Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 100553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
“Wow, fuck you.”
“Shut up and prove me wrong.”
“I could just kick you off the ladder right now.”
“Do your worst, Princess.”
I held on to the ladder and leaned out so I could get a good look at him. “I told you not to—” The sweat from my palm greased the wood, and I felt my body swing out farther than it should. “Oh shit.” The harder I gripped, the more the wood evaded my fingers, and I felt myself fall. “Ahhh!”
It all happened so fast that I didn’t see what actually occurred, but Mastodon somehow managed to keep his hold on the ladder and the torch and grab me at the same time. His powerful arm snatched me out of the air just like he did with the arrow and secured me into his side, all the while keeping his hold on the ladder.
The world still spun for a second even though I was absolutely still. The scent of man was flush in my nose, of a hardworking man that worked up a sweat. There were other scents there too, like the forest after a light rain, of droplets that dripped off the leaves and fell to the earthen floor.
I stayed there, locked in place by his powerful grip, safe despite the fact that I was still on this stupid ladder miles above the bottom. When I lifted my chin from his shoulder, I came face-to-face with his blue eyes. They were closer than they’d ever been, and now I could see the details I hadn’t noticed before. Flecks of white between the blue, like flakes of salt. There was more than just revenge there. There was intelligence, wisdom, and pain.
“Grab on.”
His voice shattered my focus on his eyes.
“Come on.”
I grabbed on to the ladder with my hands and felt him release me.
He continued his pace, his torch lighting the way for us.
It took me a moment to get a hold of myself, to let the disastrous moment become part of the past. My hands were no longer sweaty because I had turned ice-cold, so I started to lower myself down the ladder again.
“Princess, you owe my brother some gratitude.” Ian’s voice came from the top.
As my heart slowed back to its normal pace, I picked up speed. “What’s the point if he’s just going to kill me anyway?”
FOUR
Ivory
Just when my body stopped working, we came to a halt for the day.
Deep underground, there was no way to know sunrise from sunset, midnight from midday. Based on how exhausted I was, I assumed it was sometime deep in the night, hours after I would normally be asleep.
Did Ryker know I was missing yet? Would he lead the rescue party?
Did my dad feel like shit for not listening to me?
I hoped he did.
The ladder came to an end, and we hit solid rock at the bottom. There was an opening in a cavern that led elsewhere, and I assumed this adventure wasn’t over because the men prepared to sleep there.
How much longer did we have? And where the hell were we going?
All my possessions had been left behind in the carriage, so all I had were my arms for a pillow. I took a spot on the opposite side of the cave, far away from the men, and watched them get settled for the night. They drank from their canteens, bit into hard pieces of bread, and made small talk before they went to sleep.
I noticed Mastodon and Ian speaking to each other quietly. Sometimes his brother would look at me across the cave, having the same light-colored hair and blue eyes as his brother.
I’d never slept in anything except a four-poster bed with a soft mattress and a down comforter filled with swan feathers. If it was winter, my sheets were heated with hot coals, and in the summertime, a large pitcher of water was placed at my bedside. Whatever I needed was at my beck and call, and now I realized how much I took for granted. My life had been luxurious simply because I was born into it. I hadn’t done anything to earn it. The servants worked and lived in the castle every day of the year, but it didn’t matter how much they pleased my father; they would never have what I had.
That realization hit me pretty hard in that moment.
Maybe I was a princess after all.
The men all went to sleep—except Mastodon.
He leaned against the wall with one arm resting on his propped knee. It’d been a long day, but he didn’t look remotely tired. His gaze was fixed on me.
“I’m too tired to run…if that’s what you’re worried about.”
He opened up a small canteen and took a drink, and when I saw a drop escape from his chin, I knew it wasn’t water. He wiped his mouth with the back of his forearm and continued his stare.