Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 121324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
“I don’t think you would. Nu-uh. Yet, you expect me to do it. Why is that?”
“You are a mortal,” Ishtar all but spat. “You will be dead in the blink of an eye anyway.”
“And that makes my life less important than yours? That’s what you think? God, you’re a weird one. And not very bright, since it doesn’t seem to have occurred to you that giving into the demands of the Aeons would set a bad precedent. What might they insist on next? For a number of your residents to be handed over, since many of theirs have abandoned Aeon and they’ll need to rebuild their population? Or maybe they might demand that an Ancient be surrendered as a gesture of subservience on the other Ancients’ part.”
Ishtar’s jaw tightened. “They would leave us in peace.”
“You don’t know that. I doubt you even believe it.” Wynter sure didn’t.
The Ancient’s back snapped straight. “Do not presume you know what I do or do not believe, witch. You do not know me.”
No, but she knew plenty about Ishtar from Cain; enough to draw fairly accurate conclusions about the woman. Despite not having that same insight into Wynter, Ishtar nonetheless thought she had her all figured out. Wynter allowed it, as it sometimes served a person best to leave an enemy to misread them.
“I see that you have no intention of giving my suggestion some thought,” said Ishtar. “You believe all will turn out fine in the end, I expect. Perhaps you are right. Perhaps it will. Perhaps the cage will be broken. But I do hope you don’t also believe that you would then live a happy life with Cain. In truth, you will not wear that seal for long.”
“What gave you that idea?”
The bitch took one sauntering step forward. “Cain wants you now. But you age every day. You will develop lines, wrinkles, stretch marks, pigment changes. Parts of your body will lose their shape, including your very best assets. Give it ten years or so and you will no longer hold any physical appeal for him. Do you truly think he will still want you then?”
Pausing, Ishtar let out a delicate snort. “You will have given him your best years, and for what? He will throw you aside at some point. There will come a time when you matter to him no longer. And then, witch . . . then I’ll kill you.”
Her lips thinning, Wynter closed the short distance between them. “No, you won’t. You’ll simply die trying.”
Ishtar barked a laugh. “Yes, you definitely live in a fantasy world. It will be such fun for me to watch as said world crumbles around you. Assuming we all live long enough for that to come to pass, of course. For as long as you stay here, that remains unlikely.” The Ancient then turned and strode out of the shed.
*
Sitting in the middle of Cain’s bed later that day, Wynter watched him pace back and forth. He made quite a picture, fluid and predatory, his muscles bunching and rippling beneath his shirt. Her stomach would have gotten all fluttery for sure if he wasn’t also seriously pissed. “You promised you wouldn’t overreact,” she reminded him.
He spared her a quick look. “And I haven’t,” he clipped.
“You just said you’re going to rip out her spinal cord and wrap it around her neck.”
He gave a stiff shrug. “She deserves worse.”
Wynter would have preferred not to have told him about the visit Ishtar paid her. He had enough things on his mind right now, and she didn’t want the bitch to take up space in his head. But he would have found out from someone else, just as he’d found out about the woman’s first visit months ago. Then he’d have been upset that he hadn’t heard of it directly from Wynter. Plus, there were enough secrets between them as it was.
Moreover, it was only sensible to alert Cain. After all, there was a chance that Ishtar would sneakily deliver Wynter into the Aeons’ hands herself. If Wynter did mysteriously disappear, Cain would know exactly who to question.
“Not gonna lie,” Wynter began, “you make my hormones weak when you turn growly and snarly like this. But she’s not worth the energy you’re putting into all that pacing. And she’s far from worth the kind of reaction you’re considering giving her.”
“I will not show her mercy,” he said, his voice as dark as those eyes that glittered at her. “She tried to make you give yourself up, knowing you would eventually die if you did.”
“But to her, this wasn’t a big deal. You know how her mind works. The way Ishtar sees it, I’m a mere mortal, as common as an ant. And just as a mage might sacrifice animals without much of a thought, she’d easily urge me to sacrifice myself because in the grand scheme of things I simply don’t matter.”