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 am so incredibly sorry.
Dragging in a shaky breath, I started to return the quill, then grabbed another slip of parchment. This letter was shorter and less destructive. Once I was finished and the ink had dried, I folded both and wrote a name on each. One to someone I felt like I’d known for most of my life, and another to someone I barely knew at all. I closed my eyes and focused on the image of the person I knew could deliver both. I summoned the essence and stepped through a tear into what I thought should be a sitting chamber, except it was absent of anything to sit on and was dark with heavy curtains pulled over the windows, allowing only a few thin gaps of light to sneak through.
“Fuck—”
I jerked back as a blade sliced through the air inches from my face. My head snapped to the right.
Malik stood there, breathing heavily and…sweating. His golden eyes were wide as he stared at me. “Do you know how close you came to me cutting off your nose?” he exclaimed.
“Sorry.” I took several steps back. “I wasn’t expecting you to…” I trailed off, staring.
Malik was shirtless.
But that wasn’t why I stared. Dark ink covered nearly the entirety of his damp chest and continued over the lean—almost too lean—muscles of his stomach. Broad strokes disappeared under the band of his breeches.
I snapped my gaze up, not looking long enough to really know what I saw, but I was pretty sure I recognized hands and a face—a familiar face.
“I was training.” Malik turned sharply and bent, picking up a sheath. He shoved the sword into it and then picked up what appeared to be a tunic.
“Why are you doing it by yourself?”
“Easier that way.” He straightened and tugged the tunic over his head. “I assume you needed something?” He thrust a hand through his damp hair, shoving it back from his face. “That was so urgent you couldn’t knock.”
“Yeah, I’m new at this using-the-eather thing to find people. Sorry about that, too.” Shoving down what I’d seen inked into his skin, I stepped toward him. “I need a favor.”
He frowned and glanced at my hands. “Okay.”
“There is a chance I won’t return—”
“What the fuck, Penellaphe?”
“Poppy,” I corrected. “I know. It’s a small chance—”
“How about no chance?” His brows slashed together.
“But there is a chance,” I insisted. “And you have to know that. It must have crossed your mind.”
His jaw locked.
“There was something I needed to do but didn’t, and if I don’t make it back…” I lifted the letters. “Can you make sure these get to them? It’s important.”
He stared at them as if they were full of spiders.
“Please.”
“Fuck,” he muttered and snatched the letters from my hand. “Tawny?” He turned the other over, and his shoulders bunched. “Millicent,” he whispered, his gaze lifting to mine.
“I don’t know anyone else who would be willing to find her if she doesn’t eventually show up,” I said. “But it’s important.”
His gaze returned to the letters, and a long moment passed. “I’ll make sure they get them.” He let out a breath, then looked up. “But whatever is in them? You can tell them yourself.”
“I plan to. That,”—I gestured at the letters he now held—“is just in case.”
He nodded, and a few seconds passed. “If you see Millicent…”
“I will bring her back,” I said, hoping it was a promise I could keep.
“Okay.” Malik pressed his lips together. “But…but you’ve got to come back.” His voice hoarsened. “I can’t…” He cleared his throat. “I can’t lose my brother.”
My heart squeezed. “I know.” I swallowed and blinked rapidly. “I need to go.”
Malik said nothing as I started to turn. “Millicent will be pissed if you don’t return.”
I turned back and felt my lips spread into a small smile. “I wouldn’t want that.”
“Trust me.” His laugh was raspy and thick. “You do not.”
Rubbing my chest, I took a thin breath. A moment passed. “Take care of yourself, Malik.”
His gaze rose.
“Promise that. No matter how this ends, you’ll start taking care of yourself,” I urged. “The Ascended need you, and…if things go south, your family will need you, too. So will Millicent. Promise me.”
Malik’s chest rose, but it didn’t fall. “Yeah,” he said, his voice rough. “I promise.”
It was ten to noon.
I hadn’t sought out anyone to say goodbye. Not Tawny or Vonetta, not even Delano, Naill, or Emil. All but Tawny knew what I was about to do, and I didn’t want to say goodbye. It felt too…permanent and unsettling.
I was already unsettled enough.
As I stood in the Great Hall, taking in all the changes made to the space, I wondered if I should’ve left a letter for Casteel.
I hadn’t been able to do that.
What would I have said that wouldn’t have caused me to break down? Nothing.