Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Then a knock sounded on the door.
“Guess he’s not too busy after all.”
I pulled on my pants, Huntley stepped out of view of the doorway, and I opened it.
Ryker practically shoved the tray into my arms. “Here. Gotta go.” He immediately took off.
“Whoa, hold on.”
“What?” He turned back around, but most of his body pointed toward the hallway, like he couldn’t get away from me quick enough.
“What’s going on?”
“I delivered you food. Now I gotta go.”
“Are you and Effie back together?”
He stilled at the question. “Why would you ask that?”
“Why else are you in such a hurry?”
His clothes were wrinkly like he’d put them on in a rush, and his hair was ruffled all over the place. His skin was shiny too, like he’d been sweating a lot this evening. “The Blade Scions are coming in the morning. I needed Effie to relocate to my quarters.”
“And that clearly worked out well for you.”
His eyes narrowed in annoyance. “I don’t pry into your business.” He glanced past me, into the open doorway where my guest was hidden. “Don’t pry into mine.”
“But you did pry into mine. Said I should have stayed a virgin.”
“Well, you’re supposed to. I’m not saying I agree with that, but that’s just the rules—”
“Fuck the rules. You can fuck whoever you want without question, but when I take a lover, I’m some kind of a whore? That’s ridiculous.”
“Trust me, I think it’s ridiculous too. Imagine how much more sex I’d be getting if girls weren’t committed to remaining pure until marriage and all that bullshit. It sucks for me as much as it sucks for you. But I’m in no mood to debate the social expectations of women right now. I’ve got somewhere to be.” With that, he walked off and veered right.
I closed the door and set the tray on the table. “We can split this.”
“I ate while I was out.” He returned to the couch, his hard body bulging with muscles from his strong physique.
I pulled the tray into my lap and cut into my meat.
He sat forward and looked through the pile of books sitting there.
“I’m glad Effie forgave him.”
“Just because she’s fucking him doesn’t mean she’s forgiven him—as I’ve proven the last few days.”
I cast him a glare. “I don’t think anyone else on the planet holds a grudge the way you do.”
“I have a good memory. Others don’t.”
I continued to eat and let the conversation die.
“You need to figure out how to heal the dragons soon. Because I can’t stay here much longer.”
I chewed my bite as I stared.
He answered my unspoken question. “The man who took everything from me sleeps in this castle. All I have to do is walk into his quarters and slit his throat. It’s not wise to keep me here longer than necessary.”
“You promised me you wouldn’t kill him.”
“And that promise is getting harder to keep the longer you keep me here.”
“So, that’s our next move? We heal the dragons first.”
“If we want to take over the Kingdoms, we’re going to need the upper hand. Three fire-breathing dragons is that leverage.”
“The Capital alone is a big place. I don’t think a couple dragons are going to cut it. Besides, getting them to fight for us is another obstacle we’ll have to tackle. Not even sure how to communicate with them. Not to mention, there are innocent people all over the Kingdoms. Burning everything is the same as mass executions.”
“Then what is your idea?”
“Diplomacy.”
He actually rolled his eyes.
“I’m serious.”
“Women love to talk, but trust me, men do not. We like action. We like threats. We like getting shit done. We conquer Delacroix first, then move on to the other Kingdoms until we reach the Capital. King Rutherford can surrender if he wants to protect his people.”
“You know, a lot of things have to go right for that plan to work. How are we going to do this without horses? We can’t get them up the tunnel.”
“We take the horses here in Delacroix.”
“There’s not enough for the soldiers and all the Runes.”
He looked away.
“The purpose of this is to unite everyone against Necrosis—not kill a bunch of innocent people.”
“You’re a woman. You don’t get it—”
“Use my sex as a justification again, and I won’t be your wife anymore.”
He slowly turned to regard me, and the ferocity on my face must have been enough to make him back down. “You couldn’t stop being my wife even if you wanted to be. We’re eternally bound—in case you forgot.”
“Not if I kill you.”
He met my look, anger licking at the corners. “I’d like to see you try, baby.”
We were like fire and ice. We came together and formed an inferno of blue flames. Sometimes those flames were stoked by passion. Other times, they were stoked by our anger, egos, and stubbornness.
“Are you going to shoot me in the neck again? How’d that work last time?”