Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 47894 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 239(@200wpm)___ 192(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47894 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 239(@200wpm)___ 192(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
Wolves in the nothingness of the snow-blanketed land looked even scarier than normal because they stood out so vividly. And they weren’t timber wolves or ancient dire wolves, nothing natural alive now or extinct, but instead something she was able to call to her. Even faewolves were not as terrifying as these. Just the size, like a moose, was enough to give me nightmares for a month. I could not outrun them; my only choice was to shift and fly.
As always, I thought fly, and after a near miss where one of them leaped after me, I was in the air, circling above the wolves and Ilara. I counted to make sure there were six and no more, then flew home.
This was still 1799—the road was the same, and no homes to the left and right of mine had been reformed—but from my vantage point I could clearly see the greenhouse Lorne had built attached to the sunroom I grew up with. As I got closer, hoping, asking to be blessed, the greenhouse door opened, and Lorne stepped out into the snow.
I dropped fast, and even as I saw the wolves churning through the snow to reach the same spot, the fear was gone because Lorne was there. He was right outside the glass door, waiting for me with a blanket. When I hit him, slamming hard against his chest, propelling us inside, he clutched me tight, hugging me with both arms, before letting go and shutting the door.
If it wasn’t so horrifying, it would have been funny to see giant wolves with enormous razor-sharp teeth and foot-long claws hit the side of the greenhouse and slowly slide to the ground. As Ilara was guiding them, probably seeing through their eyes, she had thought the glass would shatter, the wood would splinter, and her wolves would crash into the greenhouse, destroying it easily and slaughtering me and Lorne. What she didn’t understand was that the magic of Corvus made all of it out of the original stone with added iron. The glass appeared to be glass… but was not. If she’d thought about it, she would have known that hours ago it was a mansion. But she was incensed with rage, so most likely forgot.
“Are they,” he began, hugging me to him, warming me up, “knocked—oh, no, they’re all up.”
I didn’t care about Ilara or her wolves, Lorne was my singular priority. “You’re okay. You’re safe.”
Immediate scowl from him. “Of course I’m safe,” he rasped, his voice gravelly. “I’m not the one who led a psychotic witch on a nature hike!”
“She’s an enchantress,” I corrected him.
It took a second, and then he yelled. “What?”
I could not have kept from smiling if my life depended on it, and nuzzled my face into the hollow of his throat so he wouldn’t be able to see.
“Ilara had a knife—I know that because Constance came to tell me while I was helping people out of the basement. She had a whole crowd of servants with her, ready to go with me to find you.”
“That’s so nice of her.” I sighed, reveling in the heat rolling off him, pressing against him as he hugged me. “She barely knows me.”
“I sent all the servants home, but did you happen to catch Constance’s last name, Xan? Did it ever come up?”
I leaned back so I could see him. “No. Why?”
His smile was warm. “It’s Astor.”
My mouth dropped open.
“She’s your best friend Amanda’s ancestor—however many times removed. It only makes sense that she would gravitate to you, and you to her.”
I was utterly stunned.
Lorne took that opportunity to get me moving, walking me into the living room where, in front of our blazing fireplace, was a stack of my clothes.
“How did you know?”
“How did I know that you might need to fly to get away from a witch?” Both brows lifted. “Are you kidding?”
“You’re very smug right now.” I dropped the blanket and got dressed. “But I would rather have clothes on when Giles gets here.”
“Why wouldn’t he just leave?” Lorne asked, sounding a bit broken and weary. “Our home rejected him and his magic, and by changing Corvus, it isn’t Corvus anymore and can’t sustain him. Why would he stay?”
“To kill us,” I said flatly, pulling on a long-sleeve T-shirt, then an ancient hoodie of Lorne’s that he knew I loved and would bring me comfort. “There’s magic in this, you know.”
“Be more specific,” he teased me.
“This hoodie of yours, when I wear it, being reminded of you makes me feel better,” I said with a sigh. “It’s like when Amanda has to fight with people, she wears that white button-up cardigan with the navy trim. It’s her ass-kicking sweater and infuses her with power.”
Slow smile that fired his eyes. “I think she’s always ready to tangle with anyone at any time, but I get your meaning.”