the more classically handsome version of Remus.
The thing is, I’ve always thought that perfectly symmetrical, so-called perfect faces were boring. I like Remus’s stretched, slightly mad-looking features. I think he’s wildly handsome, and I love the puckish glint in his eye and never knowing what’s going to come out of his mouth next.
But was he just playing with me? Doing what his brother says and making chaos by stealing me away?
Then I frown, remembering the way he tenderly promised never to hurt me. Were those the words of a man who had no value for human life? Because, uh, I’m a human, and he’s been so careful with me. Was it all a manipulation? It felt so. . . real.
“How does your magic or power or whatever it is you’re talking about work? How did you influence these armies and stir bloodlust?”
Romulus blinks at me. “I think you’re missing the point here. My brother is a very bad—”
I wave a hand. “Yeah, yeah, blah, blah. He’s the worst. Would tear a hole in the fabric of all that’s good and holy, whatever. I’m asking how. Like, what do you even do? How does your magic work?”
“It’s not magic,” he snaps, sounding a little appalled.
I roll my eyes and give another hand wave. “Okay, then what is it? How does it work?”
He looks a little put-off, and I think he thought I would run screaming after he told me all the boogeyman stories about his brother. “What does it matter?”
I cock my head. “You’re expecting me to take off just because of what you’re telling me about Remus. It matters.” It matters because if Remus has been somehow using magic on me to make me feel all the things I’ve been feeling for him, just to use me for his own reasons and then toss me away, that’s one thing. If not, then this gets complicated.
Romulus shrugs. “It’s a power not of this world, imbued by the godhood of the Great Hall. When the Horsemen ride, our aura spreads across the land. Each curse works differently. Remus and I influence events by lassoing existing energy and pouring in our own will to amplify it.”