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)
He expected more questions about the pair. Instead, she asked, “Do you truly intend to lock me up, Majesty? Or am I marching to my execution?”
He waggled his jaw. “Oh, I will indeed be locking you up. Have no doubts on that score.” But as far as they were now, her incarceration wouldn’t happen for days to come. By then, he should have completed each of his missions. Controlling his body’s needs. Calming his mind. Ending Graves and the cats.
Vee cast a brittle smile over her shoulder. “Will I be receiving the pain toxin like your oracle and mistress?”
“You deserve it. There’s no question of that,” he remarked with a flat tone. “You released Fayette and Diane. You should replace them and share their suffering.”
“Don’t put that on me. I’m not the one who released them.”
“No more lies, and no more chatter. The gag isn’t a threat but a promise.”
“Go stab yourself.” Contorting, she shot out her leg and tripped him. As he stumbled, she wrenched free of his hold and broke to the left, only to turn sharply and sprint right when he followed, racing away from him.
Micah flittered to her, letting the wrist cuff guide his landing. He materialized in front of her, and she slammed into his body, stumbling backward.
He flittered again, snagging her from behind before she hit the ground. “You cannot escape me,” he told her, setting her on her feet and giving her a little push. “Start walking and stop trying to escape. From now on, I’ll punish you when I catch you. And Vee? I will always catch you. Nothing can keep me from you.”
“Are you sure? Because I’ve traveled to the mortal world on multiple occasions. I seriously doubt you can follow me there.”
The mortal world? Truly? “You are able to open doorways?”
“I am.”
His stomach knotted. Dare he believe? “Do it then. Open a doorway.” He wished to see this for himself—and somehow stop her from ever doing it again. If she were to escape him... His whole being cringed.
She sputtered for a moment. “I’m not a dancing monkey who performs on command!”
So she couldn’t open doorways at will. A handy piece of intel to have. “Your odd speech patterns make sense at least.”
As they navigated the forest, she lapsed into silence at last. Not that he was granted a reprieve. His stubborn feral turned her efforts to escape, bolting again and again and again. Her mulishness staggered him.
What was he supposed to do with a female like this? He couldn’t bring himself to whip her; he refused to mar her lovely skin. Was he supposed to deny her food? An even worse idea!
Despite her antics, they covered mile after mile, surrounded only by hot, dry air and bare, twisted trees, each of which served to darken his mood. There was nothing to source out here. No delicious fruit. No hearty nuts. No refreshing bodies of water. Just thought after thought after thought after thought.
The way her body moved...
He bit the inside of his cheek, tasting blood. Why was his lust growing instead of shriveling? The callous beauty was nothing but destruction to him. He should have saved himself a host of trouble and killed her when he’d struck at her trees.
Instinct pinged in the far recesses of his mind—protect!—reminding him of the battle. No, not a battle but a slaughter. The trees hadn’t resisted or retaliated. But they’d hurt his men, so they’d deserved what they’d gotten. And yet...
I might regret.
Biting harder...more blood. This female had tangled him up, making him long for the days when he’d had only a kingdom to consider.
Before Vee, he’d been resigned to his lonely fate. No wife. No family. No affection. No touching or kissing. No holding his wife all through the night. No dreaming of a better future. Before Vee, he hadn’t known the heights he could reach. But he knew now, and she was to blame.
“I’m thirsty, and I’m starved,” she lamented. “Give me water and feed me. I deserve a reward. I haven’t run away for three whole minutes.”
“Suffer. I don’t care.” But he did care. And not because he wished to quench her thirst and ease her hunger. No. He was done seeking her comfort over his own. Done providing for her. Looked like he would be denying her food, after all.
Maybe.
Probably.
But probably not.
“What happened to you?” she asked, as if disappointed in him. “You used to be such a caring, generous boy, bringing your unconscious hostess gifts.”
“That boy got savaged by your darling children and nearly died. Or rather, he did die. A stronger man grew from his ashes.”
“You invaded our home, Micah.” How reasonable she sounded. “What did you expect?”
Always the invader, never part of the family. And he despised her more for it. Loathed her dry tone and her dismissal of his trials. But most of all, he detested the reminder. She had a family, even if the members were monsters; he did not, and he never would.