Total pages in book: 401
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
The tension in me eased as I laughed. I couldn’t picture Tawny sleeping on the ground. It wasn’t that she had a delicate disposition or disliked the outdoors, but she wasn’t someone who particularly enjoyed it. “Now I really am shocked that you made it here.”
She grinned. “I did it for you.”
My stomach twisted as my mind filled with all the horrible things that could’ve happened to her on the road to Carsodonia—the horrible thing that had already happened to her without her knowing. “Not that I’m ungrateful or unhappy to see you here, but why would you do that? The trip had to be dangerous.”
“The King summoned me.”
My gaze darted to Casteel as curiosity rose. “He did?” I asked.
“I hoped her presence would get you to wake or, at the very least, help you retain your memories,” he said, and it made my heart feel all…gooey and warm despite, well…everything.
“In reality, all my presence did was annoy him,” Tawny quipped.
“That is true.”
The gooey warmth vanished, and I narrowed my eyes at him, where he had returned to his position by the wall, watching us.
Watching Tawny.
I briefly closed my eyes and found his mark. You don’t have to worry about Tawny when it comes to me.
He didn’t respond.
“And yeah, it wasn’t exactly a nice evening stroll in the park,” Tawny said. “More like a mad dash through the Blood Forest being chased by a Craven or five.”
“And it was just Gianna and a few guards with you?” I asked. When she nodded, I yanked her into my arms again, my stomach dropping. “You could’ve been…”
“Killed?” she suggested, making my stomach roil. “I wasn’t.”
“Obviously not.” I cleared my throat. “But traveling with only a wolven and a handful of guards through a war-torn kingdom is bad enough. Through the Blood Forest?” I said. “That was…reckless.”
Tawny drew her head back, her delicate brow furrowing. “Are you seriously about to lecture me about being reckless?”
I opened my mouth as Casteel huffed out a laugh. I narrowed my eyes at him again. One side of his lips curled up as he took a drink.
“Whatever,” I muttered. “It doesn’t mean it wasn’t incredibly dangerous.”
“Gianna made sure nothing happened to me,” she was quick to say. “I know you don’t like her—”
“I never said I didn’t like her,” I cut in, frowning.
Pulling away, Tawny crossed her arms. “Did you or did you not threaten to tear her apart, limb by limb, and feed her—”
“To a pack of hungry barrats if she had feelings for me,” Casteel finished for her. “The answer would be yes.”
I pursed my lips.
I had.
And she really hadn’t deserved that. It wasn’t her fault that Alastir was her uncle and wanted her to form a union with Casteel. Nor was it her fault that she was beautiful.
I sighed. “I can admit it wasn’t one of my finer moments.”
“I think it was,” Casteel remarked, his voice dropping to a purr that caused the muscles low in my stomach to coil.
“That’s a red flag,” Tawny murmured.
“I’m a walking red flag,” he replied with a grin that brought out his dimple.
Tawny looked over at him for a moment and then laughed. “There is something wrong with you.”
“I have been saying that since I met him,” I said.
“You love my wrongness,” he retorted.
I did.
“Of course, she does,” Tawny replied. “Because, clearly, there’s also something wrong with her.”
A laugh left me, and with that, I focused on the fact that Tawny was here. It was her.
She was just…changed.
I spent the next half an hour or so listening to Tawny tell me about her journey to the capital as we sat on the settee. There was no mistaking the way…life returned to her eyes when she spoke of Gianna. I wanted to ask her about that, but not with Casteel looming like an ever-present guardian.
“You want to hear something strange?” she asked, glancing down at the chalice of wine Casteel had poured for her. “I felt you when you woke. Both times.”
My stomach twisted sharply again. “Really?” I kept my voice level, aware that Casteel was listening more intently now. “Do you know how?”
“I don’t know how to explain it.” She ran her finger down the side of her glass. “I just had this feeling.” She lifted her gaze to mine. “Gianna didn’t feel it the first time, but said she did the second time. She mentioned the notam.”
I nodded, knowing that wasn’t what she’d felt.
“That’s how I learned something was…wrong,” she continued, looking over at Casteel. “He wouldn’t let me see you then.”
A hazy memory of hearing her voice and walls draped with curtains flashed through my mind, disappearing before I could remember much else. “It was for your safety. I wasn’t…myself.”
“I get it.” Her lips curled into a fleeting grin. “But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”