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 laugh at that. “Oh yeah? Maybe I should judge for myself. Where are these brothers of yours? Or do you all have your own castles?”
He waves a hand dismissively. “They’re on vacation with their consorts. Well, my youngest brother does not yet have the joy of companionship because he’s just returned to us.”
I shake my head, not quite following all he’s saying. “But they’re all gods, like you?”
“As I have said,” he steps nearer and dips his head closer to mine. “None are like me, little Lo-ren.”
His closeness sends my heart suddenly racing, and my breathing quickens. I spin away and head for the door. “You said you’d show me everything. I’m ready.” I hustle out the door, but I swear I hear him chuckle behind me.
Pushing open the heavy wooden door, I step out into a hallway. I still can’t believe I’m in a real castle.
Traveling to Europe and visiting places where castles exist has always been on my bucket list. But it’s also something I sorta never believed would ever happen for me. Cross-the-ocean plane tickets are expensive, as is travel in general. Hell, I’ve never even been to the ocean!
I lift my hands and trail them along the walls as I walk. The stones feel old. Older than anywhere I’ve ever been in the States. Light filters in from huge windows at the end of the hallway, and when we reach it, there’s a spiral staircase heading both directions.
I turn around to Remus. “Which way, up or down?”
“If you want to see something magical, then go up. Three flights.”
I feel a little thrill at every wild step into the unknown I’m taking. Continuing to hold onto the walls, because obviously, a modern convenience like railings don’t exist in a place like this, I head up the stairs.
Now, despite what my mom thinks, I do actually try to go for a walk most days. I handle the steps, and I’m only breathing slightly heavier by the last set of steep stairs. There’s a misconception that big girls are always out of shape, which pisses me off. It’s just one of the things people get wrong about folks like me.
Remus comes up behind me and smoothly dips a hand to my back for a moment. “This way.”
I suck in a breath at the touch, but he’s pulled his hand away and is walking ahead of me. I stare, trying to muffle my gasp as his folded wings bob and his tail continues to flip back and forth, occasionally brushing the walls. He still has on the hood covering his hair, and my eyes drop without meaning to his tight backside.
His pants have a buttoned opening for his tail to emerge, right where his spine and tailbone meet, but they’re quite form-fitting everywhere else. Ahem. I jerk my eyes away as soon as I realize I’m staring.
I look around. Unlike the floor we came from, the top of the stairs leads to a single, huge, round room, and I can only guess that it’s the top of a castle turret. Sunlight spills in through the countless windows that line the walls, the tint of the glass panes making the light change colors as it passes into the room.
“The story of where I come from.”
The room is empty but for an extravagantly intricate mosaic in the center of the floor. The picture and design of the mosaic are unclear at first, but as I step back and move to angle myself correctly, it becomes clear.
My breath catches.
Flaming angelic beings of white and gold, all with wings like Remus, except pure white in color, not black. The beings are gathered in a huge rectangular hall, flanking each side. At the front is some sort of fire or power source that’s so bright it’s a burst of white.
“What is this?” I breathe out.
Remus just says, “Watch.”
I frown, confused, but before my very eyes, the mosaic begins to move. The little tiles shift and change colors. I yelp and step back against the wall, right into Remus’s chest. He chuckles and slips an arm around my waist to steady me but doesn’t remove it even once it’s clear I’ve got my balance.
And there’s something comforting about his touch as I watch in wonder at the tiles shifting. The great hall remains, but all the angelic beings change, filtering out of the hall like a ceremony has finished.
Then, another figure enters, slightly different from the angels. A little less bright. A little more human-looking, but still with white wings. Like something in between a human and an angel.
Unlike the angels standing tall, wings flared, this figure lurks. He sticks to the shadows. Head swinging this way and that, tiles shift and ripple so that it feels like I’m watching a pixelated movie. He steals up toward the bright fire at the altar, dipping his hand in and pulling some fire out. Then he flees back down the aisle.