Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 231436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1157(@200wpm)___ 926(@250wpm)___ 771(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 231436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1157(@200wpm)___ 926(@250wpm)___ 771(@300wpm)
He pushed inside one more time. Hard. Deep. Then he bowed his back and roared, his essence bathing me in warmth unlike anything I had experienced before. The aftershocks of my orgasm pulled all I could out of him until he collapsed atop me, breathing heavily and seeming to take in my scent.
I petted his back, swirling my finger in the perspiration there, fingering the ridges that were a sensory dream, and marveling at how every muscle on his body seemed carved from stone.
At some point, I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew, a gentle kiss on my temple roused me. Nithe stood at the side of the bed, still breathtakingly naked. He brushed some hair back from my face and then leaned down to kiss my lips. When he rose, he told me that he had to go but assured me that thoughts of our encounter would not be far from his mind for quite some time. I told him the same and then watched as he walked to the balcony, his tight backside flexing with every step.
He opened the doors wide, glanced over his shoulder at me with a smile, and then jumped.
I gasped and flew off the bed to the railing, looking down. When I saw nothing, I lifted my gaze, taking in the magnificent creature in the sky. His scales were the color of ash, and his wings were huge and darker than midnight. He had jutting black horns starting in the middle of his snout to run up over the center of his massive head. The farther back on his head they went, the longer and sharper they became, eventually jutting out from thick frills. He looped a circle and then dove, banking at the last moment to come as close as he dared to the building.
I felt the brush of air on my face and body and put a hand to my chest, in absolute and utter awe. It was like a wave, and it wasn’t something I would soon forget.
I watched until I could no longer see him as he flew toward Spessa’s End and then returned to the room, closing and locking the balcony doors behind me.
Picking up his discarded shirt from the floor, I slipped it over my head and pulled it to my nose, inhaling and taking in the woodsy, earthy smell.
Surrounded by his scent and still tingling from our encounter, I fell asleep to sweet, sweet dreams.
Willa
THE LAST ORACLE
Not a lot has been revealed about the last oracle to be birthed, but what we do know is significant.
Prophecies are dreams of the Ancients. They are then shared with the oracles—rare mortals able to communicate directly with the gods without having to summon them—and then passed on to the Gods of Divination.
The prophecy we know today was the last dreamt by the Ancients. It is a promise known by only a few, dared to be spoken by even fewer, and only repeated by a descendant of the Gods of Divination—like Penellaphe, Goddess of Wisdom, Loyalty, and Duty—and the last oracle.
That oracle had the last name of Balfour. She was kind and a great conversationalist, and it is said that Princess Kayleigh Balfour of Irelone resembled her.
We know that Poppy received the last name of Balfour from her foster parents Leopold and Coralena, so it makes you wonder what else is hidden within that little bit of knowledge, doesn’t it?
THE DEAD BONES CLAN
The Dead Bones Clan is a group of vicious, cannibalistic mortals of the land outside the Rise. They used to live all across Solis, mainly where the Blood Forest now grows. Most assumed they were eradicated when the Ascended burned everything between New Haven and Pompay. But at some point over the past several hundred years, they ended up near Spessa’s End.
Physical Description: Wear masks made of human skin.
Habits/Mannerisms/Strengths/Weaknesses: Hang symbols from trees—brown rope fashioned into a circle or noose with a bone crossing through the center. Like the Royal Crest but instead of a straight line or arrow slanting in toward the center, it’s a bone slanting out. Also create the symbol out of rocks on the forest floor. Supposedly kill and eat anything/one they perceive as a threat. They aren’t just anti-Craven with keeping people out of their territory; they’re anti-everything and everyone. Usually, only attack when hungry. Cannibals—but nobody knows why that is.
THE PROPHECY
Gods, what can I say about the prophecy? It has changed more than I take new bed partners. But then again…has it? What has changed is the interpretation of what was prophesied in the bones of Penellaphe Balfour’s namesake, a God of Divination. And that is still changing even now.
Let’s take a peek at what we know so far, shall we?
From the desperation of golden crowns and born of mortal flesh, a great primal power rises as the heir to the lands and seas, to the skies and all the realms. A shadow in the ember, a light in the flame, to become a fire in the flesh. For the one born of the blood and the ash, the bearer of two crowns, and the bringer of life to mortal, god, and draken. A silver beast with blood seeping from its jaws of fire, bathed in the flames of the brightest moon to ever be birthed, will become one.