Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 121339 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121339 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
She yanked away from him in incredulous mock fury. He laughed, and she noticed his eyes. The desire had faded with his orgasm, for now, but the little line around his pupils didn’t return to black. It remained gold, like in the human lands.
His laughter died, and his eyes jogged back and forth between hers, probably dipping into her head and looking through her eyes.
“Your eyes were normal when I first met you,” she murmured. “Like this. Before I became the crystal chalice. Why is that?”
His look was puzzled. “They were? Are you sure?”
“Positive. I thought of you after those first meetings. Dreamt of you. I remember your eyes vividly. They always had that burnished gold strip around the irises. The first time they were black was in this court.”
He studied her for a moment. “I have no idea. They shouldn’t have been, though I do have more magical freedom outside of this kingdom. Here, the obsidian burned into my back has a tighter hold on me. The king has a tighter hold on me, actually. Outside of the court, his leash loosens. He affords me more freedom so I can see about the chalices. Maybe it was a usual occurrence in the human realm and I hadn’t known about it. I didn’t stop to look—”
He choked, as though the words he was about to say literally got stuck. He put a hand to his throat and gasped, his eyes tightening.
“What?” she asked in sudden alarm. “What is it?”
He coughed as a smile worked at his lips. “I was about to say I didn’t stop to look in many mirrors in the human world, and it wouldn’t come out. It’s a lie. I looked in quite a few mirrors. I never noticed anything different about my eyes, which means they must not have been gold. Always black. Always what I expected.”
She laughed. “You’re so vain.” The song encompassing those lyrics started to play in her mind.
“With a face and body like this, can you blame me?” He laughed with her. “I do so love human fashion. I know you can’t blame me. I definitely took a few detours into the human shops when I had a chance.” He shrugged. “You need the mirror to know how it looks.”
She laughed again before settling. “So why do I have any effect on the gold?”
He shook his head. “I have no idea. The obsidian is still there. I feel it, like an ever-present sickness. Maybe Eldric will know.”
“Also, I really don’t understand why the Diamond Throne has gold instead of…I don’t know…white. Or something more strongly representing the color of diamonds.”
“The gold is slightly metallic. If white were slightly metallic, it would look like silver, which isn’t worth as much as gold, here or in the human lands. Gold signifies wealth.”
She leaned back to look at him with raised eyebrows, then started to laugh, falling into him again. “Oh my god, Celestials are so fucking arrogant. I can’t handle it.”
“Well? Logic.”
“Sure, yeah. Logic.” She kissed his neck before resting her cheek on his collarbone. “I’d really prefer not to go back to Eldric again. I’d be fine not knowing the answers.”
“We’ll see. He’s a necessary boredom.”
She didn’t feel his release dripping down and remembered the blow job. “Do you not ejaculate?”
“Not until after the oracle has blessed a male with the ability to procreate.”
“Huh.” She kissed him along his neck. His hands lightly traced her back. “That’s pretty great.”
“Why is that?”
“Less messy.”
He tugged on her hair to get her to pull back so he could kiss her. “Move with me, dove. I need more.”
She did. She let all the troubles they had ahead of them slip from her mind as she lost herself in him. She’d get a few days to practice her shielding and her magic, and get ready for the court games, and then she would have to pull her weight.
Until then, though, she would revel in these new feelings. In his body. In his kiss. Until then, she’d try to forget she was a dead human walking.
19
Kieran
The sun was starting to sink low on the horizon, casting long shadows across the dusty path. A circle of dwellings lay up ahead, a larger spread than the first structure Daisy had spent the night in.
No one could figure out what was going on with her situation. Zorn had picked up her tracks outside of the Faegate and followed her throughout her journey. She’d helped that fae. There was no denying it. Possibly risked her life for him, given the tracks they’d found by a stream. There had been one skirmish when others had joined her and that fae, but otherwise, she’d seemed placid. Maybe helpful.
When the fuck was Daisy ever placid or helpful to a captor?
Zorn was at a complete loss. None of this made sense. Daisy was hard. Harder than any of them, save for himself. She didn’t bend unless she had an ulterior motive, and she didn’t break. Something else had to be going on. This had to be her plan, somehow.