Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 116396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
“Where will I find you? At the brothels?”
He walked off. “Fuck off, Elora.”
“Oh, that’s right. You’re queen now. So, they come to you, huh?”
He flipped me off before he walked out the door.
My hands were sore from working all day. The knuckles ached, and only a warm cloth could soothe the tension. I turned the lock, tested the door, and then turned around. I halted in place—and came face-to-face with a man.
I considered myself a perceptive person, but I hadn’t heard his footsteps, heard the sound of his breaths. Caught off guard without my hilt in hand, I couldn’t even draw my sword. I appeared unfazed, even though my heart was loud as a drum. “What took you so long?”
He pushed his hood down and revealed his face, which was on display in the firelight from the torch that hung overhead. He had the same bright-blue eyes, the same chiseled jawline, the same hostile aura. “You prevailed over Necrosis.”
“You bet your ass we did.”
“But my gift had nothing to do with it.”
“No, not really.”
His eyes glanced to the door behind me.
“Do I need to let you in?” I asked sarcastically. “Or can you do that yourself?”
Like Ian, he kept the same hard expression. There was no reaction in his eyes, just a void.
I rolled my eyes and unlocked the door I’d just locked, and we entered the forge. It was dark, so I had to light all the candles once again to bring the shop into a nice glow. The fire from my forge was out, and that was usually enough to keep this place lit up like a bonfire. I leaned against the counter with my arms crossed and stared. “Ready to tell me who the hell you are and how you know so much about Necrosis?”
His eyes scanned the room for a moment, but it didn’t seem like he actually cared about anything he looked at. His eyes were glossed over, just the way Ian’s were whenever he was deep in thought. His black cloak hung behind him, and the opening in the front revealed a hard chest in a tunic, narrow hips, and long legs that gave him a height much taller than mine. “I don’t recall agreeing to answer any of those questions.”
“You’re going to have to. At least, you do if you want my help.”
He finally turned his gaze back to me. “That wasn’t the deal. I gave you the Ice—and now you’re in my debt.”
“The Ice wouldn’t have saved us from Necrosis. We would have perished—and I wouldn’t be alive to owe you anything.” We’d lost the battle. I’d felt it in my heart long before Necrosis breached the wall. I could have made a million arrows, and it wouldn’t have turned the tide, wouldn’t have saved my people, and the feeling of hopelessness was unbearable.
“But it’ll be instrumental for the war to come.”
“Two swords aren’t enough to make any substantial difference. We have two dragons now.”
“Dragons that they know about. Dragons that they’ll be prepared to fight.”
I crossed my ankles. “What are they going to do against two dragons—”
“Shoot them down with crossbows.”
“A crossbow isn’t enough—”
“Big crossbows.” He silenced me with his gaze, in a way that was naturally menacing.
My heart started to beat a little harder as I stared at his face, tried to penetrate that dark gaze. “Who are you?”
His eyes flicked away, as if he didn’t owe me an answer.
“You’ve already shown your cards. You need me.”
He ignored me.
“You need me a lot more. I can promise you that.”
I stepped closer to him, my arms still crossed over my chest. My eyes dug deep into his cheek, like a blade sawing through flesh to get to the bone. I noticed the definition of his features more, the pronounced angle of his cheekbones, the way his jawline was sharper than the blades I crafted every day. “What do you want?”
After a long pause, he looked at me again. “Asylum.”
My eyes shifted back and forth between his, my brain trying to understand the request. “Asylum from what?”
He held my gaze this time. “Necrosis.”
“What do they want from you?”
Now he looked away. “It’s not what they want from me. It’s what I am to them.”
“Which is?”
He was absolutely still, not even drawing breath. His eyes were focused on my cold forge, just a few hot embers still visible underneath the ash. “I’m one of them.”
I’d never felt threatened by anyone, not friend or foe, but now I was aware of the danger I was in. Just a few feet away stood one of the vilest creatures in existence, something of the void, a monster that fed on human souls to satisfy his atrocious hunger. My instinct was to reach for my sword, but he was armed as well, and the second I moved, he would do the same.