Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 119158 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 596(@200wpm)___ 477(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119158 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 596(@200wpm)___ 477(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Fuck.
That had not progressed how I’d expected at all.
Frustrated as hell, I stomped out of the shop and stopped as a blur caught my attention. I ran after it, but the person disappeared down another alley before I could get a good look at them. Tightening my fingers on my bundles, I peered into the darkness, trying to decide whether I was pissed enough to try it.
“Searching for someone?”
I yelped. It wasn’t a manly sound, but there was no stopping it. Nylian had whispered the question right in my ear, and I hadn’t even heard him approach over the pounding of my heart.
“Asshole!” I shouted in his face, which made him smile even wider at me. I paused, glaring at the alley and then at him. “Have…have you been following me?”
“I have,” Nylian admitted without an ounce of remorse.
“But…” My words drifted off. That feeling of being watched had been true, but I had been sure the shadow I saw was too small for Nylian.
“But I’m not the only one following you,” Nylian admitted. He plucked the largest package out of my arms and lifted it to his nose, giving it a sniff. “That’s nice. Not too overwhelming. Soothing.”
For a second, I almost offered to share my soaps with him. Thankfully, I came to my senses and ripped us back to the topic at hand. “Did you see who is following me?”
Nylian lowered the hand holding the package, seeming content to carry it for me. “I glimpsed the person when you were in the soap shop.” The elf frowned at me. “You took a long time in there, and I got bored. Did you need to have so many women fawning over you?”
“That wasn’t my goal,” I huffed.
“But I saw the person while you were in the wizard’s shop. Shall we catch this person?”
“Yes,” I hissed through clenched teeth. After the failure with the wizard, I wanted to get at least one useful answer today. It made little sense for anyone to follow me, so I could only guess that this person was trailing me, hoping to get at Nylian. That was not a good idea.
“All right. You head down that alley and stand in the center. I’ll chase him toward you.”
Before I could argue with him, Nylian had zipped away, nearly disappearing into the crowd in the blink of an eye. There was nothing I could do but follow his instructions. At least the load in my arms was lighter, and I’d be able to draw one of my daggers.
The stench of the alley threatened to make the meager contents of my stomach escape my body. There was a squish under my boots as I walked. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I was careful to keep my gaze up. When this was over, I was going to take the world’s longest bath. Nylian would have to wait for our dinner.
Thankfully, after less than a minute pounding footsteps echoed off the buildings, drawing closer to me. A couple of seconds later, a short older man with sweat glistening on his face and eyes wide with panic rushed at me. The moment his eyes caught my face, he put on the brakes, panting fiercely.
Nylian joined us a second later, seeming as if he were barely jogging to keep up with the man. The playful expression on his sharp features was gone, and he looked decidedly fierce. Did he recognize this stranger?
“Here’s your stalker,” Nylian murmured.
“Please, Your Highness! You must forgive me! When we lost you, I became so worried,” the stranger blurted out, his eyes darting from me to Nylian and back again.
I looked at Nylian, half expecting him to be amused, but his earlier coldness was now directed at me.
“He’s talking to you, not me…Your Highness,” Nylian stated, twisting those final two words into an awful sneer.
“What?” That single question left me in a breathless gasp as I stumbled until I hit the building behind me. My legs were threatening to give out as my brain raced to comprehend what was happening. I hadn’t been zapped to this world and placed in a random new body? I had been reborn as someone in particular? Someone from a royal family?
But how?
Who?
“Watch your tongue, you vile elf!” the old man snapped. “He is Prince Victor Montcroix, and these are his lands. You will show him respect!”
Oh, fuck no!
No. No. No. No.
This was a disaster.
I couldn’t be him. Victor Montcroix was a self-centered, power-hungry monster. And someone who’d made the very top of the short list of people who could have been Prince Orian’s killer.
Oh, fuck me.
Chapter 11
Prince of Lies
I was going to die in this disgusting, stench-filled alley.
My heart raced and my stomach churned, but it wasn’t just from a feeling of panic. A sense of betrayal was creeping in to rip my heart to shreds.