Total pages in book: 191
Estimated words: 188966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 945(@200wpm)___ 756(@250wpm)___ 630(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 188966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 945(@200wpm)___ 756(@250wpm)___ 630(@300wpm)
I held his stare.
I stood as tall as I could.
And I uttered the most honest words of my life. “The moment I step foot back there, I will be caught, tortured, and probably be made to beg for death before they grant it.”
Jack stared into me as if searching for a single lie. He flinched. “You are never to tell Nerida that, do you understand me? Not a single hint that you’re in danger.”
“You have my word.”
After a long pause, he sniffed, cleared his throat, and grinned. “Then let’s eat. I’m starving.”
Chapter Eight
*
Aslan
*
(Moon in Irish: Gealach)
I STAYED QUIET WHILE THE TAYLORS SQUABBLED over what to put on the homemade pizzas. I sat on a barstool, resting my hands on the granite countertop as Anna lifted ingredients out of the dinged-up fridge, danced around the white kitchen, and Jack and his daughter tormented one another relentlessly.
At one point, they picked a sword fight with two sticks of bread.
Anna merely rolled her eyes as if their bickering was perfectly normal and let them get on with it. She didn’t even flinch as freshly picked spinach went flying, landing in Neri’s wavy chocolate hair.
Once the pizzas were made, Anna tapped Jack on the shoulder, interrupting an impromptu game of naming the latest humpback calf they’d witnessed being born.
“You’re up,” Anna said. “Go put those in the oven.”
Jack smirked, kissed Anna on the cheek, and collected the tray of delicious-looking vegetarian pizzas. “Tell that wench we call our daughter that I want to call the calf Moby.”
“Moby was an albino sperm whale. You’re not calling him that.” Neri planted her hands on her hips, her hair airdried from her swim and her lithe body encased in a flower-print dress that flowed to her ankles. “Koholā is much better.” She flashed me a smile. “It’s Hawaiian for humpback.”
“How do you even know that?” Jack asked, pushing open the insect screen with his hip and disappearing onto the small deck where a pizza oven had already been stoked and warmed.
“Gee, I dunno, Dad. Google translate?”
“I’m gonna take that phone off you. Learning all these new-fangled words.”
Anna laughed and hugged Neri close. “I adore that you love languages as much as I do. You might fail at the school’s curriculum, but no one can deny you’re a smarty-pants.”
Neri caught my stare. “I get my smarts from Mum. Did you know she can speak like four languages.”
“Four?” My tone deepened with respect. “That’s...impressive.” Watching their ease around each other made my heart crave my own family. Their ghosts swarmed inside me; I found myself admitting, “I only know two. And my education with English was rather...intense.”
“Intense?” Neri asked.
“My father was a teacher. He’s always spoken to us with English words interspersed with Turkish, but it wasn’t until...” I cleared my throat. “It wasn’t until almost a year ago that he forced our entire family to only speak English.”
“To prepare you for moving here?” Anna asked.
There was another reason, but I nodded. “Yes.”
“Well, you’d never know you’re rather new to our tongue.” Anna smiled kindly. “You obviously have an aptitude for learning. Let me know if you want to learn another. I pride myself on knowing a lot of Latin—mainly for the correct names of all the creatures we study—regardless that it’s utterly pointless in everyday life.”
I held her eyes. “No word is pointless.”
“Teach me a Turkish one,” Neri demanded, fluttering her thick eyelashes at me. “One that means a lot to you.”
My heart felt as if she’d suddenly bled it dry.
Every word of my homeland vanished. The only one that remained was excruciating, echoing in my ears with roars of storm and thunder.
“Please?” Neri implored.
Balling my hands, I croaked, “Canım.”
“Canım?” Her eyes narrowed with intelligence. “What does it mean?”
I winced.
Anna stiffened. “Neri, how about you let Aslan have a night of peace. He’ll answer your questions when he’s feeling better.”
Neri never looked away from me as her shoulders slouched and sadness etched her face. Without a word, she padded barefoot around the kitchen bench, pushed one of my knees aside to widen my legs, then slotted herself between them and wrapped her thin arms around my waist.
I turned absolutely rigid.
All the pain.
All the grief.
It crashed against the walls I’d started building around my aching despair, pounding and thrashing, desperate to let go. To let go and purge, all while this beautiful girl embraced me.
My breath hitched.
My vision wobbled.
And just like the first time she’d embraced me on the floor of the boat when I awoke to a life I didn’t want, I didn’t have the strength to return her affection.
I hoarded everything she gave me.
Every shred of compassion and comfort.
Last time, I’d broken in my misery. This time, I held on just long enough for her to let me go, stand on her tiptoes, and press the softest kiss to my cheek.