Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 49441 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49441 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
“Why me?”
“Because you were the most likely to accept my offer,” he said. “But I also believed that you had more power than you realized you did. It takes a lot of power to make effective spells for people without ever meeting them.”
“And my stubbornness factors in too,” I said, offering him a small smile.
The spell tried to make the affection grow, but I fought against it.
I was okay with my normal, real level of affection toward Nathaniel. Even if I was still annoyed with him about his omissions.
“So this cure… what is it? An elixir?”
“I believe so. The wording in the journals I found suggests that.”
“And you’re sure it won’t kill you?”
“Well, the way I see it, the magic here won’t kill a human. And as of a few minutes ago, I am fully mortal again. So, worst case… it doesn’t work at all.”
“And you finish out your mortal life and die? Or do you immediately age and die?”
“I guess we will have to see about that,” Nathaniel said, moving toward me, reaching out to gently grab my wrist. “I should have been honest with you about the cure.”
“Yeah. I mean, I went into this knowing you were a vampire. I agreed to it then. Why would you not continuing to be a vampire change my mind?” I asked.
“That…” he said, looking taken aback.
“Didn’t really think that one through, did you?” I asked, smirking at his dumbfounded look.
“I suppose not,” he admitted, exhaling hard.
That was such a human reaction, making me realize just how much humans relied on things like breath to convey emotions.
Sighing. Exhaling. Snorting. Long, deep breaths. Held breaths.
They all told you so much.
Suddenly, I felt like Nathaniel wasn’t such an enigma now that his feelings were being expressed in a way that I could interpret.
“So how do we get out of this room?” Nathaniel asked as his fingers slipped between mine again.
“I have no idea,” I admitted.
But then, right there at our side, a door opened.
“I guess opening up about our feelings in a raw, real way was the way through,” Nathaniel said as my brows raised.
“I almost don’t want to go out there,” I admitted.
“Hey, you’ve gotten us this far. I don’t think anything else could stop you.”
With him at my side, open and honest, even if he was suddenly missing all of his powers, I had a feeling he was right about that.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Nathaniel
My heartbeat was distracting in more ways than one.
After hundreds of years of silence and stillness in my chest, feeling the thumping was foreign and strange.
More so than that, it was reactive.
I’d forgotten all about that.
Sure, the humans were always going on and on about heartbeats in their music. I imagine I’d gotten so jaded over the years, though, that I figured they were exaggerating the phenomenon.
That is, of course, until I had a heartbeat of my own. One that reacted to the nearness of Roxanne.
Each time she turned to look at me with those big green eyes, or her hand squeezed mine, or even, once, when she bent down to get something off the ground, giving me a really good view in the process.
As for the maze itself, it was back to being just the hedge itself, twisting and turning in endless rows and dead ends.
Whereas before, it would have been frustrating to the both of us, after the fire, the flood, and the poisoning, we’d come to accept this part as a harmless little hike.
Besides, the artificial weather in the maze was temperate and comfortable. And, well, the sun beating down on me—even if it wasn’t real—was comforting and fascinating after so many years of existing only in the darkness.
“Who’s the lazy one now?” Roxy asked, turning back at me and shooting me a triumphant smile as she caught me trying to catch my breath.
“What can I say? I’m not used to breathing,” I admitted.
“Tell me your feet hurt as much as mine do too,” she said, stopping to flex them.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if my shoes were full of blood,” I said, getting that little airy laugh out of her again, making my pulse quicken.
“What is the point of this part of the labyrinth anyway?” she asked, rolling her neck. “To exhaust us to death? Do you think the vines will come for me if I just sit down for a few minutes?” she asked.
“They haven’t reached for you since you overcame the urge to rest at the beginning of the maze,” I reminded her.
She was quick to drop down onto the ground, letting out a deep sigh.
She sounded so relieved that I dropped down beside her. The second I stopped moving, the aches in my newly human form started to intensify. My feet felt like they had their own damn heartbeat, thumping harder with each passing second.
“How long do you think we’ve been here?” Roxanne asked after a few moments of rubbing her calves.