Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 115347 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115347 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
She leaned toward him, as if welcoming the connection. Just before contact, she hissed and clawed his face before jumping back.
He paused and wiped blood from already healed wounds, certain the superficial cuts hadn’t left marks. “A simple yes or no would have sufficed.”
She lifted her chin. “I’d rather walk, thanks.”
Walk, simply to avoid touching him? She rejected his handling now, after snuggling against him throughout the night? After calling him “mine,” sinking those little white claws into his pectorals to keep him pinned beneath her? Actions that still set his cells on fire. Earlier, he almost hadn’t rallied the strength to leave her without kissing those cherry lips first.
Anger and resentment sparked. “I am king, and I say we will flitter.”
Her diabolical smile made another appearance. “My apologies. I was wrong to attack you. And snap commands. After all, you are His Almighty Highness, aren’t you? Yes, you are. Had I not been...affected by your nearness, I might have mentioned a stroll will allow us to spend more time together. Doesn’t a stroll sound nice? We can get to know each other better.”
From shrewish to acquiescent, to facilitate his capitulation? How desperate did she consider him? “No walking,” he grated. His preferred tone with her, he realized. “We’ll flitter. Besides, you know everything you need to know about me.”
Walking her to the dungeon would cause too many problems. Namely, revealing an entrance to the underground maze only Micah and the Adelina siblings comprehended how to navigate. Not even the trolls remembered, though Micah had forced them to dig the myriad of corridors and chambers while mining the plethora of unique stones and metals he used to this day; they’d forgotten the moment he’d issued the command to do so.
“Very well.” Fire all but crackled in Red’s eyes as she offered her hand to him, choosing to remain acquiescent. “By the way,” she offered sweetly. “Appreciate the heads-up that you aren’t worth learning more about. I’d wondered.”
He worked his jaw. If only he could leave her behind. But she was to be his constant companion today. She had insisted, and he had agreed.
Motions jerkier than intended, he linked their fingers. With only a thought, Micah teleported his charge to the cell that contained his captives. Fayette and Diane. Iron chains bound their arms above lolling heads. Sweat soaked their skin and drenched their garments.
Diane’s grim expression brightened when she spotted him. “Micah, Micah,” the exquisite strawberry blonde cried, hope dripping from the undertone. Her bedraggled appearance, so different from her usual flawlessness, struck him as oh, so wrong. “Please! I didn’t mean... I was confused... I’m so sorry.”
He clung to his calm as if it were a sword required for battle.
“Micah. Please. I’ll never do this again, I swear it. I’ll be so good, do anything you desire.” Her attention slid to his companion, and she whimpered. Tears trickled down her cheeks. “Y-you found my replacement.”
Vee stiffened, and Micah inwardly cursed.
He looked to Norok, barking, “Explain.”
The warrior stood between the detainees, his chin lifted high, his shoulders squared and his arms anchored behind his back. A stance of pride. He peered somewhere over Micah’s shoulder, not even sparing Red a glance. “Minutes to midnight, the pair dived into a lake near the palace. Once I saved them from drowning, I transported them here and followed protocol, chaining them and administering a dose of our strongest venom.”
The venom. Extracted from a rare triple-headed snake. It did more than cause unending agony; it prevented its victims from using their glamaras, no matter the stones strapped to their bodies. The punishment for conspiring with an enemy and betraying their king. Until an antidote was given, their pain would continue to increase. Soon, both women would beg for death.
Micah disregarded a twinge of unease. “Excellent job.”
“Don’t you wish to know how I won Diane to my cause?” Fayette asked. The pretty brunette slurred her words, thanks to hours of agony.
“I do not.” He understood how. She had convinced his mistress he would lose the war. Had probably pushed pictures of his defeat into the other woman’s mind. An ability wielded by most oracles, and Fayette’s area of specialization, her talents surpassing any other he’d come across. No one else took clips from various visions, fused them together, then twisted them to present a lie. A painful process for her, especially if the recipient resisted, but he had paid her well to do it.
“She tricked me, Micah,” Diane burst out, able to stay quiet no longer. “Confused me.”
“You let yourself be confused.” If she had trusted him over a vision, she would be tucked safely in her bed. “You’ll get no mercy from me.”
Fayette laughed, blood on her teeth. “Would you like to see what’s coming for you, Majesty?”
“Keep your visions.” For years, he’d depended on her talents, permitting her to push images into his head. He smiled. “Or try to force one.” His mental barricades were more layered than most.