Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 87781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
She didn’t like the sound of that, but she would have to take her chances. “I can deal with that.”
He studied her for a moment, his gaze roaming her face. She could have sworn there was affection in his eyes, as if he felt something for her. Something soft. “But nothing comes for free. Your death is still owed, and I am still to bring you to the City of Death, no matter what. I can only give you so much more time—if the Killerling don’t find you first.”
“I will take any time you can give me,” Aven said desperately.
He nodded carefully at that, licking his lips. “Okay. Then I will try to be fair. You are twenty-five now. You have a mother and father who need you. You have animals that depend on you. You need time to continue making a difference in the world. I will give you until you’re forty years old.”
“Forty,” Aven said softly. Forty used to feel so far away, and yet now, it was unbearably close.
“That’s all I can give,” he said. “It’s enough time to change the world, I think, in whatever way you can. I will lead you back to where you came, and you will pass through a tunnel and through the rocks to emerge in the wilderness, somewhere in Northern Finland. You will return to your past life, and your death will be erased.”
She couldn’t help but grin, a smile so wide, it nearly hurt her face. “Thank you.”
His eyes were cold in response. “But when you turn forty, you will have to come back here. You will have to die. That is, if the Killerling don’t hunt you down before then.”
“Okay,” she said, extending her hand to shake on it. “I accept.”
His mouth curled up into a wicked smile. “You haven’t heard the bargain, Aven. A bargain means there’s something in it for the both of us. There’s something in this for me, too.”
She narrowed her eyes at him warily. “And what is that?”
“When you return, you won’t be going to Amaranthus. You won’t be going to heaven.”
Her heart twisted. “Where will I be going?” she asked fearfully.
His eyes glimmered as they focused on her mouth. “You will belong to me. I am not losing you to a place I cannot go. If you accept this deal, it means that when you die, you will be living in Tuonela. Not the City of Death, and certainly not Amaranthus.”
Oh shit. She wasn’t entering some marriage bargain, was she?
“You want me to be your…wife?”
“I want you—that’s as much as I know,” he said. “And when you’re mine, I will not be letting you go. Not again. Not after this time.”
Now she had food for thought. She could go on and live her life for another fifteen years, but then she would die again and be bond to the Son of Death for eternity?
He watched her carefully as she tried to make a choice.
The pull of her life back in London was fierce, and the urge to live was stronger than anything she’d ever known.
“And you’re sure you’ll want me at age forty?” she said.
He let out a soft laugh. “You mortals are so preoccupied with aging. At forty, you will be at your most beautiful, Aven.” He reached forward and placed his hand at her cheek. His touch made her feel like there was a lightning storm inside her. “And I can’t wait to see it.”
Then, he leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips, the lightning intensifying until she felt like her body was lit up and glowing. Her eyes fluttered closed, succumbing to the feeling.
Maybe it won’t be so bad, she thought. I’ll be forty, and he’ll still look like he’s in his late twenties.
Tuonen pulled away, and the light faded. He took her hand in his and shook it firmly.
“We have a deal, then,” he said with darkened eyes.
Power flowed from his palm to hers, and she knew she was being bound to this bargain, that there would be no escaping it.
But she also knew that the moment she walked through into her old life, the moment she truly escaped and was alive again, she was going to spend the rest of her life trying to cheat death, no matter the cost.
And from the wry look in Tuonen’s eyes before he led her to the boat and took her back to Death’s Landing, she knew he knew this too.
He was up for the challenge.