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 didn’t want to die in Kolis’s arms.
Not again.
But I was. I could feel the coldness of death slipping through my veins and seeping into my muscles. I felt death entrenching itself in my bones. The essence thrummed hotly in the center of my chest. The swaying lights above me dimmed and then darkened. For a brief few moments, I didn’t feel the nerve-wrecking pain. There was nothing. But it didn’t last. The agony yanked me back, and I realized I was on the floor with Kolis above me, feeding, taking. And he no longer had to hold me still.
I concentrated on the embers of eather as I closed my eyes. I didn’t try to reach Cas through the notam. I wasn’t even sure I could because I couldn’t feel it, but I wouldn’t do that to him anyway. I didn’t want him to know for as long as possible. I wanted him to have hope, even if only for a few more minutes. So, I focused on a memory of him. That was all I could see as some soul-deep tugging motion started in my chest. It felt like hot claws digging in, but I kept the image of Casteel in my mind—one of him reclining against the headboard, his chest bare and dotted with faded scars, his skin flawed but perfect, nonetheless. His head was tilted to the side, his full lips curved in a half-grin, revealing that infuriating dimple in his right cheek. His eyes were the color of heated honey under dark lashes. He was beautiful. He was…
My heart.
My soul.
My King.
Casteel Da’Neer was my everything, and I would never stop loving him. Not in this life, whether it be my last, or if I was brought back. I would always love him. I held on to that image for as long as I could, my lips moving soundlessly, speaking three words…I love you. I love you. Over and over I spoke them as I began to shake, as the air around us charged and hissed. I love you. I love you—
A faint shiver of awareness danced across my skin.
I felt…something.
Powerful.
Cold and unyielding.
I dragged in a shallow breath that carried the scent of fresh lilacs and…citrus. My chest froze, and my eyes fluttered open.
My vision was fuzzy at the edges and blurred in the center, but I thought I saw a flash of intense light as the quaking inside me seemed to spread to the walls and the ceiling.
I thought I saw movement in that light before my vision faded away, before I faded: someone standing, tall and broad-shouldered, face obscured by a helmet made of black stone. I thought I saw something else prowling forward, head low and snarling.
I thought I saw a large wolf with fur the color of bright moonlight.
CHAPTER 58
CASTEEL
The next thing I knew, I was flat on my back, staring up at the glass of the domed ceiling.
It didn’t look right.
The clouds. They hadn’t been there before. Dark, heavy clouds stretched across the sky, their fragmented edges tinged in…
“Casteel,” my father’s voice boomed, snapping my gaze from the sky. He loomed over me, concern etched into his features. “There you are.”
I felt his hand on my face then as I squeezed my eyes closed and then reopened them. “What happened?”
Delano’s head appeared behind Father’s. Then Hisa’s. “You passed out,” Delano said, his bright-blue eyes searching mine. “For about ten minutes.”
Ten minutes?
“Something happened while you were out,” my father said, and I realized his face was taut, his features sharp. “There was an earthquake.”
“It was…a large one,” Hisa said. “I don’t know the damage yet. None of us wanted to leave you.”
An earthquake?
I refocused on the dome. There were splinters in the glass. My gaze slid over the walls, and I saw fissures there, as well.
“It felt like when Rhahar died,” Delano said, his voice shaky. “But worse. Longer. I thought the whole castle might come down. There was some damage to the western tower. Nothing serious.”
My father exhaled, and a small smile appeared. “I think Poppy did what was needed.”
What was…?
What the fuck had just happened? Fog clouded my brain as my gaze moved back to my father’s and was slow to scatter. It took me a few moments to remember tackling Kieran. Hitting him…
I’d suddenly gotten dizzy. My chest had felt hollow. There’d been a dull tingling in my palm.
Poppy.
I jackknifed off the floor, nearly knocking heads with my father. My mind screamed that she had to be okay because I was still here, but something…something was wrong. Something had happened. My heart pounded as I flipped my hand.
The golden swirl was still there.
My head jerked back. “Kieran?” I croaked.
“I’m here.”
I moved toward the sound of his voice, grasping the front of his tunic. My gaze swept over him, searching for…something.
“You’re really starting to worry me,” he said.