Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 26781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 134(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 134(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
“A bad morning?” Milan cut me off. He rose to his feet and glared daggers into my eyes as he berated me. “The past two weeks have been the worst of my life, but I still tried to meet you with a smile on my face! I lost the man who meant more to me than anything else on this planet. He was supposed to be with me forever!”
His words were like a knife in my chest. It sounded like he and his partner shared a connection much deeper than the force. Were they in love? Some mages got lonely or tired of waiting for their beloved, and engaged in relationships with the understanding that they would end if their fated one came along. What if Milan didn’t care about fated mates because he possessed no powers? What if he would never care for me, and would only grieve his past lover?
My thoughts were chased away by more of Milan’s angry words. “So I don’t care about your bad morning. I don’t care what you think of me. All I need is for you to help me find the asshole responsible for Micah’s death.” His chest heaved with stilted breaths when he finished. I assumed he was restraining himself from hitting me. Part of me wished he would.
I tried to think of something - anything to console my beloved. “I heard that your partner was a great officer.”
“You don’t get to talk about him,” Milan snapped back. He grabbed the file off of the table and shoved it into my chest. “You can read for yourself about the great officer and man he was.”
Without another word, he stormed out of the room, leaving me alone and feeling like a total arse. I ached to run after him, but I knew he needed time to cool off. Besides that, I was curious to read more about Micah, hoping to piece together anything I could about him, along with his and Milan’s relationship. So, I sat down at the table and opened the file.
I unwrapped a snack cake and took a bite, my nose scrunching at the waxy consistency. But I was hungry, so I chewed the flavorless blob as I read through the paperwork.
I nearly choked when I saw that Micah and Milan shared a last name. I worried that they were not only lovers, but husbands. But then I stumbled across a photograph of the two of them side by side, and realization struck me like lightning; they weren’t married, they were brothers.
Twins, by the looks of it, though Milan was undoubtedly more handsome. I dug a little deeper and found that the men shared a birthday, and my suspicions were confirmed. I couldn’t imagine the bond that they shared, or how much it had to hurt to lose someone so close.
Their relationship also answered the question of Milan’s missing powers; twins were extremely rare in the magical world. But in every instance, one sibling was gifted with all of the ability, while the other sibling received none.
It didn’t appear that Milan was disadvantaged when it came to his police work, though. There was report after report of the cases he and his brother closed, and the culprits they got off of the streets.
The duo had the highest capture rate on the force, and the file was packed with notes of accommodation and praise. What Milan lacked in magical powers, he made up for with intelligence, wit, and pure skill. They were both good officers and men, and highly respected. My beloved was a force to be reckoned with, and I couldn’t be more proud of him.
I looked up at the sound of footsteps entering the room, and quickly rose to my feet when I saw that they belonged to Milan. I hoped that his understandable anger towards me had cooled, and that he would be open to a conversation.
But his stern expression said otherwise. Before I could say a word, he simply announced, “Come with me; there’s been an attack.”
Chapter Four
Milan
As I drove the police cruiser towards downtown, taking back roads and alleys to avoid traffic as much as possible, I could feel Nigel staring at me from the passenger seat.
I didn’t give him the satisfaction of looking back at him. If I did, he would probably hit me with some half-assed apology that I didn’t want to hear. He’d run his mouth before knowing anything about me, and I wanted him to sit and stew in his guilt. If for no other reason than I didn’t want to be alone in mine.
I felt guilty every single day about my brother’s death. I was close by when it happened, but I couldn’t stop it. I should have been with him. I should have been holding his hand. I would have gladly taken his place and given my own damn heart for him to continue to live.