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)
Then Victor appeared, sizing up Bastian with a look of rage he’d never shown before.
Did Bastian hear him before he even got to the door? I got to my feet and rushed over.
Victor eyed me next. “What the fuck is this?”
I was just about to make introductions and explain Bastian’s visit, but Victor’s words took me aback. “Excuse me?”
Victor looked at him again. “You’ve been gone all day, and then this asshole opens the door?”
“Whoa…hold on.” I moved in front of Bastian. “Excuse me?”
Bastian whispered below his breath before he walked away, “Told you.”
Victor turned on me. “Told you what?”
“None of your business,” I snapped. “That’s what. Bastian and I are working on something for my brother. That’s all. But one, I shouldn’t have to explain that. And two, even if our meeting were romantic, it’s still none of your business. We agreed this was no-strings-attached, no-commitment, just good ol’-fashioned fun. You have no right to act this way. I don’t belong to you. I don’t belong to anyone.”
He was a meaty guy who possessed war in his eyes, and he gave me that look that told me he was about to snap. But he took a breath and let it out slowly. “Elora—”
“We’re done.”
“No, we aren’t—”
Bastian spoke from his seat at the table. “That was the wrong thing to say, man.”
I stood closer to Victor, sizing him up like one of the guys at the bar. “Asshole, you don’t tell me what to do. Try it again, and I’ll throat-punch you so hard you won’t be able to breathe. Got that?”
He opened his mouth to speak. “Elora—”
“Goodbye, Victor.” I shut the door in his face and locked it.
Bastian drank his wine at the table, acting as if nothing had happened.
I returned to my seat and refilled my glass.
A slight smile moved on to the corner of his mouth.
“Shut up.”
He took a drink of his wine.
“You can hear that well?”
“Yes.”
“So, you can hear people outside right now?”
“No. If they come closer to the house, I can.”
“That’s a Necrosis thing?”
“Yes.”
“What else do Necrosis have?”
“Night vision. Increased strength and agility.”
“Can Necrosis have children?”
He hesitated before he answered. “No. That’s why we protect our kind so fervently. When you turn someone, it’s like siring a child. You’re connected in a way that you can’t really explain.”
“Who turned you?”
“Haldir.”
“The First King?” I asked, surprised the most powerful Necrosis was interested in Bastian. “Why?”
He finished his glass and left it on the table. “Story time is over.” He left the table and walked over to the couch. The couch faced the fire, so he took a seat at the edge, his arm on the armrest.
I lingered at the table for a while before I joined him, sitting at the opposite end. “You can sleep on the couch.”
“I can slip away in the middle of the night, and you wouldn’t even know.”
“Not if I’m on the other couch.”
“I’m quiet.”
“Well, I can hear almost as well as Necrosis, so…”
He gave a slight smile before he looked at the fire. “I know there will always be this unease between us…because of what I am. But I have no ill intention toward you or any of your people—and I know you know that.”
I stared at the fire and felt my heart clench into a fist.
“You’d look weak if you admitted it, so I get it.”
With my knees pulled to my chest, I turned to regard him.
“But it’s smart not to trust me. At the end of the day, my very existence is a threat to your afterlife. That will never change.”
“Are you insane?” Ian rounded on me, his boots loud taps against the floor. “Are you literally fucking insane?” We were in his study, maps and letters across his desk, a fire in the hearth. “He’s Necrosis—and you have a soul.”
“We need the Ice—”
“He can retrieve it himself.”
“And if Haldir kills him tomorrow, what will we do?”
“Haldir?”
“The First King.”
He stopped his pacing. “Looks like he’s more interested in sharing with you than he is with me.”
My eyes narrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
His stare continued, along with the silence.
“You told me to keep an eye on him. I asked him a few questions. You know me, I never stop talking.”
He resumed his pacing, his big shoulders heavy with defeat. “The answer is no, Elora.”
“I’m sorry…did it sound like I was asking permission?”
He turned back to face me. “This no-nonsense attitude is fine when I’m just your brother, but I’m king now.”
“Queen.”
He gave a slight growl. “I’m not in the mood for this.”
“And I’m not in the mood for Necrosis to get their asses over here and take HeartHolme. Are you?”
“We’ll send someone else.”
“Someone else?” I asked incredulously. “Is there someone else we trust enough with this information? We’d have to admit that Bastian is Necrosis, and how do you think that will go?”