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)
He didn’t crack a smile, not this time. “You should be.”
“Well, you wanted to eat me and you didn’t, so I’d say I’m safe.”
“Doesn’t mean I’ll have that same restraint again—especially if I’m hungry.”
“Then we won’t be together when you’re hungry. Problem solved.”
He continued to stare. “This isn’t a debate, Elora. I’m Necrosis and you’re a Rune. It would never work.”
“What would never work? I’m attracted to you, and you’re attracted to me. I’m just looking for a midnight romp in the woods. No commitment. No expectations. Nothing. Not all women fantasize about wearing a wedding dress. You’re making this more complicated than it needs to be. All you need to do is not eat me. It’s that simple.”
He looked away again, dismissing my comment.
I knew I’d lost the argument by the way he withdrew from me.
“I appreciate your trust, but it’s misplaced.”
“I don’t think it is.”
“You don’t understand how it feels. To feel a soul that powerful and not consume it. I loathe myself every time I feed, and if I fed on you…then I probably would take my own life. So, this can’t happen. I’m sorry.”
It was the first time I hadn’t gotten what I wanted—and it stung. It stung because my desire was genuine. I pretended it wasn’t there, but it’d always been bubbling underneath the surface. The second I’d laid eyes on him, I forgot about Victor. That relationship was over before Bastian spoke his first word.
He turned back to me. “And don’t even think about putting me in that situation again.”
Damn, he read my mind.
“Because I’ll kill you.”
We took the horses as close to the mountains as we could, then made the rest of the journey on foot. The night had officially passed, but the sunlight was so faint that it felt like twilight. With Bastian in the lead, we took a rugged path in the hills and moved toward the base of the mountain.
My eyes scanned everything around me, as if Necrosis would emerge and reach for my throat. Nothing was known about their lands. We didn’t know if they had cities. If they had castles. If they grew crops. Nothing.
Bastian kept a quick pace most of the time, but he would abruptly stop or slow his steps, as if he’d heard something I could never detect with my average ears.
I had a notepad in my hand, and I took notes as best I could, in case I ever needed to return alone.
Bastian blended in with the darkness and the color of the mountain in his clothes. He was also strong like the crags that surrounded us, his enormous back and shoulders blocking the view of the sky up the hill.
“How much farther?”
He halted and turned back to me, his pissed-off eyes telling me to keep my mouth shut.
“Sorry…”
He moved forward again, racing against the rising sun. It grew brighter as we traversed the mountainside, and greater details were revealed of the landscape. The mountains were made of rocks and dirt, not grass and foliage found in the rest of the world. My lungs strained to breathe, like the air was too heavy. It was a very different climate from what I was used to.
Bastian made a couple turns before he approached the entrance to a tunnel. It was small, barely big enough for two people to fit inside. He went in first before he pulled out a torch and lit it.
We descended the dark path, a bluish glow from the minerals in the walls. Deeper and deeper we went, traveling far under the surface of the mountain. It was just a jagged and broken path of loose rocks and dirt, so we had to be careful not to slip.
“Can we talk down here?”
He held the torch high and extended outward, the hot oil missing his hand and arm. “Yes.”
“You said Ice grows here?”
“Yes.”
“So, it’s a living thing?”
“Yes.”
“How can something be living and be solid?”
“I’m not the person to ask.”
“Just doesn’t make sense.”
He traveled farther, and the path leveled out, reaching a large cavern. He stuck out his arm and stopped me before I could go any farther. “Careful.” He raised the torch higher and illuminated the scene.
Black ivy stretched across the floor of the cavern and up the walls, and little balls of Ice hung from the limbs of the plant. It looked like pieces of fruit, round apples and nectarines, only it was a solid piece of glass. It was clear all the way through, perfectly round like a sphere, and it reflected the light from our torches.
“Whoa…” I took a look around, seeing a sight that defied my entire understanding of the world. “How does something grow without sunlight and water? And if it’s such a threat to your people, why don’t you eradicate it?”
“It’s a weed. You can kill it, but it’s just going to come back.” He dropped his pack and pulled out a smaller sack from inside. “Necrosis tried to wipe it out years before I was born, but it just pops up in other places.” He took out his dagger and sliced it into the soil, cutting around the root of the ivy in the dirt.