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)
Only you can kill him.
My breath snagged in my throat. You won’t have to convince him.
As I lay there, the hazy fragments of the nightmare swirled, almost as if they sought to piece themselves together. The gilded cage and the chests. The bed and its chains—gods, there had been chains. And, somehow, I knew they hadn’t always been there. They had been added, though not after the first time. Or even the second. The—
Stop.
I needed to rest, but here I was, standing at the—
I sucked in a short breath, my entire body jolting. Jerking back a step, I spun around.
I…I wasn’t in bed.
Dear gods. I didn’t even remember getting up, walking to the glass wall, or putting on and buttoning the robe I was wearing.
Lifting my trembling hands, I ran them through my hair. How could I do all of that and not even realize it? Sure, I’d been so caught up in my thoughts at times that I’d done things I didn’t remember. Like getting a drink. But not this. Standing here, I felt like I was losing my mind. Because I knew—gods, I knew—that I’d been standing here for more than a few seconds.
Something like this can’t be okay.
I lifted a hand and pressed it against the cool glass. The fragments continued swirling in my thoughts, each coated in bitter fear, soaked in pity that turned to icy hate, and drenched with shame. They were trying to piece themselves together to tell a story I didn’t want to learn.
Slender beams of silver moonlight broke free, creeping across the Cliffs’ pale, jagged rocks and climbing the rock face as the clouds passed overhead. Moonlight reached the—
I went completely still as the pale light washed over the peak of the Cliffs, momentarily bathing the meadow in light. I saw it then—the still, shadowy form of someone standing. Watching.
The moonlight faded, once more obscured by the clouds. My heart thundered against my ribs as I stared into the darkness, unable to see anything now but knowing what I’d seen in those brief seconds.
I yanked my hand back. My breath came in short bursts as I opened my senses. I didn’t feel Kolis.
So much so that he refused to let her go.
Kolis wasn’t here.
Even in death.
I hadn’t sensed him the other nights. Neither had Casteel. But he didn’t have to be here to watch, to see. He would only need an Ascended.
Or a Revenant.
My mind returned to the night I’d asked Casteel to take me while I stood in front of the glass wall. Had I known on some innate level that he was watching through another’s eyes? And had I…provoked him for some reason?
He’d watched Casteel and me. I’d ensured it, even if I didn’t consciously realize I was doing it. That made me feel that stickiness on my skin again. Made me want to peel the flesh from my bones. Made me feel…
Rage.
Pure, unadulterated rage that was all mine—all the versions of who I once was. In that moment, I could fully accept that. Because the fury had festered and grown for centuries. Now, it burned through the shock and blazed out of control.
Essence flooded my veins as I turned from the window, quietly crossing the bedchamber, my will forming in my mind. I stepped into the dining chamber, having the presence of mind to put some space between Casteel and me so as not to wake him. I kept walking, guided by instinct, until I reached the Solar. The air charged before me as a thin, silvery line appeared and widened, stretching wide, creating a gap. The earthy, slightly sweet scent of elm trees enveloped me as I walked through the tear, my feet leaving the smooth stone to meet the damp, cold grass at the Cliffs of Sorrow.
I turned sharply, scanning my surroundings until I found the Cliff’s edge where I’d seen the form.
It was empty now.
But I knew I wasn’t alone.
Calming my pounding heart, I listened to the night as I stood there, fingers twitching at my sides: the wind stirring the reedy grass and wildflowers and tossing my hair across my face. The trilling calls of nightbirds singing to one another. The steady rush of water over rocks, splashing and slipping over the deep crevices and edges. I focused, seeking the sounds under them. The soft smack of birds hopping through the branches of the elms crowding the Peaks. The rustle of critters moving quickly through the grass—
My head tilted to the left as I picked up something larger and heavier, cracking a twig. The deeper thud of weight shifting. Either I was hearing the silent watcher or a tree bear.
If it was the latter, I was about to regret this life choice.
I zeroed in on the sounds and crossed the meadow faster than I’d seen Casteel move. I would let myself be impressed by the speed later.