Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 109477 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109477 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
This belongs to you, does it not? the Celestial asked in her mind. The texture of his voice was smooth like satin. And rich. And not welcome.
“Use your words,” she said, hiding the quiver in her voice.
The Celestial studied her. “Very well, human. Does this belong to you?”
His nails looked manicured. Pristine, like the rest of him.
“You know it does,” she responded.
“Yes.” The Celestial took another moment to study her. She didn’t feel any power wafting off him. No magic. If he was digging through her mind, she couldn’t feel it. He could’ve been a regular human guy with a penchant for cosplay and a silver spoon firmly embedded in his keister.
He tossed the blade at her feet.
“Enlightening,” he said. “And yes, that is the wrong weapon. You’d best arm yourself a little better if you hope to take on one of his kind.”
So he had been digging into her memories. He knew whom she’d stuck with that knife and how ineffective it had been. Good. Maybe they’d catch that other asshole and put a stop to his kingdom’s plans.
The Celestial looked at Zorn but clearly didn’t find much of interest, because in the next moment, he turned. As he did, wings surged from his back without disturbing his clothes at all. They flowed down to nearly the ground before the tips lifted into the air, giving Daisy a view of their incredible beauty.
Deep gold colored the base near his body, slightly translucent in the streetlight. That color spread out like veins into the rest of the wing, thicker in some places than others, the shape a combination of bird and butterfly wings that somehow worked so beautifully. Between the veins were nearly see-through, the wing almost dainty, the substance reminiscent of a dragonfly wing. The golden hues gradually changed from base to tip, morphing into pinks and oranges and then blues and purples. The colors reminded her of a sunset, almost. Or even like the crisp sky at dawn. Sunrise or sunset, so remarkably similar if she thought about it.
He bent at the knees and launched into the sky, the wings going active. He soared over the rooftops and away, probably to join the others, wherever they were.
A heavy breath rolled out of Zorn. He bent and scooped up the knife before cleaning it with his shirt and handing it to her.
“That was…” Daisy just blinked at nothing for a moment.
“Unexpected.” Zorn started forward. “Reassuring.”
“Reassuring?” She hurried to catch up.
“They might have let that fae you met slip through, but they are still effective. They realized their error and are working to right it. They also know what that fae and his kind are planning, thanks to you. They’ll be able to handle things from within their own realm.” They reached the car. He opened the door for her, looking skyward. “Hopefully.”
Black BMWs to match Zorn’s lined both sides of the street as they reached the houses near the dual-society zone. The house on the left, where Daisy often stayed, was Lexi’s. On the right was Kieran’s, both residences housing their close-knit chosen family when everyone got together out here.
The porch lights glowed in both houses, but only Lexi’s had warm, buttery light spilling onto the pristine front lawn from the kitchen window. The living room, too, was illuminated, even at the late hour. Or the early hour, depending on how one looked at it.
Zorn put the car in park but didn’t reach for the door handle.
Daisy unclicked her seatbelt but paused.
“The fae you met…” he said as he turned off the motor. “If he can read memories, I’m assuming he can speak within your mind? It usually goes hand in hand.”
She didn’t know that some fae could only do one of those. Zorn might just know more than the books she’d found.
“Yes,” she responded.
“He pinned you with his magic, you said?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t he kill you?”
She wasn’t sure if she should mention that she’d met him before. That they had history. She definitely didn’t want to mention the draw of him. That seemed…too intimate, somehow. Maybe too damning.
Then again, did it really matter? Those things shouldn’t be enough to stop him from killing her. Fae didn’t seem like the kind to care about that, not with a human, a creature they deemed lesser.
“I don’t know,” she said honestly, trying to recall the nuances of the conversation. The teasing and taunting. “He could’ve been playing with me. I seem to pose no threat to him. Not with these weapons.”
Zorn stared straight ahead for a long moment. Leaves shivered in the yard at a slight breeze.
“You trust me?” he said.
“Obviously.”
“I can trust you.”
“I am sure glad that wasn’t posed as a question, or I might’ve slipped a knife into you while you slept.”
Zorn huffed, probably delighted by her spunk. He always had been.