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)
“I asked him to do that before I learned the truth,” I reminded him as I placed my hands on his chest. “And we still may need that if I end up not getting close enough.”
That muscle along his jaw started to tick. “I don’t want you anywhere near him.”
My chest twisted. “I don’t want to be, but I have to.”
Essence flared in his eyes as they hardened into cold citrine. “You don’t have to do shit.”
“That’s not true,” I whispered, sliding my hands up. The bite mark on his throat had already faded to a faint pinkish-purple. “I wish it was. I really do. But it must be done if we want a future—for us, for those we care about, and for both Solis and Atlantia. You know this.”
“Actually, I don’t.” He grasped my wrists and lowered them to his chest. “And neither do you. We just know what we’ve been told.”
“Cas—”
“Did the vadentia tell you that love was a weakness?”
“No. But it did tell me there’s another way,” I reasoned. “And I think that is something Primals are supposed to learn instead of just knowing.”
He arched a brow. And, yeah, that sounded as ridiculous to me as it likely did to him. “But it’s not the only way. A stronger Primal can kill him.”
“You’re right. But—”
He lowered our joined hands to the space between us. “How do we know we’re not stronger? That I or Kieran isn’t stronger?”
I tensed. The very idea of him or Kieran going up against Kolis one-on-one terrified me. “We are too new at this—”
“Who says?”
I opened my mouth.
“The Fates?”
I snapped my mouth shut. Had they? No. But they were concerned enough about Casteel that there could be a chance he was stronger than them already. I drew my lower lip in. But even if that was true, it didn’t mean he was stronger than Kolis.
“We are Deminyen Primals, right? You descended from the true Primal of Life and a Primal of Death. I’m descended from a Primal of War, and both Kieran and I are Joined to you.” His hands slid to my elbows. “There is no telling what we’re capable of.”
There wasn’t.
We were something new.
“And he may still be unaware of what Kieran and I are. He won’t be expecting us to pack the kind of punch we’ll deliver.”
Hopefully, Kolis wouldn’t be prepared. But… “We know how to kill him. We need to do what we know.” My shoulders straightened. “And what I need from you and Kieran is to make sure I can get to him.”
Casteel’s jaw worked as he looked away. Several moments passed as I watched the shadowy essence start to appear beneath his flesh, then disappear. “You can’t expect me to be okay with this.”
I closed my eyes. “I don’t.”
I wasn’t even okay with this.
I kept that to myself, though.
Exhaling roughly, I reopened my eyes. “But you can’t expect me to hang back.”
His eyes cut to mine. “I’m not asking that.”
“It’s what you want. You don’t want me to do what needs to be done, therefore endangering both you and Kieran,” I said. “And that is not something I will do.”
Casteel shook his head. “What good is not endangering us if you’re putting yourself in a position that could end in your death?”
Slipping a hand free of his grip, I cupped his cheek. “He’s not going to kill me.”
The eather pulsed behind his pupils once again. “He killed Sotoria in the past.”
Coldness pierced my chest. “Based on what Seraphena said, I have a feeling that…escalated over time. And I won’t give him that chance.”
He said nothing to that, just leaned his head back. My hand dropped to his chest. Silence stretched out for so long that I started to squirm. Then, he spoke. “He didn’t behave like a man in love when he was in control of you.”
I rocked back, my hand slipping away. “What do you mean?”
“He used you to try to seduce me into taking you out of the cell,” he bit out. “A man in love wouldn’t think of that.”
Staring at him, I tried to imagine what had been going through his head during that. I couldn’t. I didn’t want to. “Kolis…he doesn’t seem like a normal man in love.”
“Some things are universal.” His stare returned to mine. “What he sounded like to me was a man obsessed, and that is not the same thing as love.”
“Do they have to be mutually exclusive?” I questioned. “Because I’m obsessed with you, and I love you.”
He stared at me.
I sighed as my attempt to lighten the mood failed. “I understand.”
“You do?”
I did.
“You want to believe another way will work. If our positions were flipped, so would I,” I said. “But that’s not our reality. This is. We have to agree on that. Okay?”
Another stretch of silence passed before he nodded.