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)
Host? No. Enemy. Yes. Best she remember that fact.
When she stood at his side, he didn’t immediately stalk off, as she expected. Instead, he searched her eyes. She searched his, too, wishing he wasn’t quite so beautiful. His features... Did she perceive a hint of vulnerability? The barest softening?
Whispers roses around them. “Look at that scarlet mane.”
“She slept in his tent, you know?”
“Is she the new paramour?”
“The king would never choose someone so unrefined.”
“Are you certain? He’s a chimera.”
Her cheeks burned. Unrefined? Unrefined! Viori? She was plenty refined! Not that she cared what anyone believed. Micah’s citizens meant less than nothing to her. But why had the speaker used such a disgusted tone when mentioning Micah’s dual glamaras?
More annoyed by the second, she whipped her focus to the crowd and hissed. Most jumped, alarmed, before scurrying off. Stragglers glared daggers at her.
“Go. Now.” Micah’s harsh command sent the others branching off in various directions at top speed.
Viori almost followed as hotter shivers threatened to melt her bones. She heaped coals on her determination instead. Physically reacting to her captor? Unacceptable.
Remember the mission.
“Come,” he repeated. He kicked into motion.
With a huff, she gave chase. When an oncoming group created a path for them, she glued herself to Micah’s side to avoid the touch of a stranger.
“You never told me why you hate Kaysar,” she remarked, getting back on track.
“I have many reasons to despise the male.” Of course, he offered no more.
“Let’s hear the top three.” They had to start somewhere, right?
“Very well. After you answer a question for me.” He spun in a blink, catching her by the waist. “Deal?”
Breathing became an activity of the past, the air too thick to pull into her lungs. Like honey on a melting comb. They stood frozen, staring at each other yet again. An enchantment she couldn’t break. His warmth enveloped her, and his incredible scent... The power he exuded. A tide he must have banked. What glamara did he wield?
Golden sunlight played over his features, and for a moment, he projected an otherworldly aura. A hardness no being could ever have the strength to penetrate. He looked as if he’d been created for total domination. In fact, his lips were the only soft thing about him.
Her legs shook. “What is it you wish to know?”
A beat of silence. Then, “Where is your family?”
To respond or not? “I... They...”
His expression gentled. “Do they live? Or are you alone in this world?”
Why did he wish to know this? Was he, perhaps, concerned for her well-being? No, no. A trick, remember? “Hardly. I might be forgotten by some—” unforgivable, unwarranted bitterness and defensiveness crept into her tone as she wondered whether Kaysar ever spared her a thought “—but I’m missed by others.” How worried her children must be.
Bile seared the back of her throat. She had ordered the darlings to stay in the swamp, so stay in the swamp they would unless and until she summoned them. Which she refused to do—for their protection.
Micah absorbed her words with a thoughtful nod. “I showed King Kaysar and his atrocious wife mercy, and they showed me treachery, murdering an entire contingent of my army in a matter of minutes. While I doctored my injured and burned my dead, the couple claimed my palace.”
“Oh.” The moisture in her mouth dried. His reasons for despising her brother...well. They were good. But allow him to end Kaysar’s life? Always and forever no.
“Come. There’s much to do.” Micah swiped her hand and resumed their journey. Silence crackled between them, somehow worse than ever before. The next time he stopped was at the edge of the training field filled with shirtless, sweaty bodies. “I must train my men, so you must join me on the field. I can teach you to protect yourself.”
Enter the masses? “No, thanks. I’ll stay here,” she replied with a shudder. Better to observe and absorb. “No need to teach me anything. I’m quite capable of defending myself. I’ve never lost a fight.” Truth.
He turned his head, again scrutinizing her with one brow arched. “Do tell.”
She wasn’t offended by his reaction. Let him consider her as weak. In fact, why not throw fuel on the fires of that amusement with more truth he most certainly wouldn’t believe? “I unleash rage.”
His amusement brightened. “You mean your protectors jumped in and fought for you.”
Her protectors. The supposed belua.
“No, King Beyond Wrong. Not thanks to my protectors.” Not always. Yes, she did summon her children or create others at times, but only when rage failed her. The times she stood among a sizable throng of potential attackers.
“Please,” Micah said, clearly amused. “Enlighten me. How do you unleash rage?”
She humphed. “I do it like everyone else. With my fists of fury.”
The corners of his mouth twitched, the sight unexpectedly sensual. “I’m sure you are quite...ferocious.”