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)
“Do you think we should be having a drink right now?”
“What I think is that there will never be a time where drinking is more suitable.”
I snorted like a pig—not a piglet. “True, but—”
“We’ll head back soon.”
“But,” I repeated, “we need to check on things in Lowertown and see if Thad returned from Pensdurth.” Another thing occurred to me. “Plus, we have to find out what Malik wanted to show us.”
“We will do all of that soon.” Casteel glanced over his shoulder at me. “Just a drink. Then we return.” He grinned, that dimple in his right cheek peeking out. “So, whiskey?”
I sighed. “Sure.”
Casteel flipped over two fresh glasses and poured. “The one thing I can’t complain about when it comes to the Ascended in and near Carsodonia,” he said, walking the drinks over to me and handing me a glass, “is that they actually have good liquor.”
I didn’t know there was a difference between the liquor in Masadonia and that in the capital. I hadn’t really had many chances to sample the offerings.
He sat on one of the longer couches and leaned back as best he could with the swords and dagger strapped to him. “Sit with me?”
Cradling the drink, I made my way over to him and sat. I took a sip, surprised by the liquor’s smoothness, but it still made my stomach churn. Though it wasn’t the whiskey doing that. It was why I knew Casteel wanted to linger here.
“So,” he drawled, and I tensed. “You going to tell me why you want to kill one of the Fates?”
I blinked, not expecting that question. “I was hoping you’d forget that.”
He snorted. “You should’ve known better.”
“I asked them if they were going to do anything about the other realm.” I rubbed my thumb across the glass. “They said they couldn’t because there were rules.” I rolled my eyes. “And, well, I kind of lost my temper.”
“Is that so?” he asked with a hint of amusement in his tone.
I shared with him how I’d told them I thought their idea of balance made no sense. “I called them out on how they’ve stood by and done nothing when things clearly weren’t balanced, and the conversation sort of escalated from there.”
“How so?” There was no amusement in his tone then.
“I realized that the reason they didn’t want to intervene was because they were weaker than the Ancients who were Awakening. I called them cowards, and Lirian didn’t take it well. He started running his mouth.” I took a drink. “He brought up how others had tried and failed to, well…you know.”
“No.” His tone was flat. “I don’t.”
I took a deep breath and braced myself. “To kill me.”
Casteel remained quiet.
That wasn’t the reaction I’d expected. I glanced at him. His jaw was set, and the glow of eather behind his pupils was vivid. “He said even Millicent wanted me dead.”
A muscle in his jaw throbbed. “What else did he say?” he asked.
“Well, at that point, I kind of swung on him, and he responded by basically freezing me. He ran his mouth a little more, and that’s about when I promised that I would find out how many of them could die before the realms unraveled.”
“You plan on carrying through on that?” he asked after a moment.
I looked at him. “I do.”
“Good.” The smile that graced his lips was vicious. “Because if you didn’t, I would.”
The corners of my lips tipped up. “Well, let’s hope they can afford at least one of them dying.”
Casteel nodded curtly, took a drink, then pulled his lower lip between his teeth. When his gaze returned to mine, the eather in his eyes had calmed. “I want to know how you’re really handling everything.”
The muscles in my neck tensed.
“You need to talk about it,” he pressed.
I wasn’t sure what I needed, but I knew it wasn’t that. Because I had a feeling if I thought about what he wanted me to talk about, my mind would go to how he was handling the news. Whether it changed things for him—just a little. Because how could it not? My stomach twisted. Of all the things I should be worried about, that should be at the bottom of the list. I knew that, but it was important to me. Because he was. “There’s really not much to say,” I said, my gaze flicking to the table. “Besides, there’s something more important we need to discuss.”
“Doubtful,” he murmured.
“You told me to ask you later why you care about your life,” I reminded him. “It’s later.”
Seconds ticked by in silence. I peeked at him.
Our eyes met, and I felt like I could fall into the pools of amber.
Then he said one word.
“You.”
My lips parted on a sharp inhale.
“It was meeting you,” he continued, my heart picking up speed, thumping heavily. He took a drink. “You know how you said you started to live when you met me? It was the same for me. I was merely existing for so long, driven only by vengeance.”