Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
In truth, Vasily did harbor some worries. For so many centuries he hadn’t needed to worry much about his relationship with Luka. There were no mages, nothing to interfere. Now that the hope of a mage mate was back within the realm of possibility, he could not help but feel these niggling tendrils of fear. Of course he wanted the best for Luka—that went without saying. If this mage was Luka’s mate, then he would be very happy for him. But losing Luka would destroy Vasily. If this mage turned out to be Vasily’s, then he would have to somehow convince him to keep Luka with them. His heart would not be able to choose between the two. But fighting with the fear was the hope—the knowing—that there was a single mage for both of them. It beat inside him like a drum, and he’d much rather listen to it than fear.
A sound came from the side, and he turned his head to see Evora come out of her own room to join him. Their balconies had only a thin rail separating them, so she came in close enough to lean her head against his shoulder.
“Worried?” she asked softly, the word barely audible over the rain.
“Yeah.” It would be a lie to say otherwise, and he had no reason to lie to his clan-sister. “Yeah, I am. I feel in my gut that finding this mage is what I need to do. But Luka…”
He didn’t need to say anything else. She knew. She patted him on the arm in silent comfort.
“The mage is talking to both of us, though.” That thought kept haunting him, coming back whenever doubts started to get the better of him, gave him something to cling to. “Is that a sign? That he’s talking to both of us?”
“I think, in this case, it’s not wrong to hope. But stay grounded, don’t pin all your hopes on that. I want you to really think of what to do if he’s not both yours and Luka’s. If you charge in on hope alone, you will end up in a world of pain. I’d have several backup plans in place. I do agree him being able to reach you in your dreams is peculiar, but it might not mean what you hope it will mean.”
The words struck hard. It might not mean what you hope it will mean. Yeah, he got that. Vasily managed a tight nod. “Yeah. I know what you’re saying. I’m trying to not let either hopes or doubts get the better of me.”
“That’s all you can do right now. That and focus on getting him out of there. Him, and whoever might be down there with him. This isn’t going to be easy considering they’re under hundreds of thousands of gallons of water.”
Imagining the work entailed made him wince. “I know. Honestly, I’m not even sure how to get him out of there.”
“Not in any sense. But come inside with me, describe precisely what you saw. Rodrigo is already calling in the Sodalicium to report the finding. The more information we have, the better.”
That he could definitely do. With the right dragon and mage power, this job would be a lot easier.
Not easy, though. Definitely not that.
Luka was worried.
He had tried to hide it all evening, was even joking like usual during dinner, but after centuries together Vasily knew better.
Not that he’d said the words, but Vasily could see the worry clear enough in his eyes, those beautiful clear blue eyes, and tugging at his shoulders, drawing his face into an almost frown. Luka kept deliberately relaxing his shoulders whenever he caught Vasily looking, and then a second later, the tension would be right back.
Why he thought he could fool Vasily after centuries together was the question. He knew this man better than anyone else. It didn’t take a telepath to know why Luka was worried, either.
Luka was ostensibly making tea at the small coffee bar in their room, but the water had already gone cold once because he was just standing there staring at it. Sometimes he’d pick a tea packet up…only to put it back down again a second later.
Completely lost in his own head, this one. Vasily came up behind him, wrapping both arms around Luka’s trim waist, resting his chin on Luka’s shoulder. He gave a low thrum in his throat, a sound of comfort.
“All right, yes, I’m worried.” Luka sighed and gave up pretending he was making tea. “You are too.”
“I am.” No use acting otherwise. “What are you worried about?”
“You want the list alphabetically or categorically?”
“I’m serious.”
“I know you are, but it’s hard to put all this into words.” Luka could not seem to look up from the cup of almost tea in his hands. He did seem to be struggling to put everything into words, and Vasily was not surprised when he defaulted to the old tongue. “I think I fear what you fear: he belongs to one of us but not to both.”