Total pages in book: 362
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
“And beautiful,” Ash repeated.
“And,” I stressed, “we are going to stop talking about my eyes now.”
Saion opened his mouth as he lifted a hand. Rhahar dropped coins into his palm. “Never mind.” Grinning, Saion tucked the coins into the inside of his tunic. “In all seriousness, we are so damn glad to be getting on your nerves.”
“And you have no idea how happy I am to be making really bad bets,” Rhahar added.
I laughed. “I’m only partly sorry to be the cause of you losing money.”
“I’m not at all,” Saion called as he moved to stand behind a chair.
Rhahar flipped him off.
“We are glad you have returned to us,” Theon said, and then his gaze darted to Ash. “And to him.”
My breath snagged, and all I could do was nod.
“Not to sound repetitive,” Lailah said, “but I, too, am glad you returned to us.”
I smiled and felt a knot of emotion clogging my throat as Ash watched quietly from where he stood a few feet back, not interrupting but also not straying too far. “Thank you.”
“I’m glad you’re alive and shit,” Bele shared. “Just thought I’d say that since everyone else is.”
I gave her a thumbs-up as Lailah stepped onto the dais. The goddess paused to give Jadis a quick pet where the draken still watched from behind the back of the chair. “Where is Aios?”
“She planned to be here, but Kye, the Healer, asked that she join him in Lethe,” Bele answered. “He wanted her to assist with a birth.”
Concern rose. “Is there something wrong?”
“Other than how disturbing it is that one is expected to push a nine-pound-plus babe out of an area nowhere—”
“Please, don’t go into any more detail.” Theon held up a hand, and Rhain grimaced.
Bele smirked. “Anyway, being a goddess of fertility and such, Kye likes to have her around. Makes his life easier.”
That was a relief. I guessed.
“I, too, am glad,” a quiet voice came.
The muscles on the back of my neck tensed as I turned to Rhain. The reaction had nothing to do with how things had started with us. From day one, Rhain had been wary of my presence, but when he’d learned about my original plans, his distrust—and dislike—had been all too apparent. I didn’t hold any of that against him. If I had been in his shoes, I would have felt the same way. But the way he looked at me now made me want to make a quick exit out the balcony doors. It was the warmth in his hazel eyes that had nothing to do with the aura of eather behind his pupils or the reason behind Rhain’s change of attitude toward me as he extended his hand.
My chest spasmed when my gaze met his. Breathe in. I stopped myself before I let that dread spark into something bigger and nastier, forcing myself to hold my breath as Rhain clasped my forearm. Now was not the time for any of that. “Thank you,” I managed, fixing what I hoped was a normal smile on my face as I grasped his forearm in return.
“Whoa.” He blinked several times. “Got a nice little charge with that.”
“Sorry?”
“Don’t be. Weirdly felt kind of good.” Rhain’s gaze held mine and then darted away as he bowed curtly. Pivoting, he joined the others.
Ash lifted Jadis from the chair and placed her on the floor. Crouching, she eyed Reaver with narrowed eyes as her tail swished back and forth like an irritated feline.
A heartbeat later, she launched herself off the dais and crashed into him. The older draken squawked, but all Jadis did was press her little head against his and then scramble back onto the raised floor.
“Okay, then,” I murmured, glancing up.
It took a moment for me to realize that all of them were waiting for me. Blinking, I got my feet moving and went to where Ash had pulled out a chair at the head of the table.
Molten, dove-gray eyes met mine. “Your seat, liessa.”
“Thank you,” I whispered as Reaver followed, this time brushing his head over Jadis’s.
“Why does he get to call you that?” Bele asked, adjusting her forearm sheaths. “And we don’t?”
Ash glanced up. “Because she enjoys it when I call her that.”
As Bele’s brows lifted, my cheeks caught fire. I plopped into the chair with the grace of a tree bear, and then everyone else sat. Ash moved to my right, taking his seat there. The subtle shift in positioning—in power—didn’t pass me by.
Once again, the shock of how real this was hit me as Ash placed a glass of whiskey on the table for me. It felt like a cloth had been shoved into my throat. My hands tightened around the arms of the chair as my mind sort of emptied. Or maybe there was just so much going on in my head that it felt like there was nothing.