Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 171450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 857(@200wpm)___ 686(@250wpm)___ 572(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 857(@200wpm)___ 686(@250wpm)___ 572(@300wpm)
“You believe he killed Saoirse,” Lorcan said, putting the pieces together. “You asked me about her, because you believe it started his vendetta.”
“She tried to kill him. Kingston doesn’t care about anyone but warlocks.”
“Which means he would want to rid himself of the predator after he was harmed,” Lorcan said, looking off in the distance.
“That’s what I think,” Kierse said.
Lorcan’s gaze snapped back to her. “And Brannon intends to end his own mentor?” She nodded once curtly. “Do you think that he can do it? Kingston is the only person he’s known nearly as long as me. The person who trained him to become a warlock. The person who treated him like a son, a trusted confidant. The thing he desperately wanted. They shared a home for hundreds of years, on and off. That is the person he can kill?”
Kierse glanced away from Lorcan. She didn’t want to say yes when he laid it out like that. Because Kingston did mean the world to him. But he didn’t trust him. And she believed Graves when he said that Kingston had earned it. What would happen with actually facing him, though?
“If he can’t, I can.”
Lorcan moved faster than she thought humanly possible, taking her hand in his. “If there is a chance in your mind that you are thinking that he cannot do it, then you will let me be there, because I assure you, I will not hesitate. I will kill him. And I will relish in the end of the monster who destroyed my life and yours.”
“Okay,” she whispered with a slight tuck of her chin.
He released her then, the wind going out of her. She saw the lost moment when his mind went back to his hurt family. The pain still etched in him that he so rarely let the world see.
“Okay,” she repeated. “He’s coming to the house before the convocation. We’re going to do it before the Halloween party.”
“And Brannon will let me inside?” Lorcan asked disbelievingly.
Kierse cleared her throat. “I will.”
Lorcan’s eyes rounded. “Deal.”
Her heart pattered in her chest like the little traitor it was. Lorcan’s intensity shouldn’t have affected her. She didn’t want that moment to be etched into her skin so much. And yet…
“Can we go somewhere else?” Lorcan asked suddenly. He dropped some cash on the counter.
“Where?”
“Just walk with me. I can’t stand to be here another moment.”
“Away from Grand Central,” she said, reaching for her coat.
He nodded his confirmation as she set her cup down and followed him out. They headed down 42nd Street, crossing 5th Avenue and the late bustle of tourists, taking pictures of skyscrapers. She didn’t know how they were oblivious. Only a few blocks over, monsters were mobbing the train station. Did they not know what the wings-and-angels logos on the corners meant or were they just living their lives the best they could despite it?
She shivered in the chill that swept in even harsher than normal as they approached Halloween. Lorcan offered her his elbow, and she declined, waving him off.
“You’re cold,” he argued. “This is not our season.”
Then he took her arm and tucked it into him where she was instantly warmer. They approached Bryant Park, and Lorcan found a bench that didn’t face the wind and drew her down onto it. At least the park was relatively free of monster influence. Though it felt like only a matter of time.
“I guess I should have kept you inside.”
“It’s not supposed to be this cold yet,” she said with a shrug.
“Don’t look at me,” he said. “Not my problem.”
She rolled her eyes. Without the wind, she was able to tuck her hand into her jacket and feel better about the temperatures. Sitting side by side with Lorcan, trying not to lean into his perpetual warmth. Two magnets angling for each other. Another reason she had been avoiding him. But Niamh was right, and she needed to have this final conversation. Give him an out, let him help kill Kingston, and then be done with it.
She took a deep breath, but he got there first. “So the stone, then?”
She jerked her head to him. “How do you know that?”
“You underestimate me.” He swept a strand of dark hair out of her face, and she pulled back. “I saw his greedy eyes when it was revealed at the party.” He let his hand drop back into his lap. “That was the original plan anyway, right?”
“I’m going to get the stone, and I’m going to use it to break the bond.”
“It’s not going to work,” Lorcan said. “Nothing in this world can break this bond.”
Kierse straightened. “The stone doesn’t come from our world.”
Lorcan narrowed his eyes. “It does not.”
“So you don’t know if that’s true.”
“And it doesn’t feel right?” he asked, touching her face with a warm bare hand. “This doesn’t feel like everything you have ever wanted in your life.”