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)
But they were also a reminder that she had survived.
On silent feet, Graves trod into the room in nothing but his boxers, book in hand. She watched the light play along the rippling muscles and the lines of his tattoo. The way his hair was just a touch messy from holding her all night.
A human side to the warlock of New York.
She cleared her throat, and he glanced up. “I thought you’d sleep longer.”
“Glad I didn’t. Otherwise I would have missed the show.”
Graves snapped the book closed. “How are you feeling this morning?”
“Emotionally or physically?”
“Yes.”
She shrugged as he settled onto the bed next to her. “Emotionally a work in progress. Not where I was last night but not…right, either.”
“Understandable.”
“Physically,” she said, offering her hands. “Mostly fine, surprisingly. My magic, however…” Her magic was even lower thanks to the cuffs, which was a bigger problem.
“Low?”
“Very.”
Graves ran his fingers over the marks on her wrists. “And these?”
“A little sore.”
He pressed his lips to them in turn. “I hate that he got to you. That he took you from me. That he…tortured you.”
His eyes were full of regret, and she reached for him. “You saved me. That’s all that matters.”
“For now,” he agreed. He pressed a kiss into her shoulder. “We have business today. Are you going to be up for it?”
She yawned. “I’m beat up, but I’ll be there. Is that why you were gone when I woke up?”
“Not exactly,” he said, reaching for the book he’d set down.
“What’s this?”
“It was an idea I had about the cuffs.”
“You found something?” she asked, looking up into his too-beautiful face. “Did we actually catch a break?”
He flipped the page. “I’m not sure yet. Do you know anything about the Fomorians?”
“They were destroyed by the Tuatha de Danann?” she said, her voice rising into a question. It certainly wasn’t one of the myths she had studied.
“Yes, they were an ancient race who predate the Tuatha de Danann in Ireland. They were the personification of darkness and thought to bring blight, drought, and death. The Tuatha de Danann defeated them, and they were run out of Ireland.” Graves turned to a page with a depiction of a large, lidless eyeball.
“Gross,” she muttered as she read the description: The Eye of Balor. “How does this help us? An eyeball?”
“There are stories of ancient death artifacts ascribed to the enemies of the Fae. Including the eyeball, yes.”
“And you think the cuffs might be one of the Fomorians’ death artifacts?”
“Perhaps made by their smiths,” he agreed, flipping to a different page to show a gleaming black sword. “They, too, had magical objects from their ancients—the eye of Balor, sword of Tethra, and the Finger-locked Ring.”
An actual eyeball, a flaming black sword, and an enchanted ring.
“Another talking sword?” she grumbled as she read the description.
“In theory,” Graves said with a shrug. “I didn’t think that any of these had survived the Tuatha de Danann.”
“And no mention of cuffs,” she said, holding her hands out.
“No, but I think the language on them might be Fomorian.” He pointed to an almost unintelligible speck on the sword, and if she squinted, they did look familiar.
“Huh. Well, it’s a start.”
“I’m going to figure it out. It would really help if we knew how Amberdash found all of these objects, where he got them, who he got them from.”
“Why he killed my whole race,” Kierse added softly.
“I have theories about that, too, but none of them hold merit. Wraiths have nothing to do with the Fae,” he said sullenly. “I’ve no idea why he’d want to kill your people, but we’re going to find out.”
“Yeah, at least Jason kept my secret that I’m a wisp. He did it for his own ends, but it worked out in our favor. Amberdash only wanted me to become his attendant. That and likely get me off the board.”
Graves’s fingers traced through her hair. “Small miracles,” he ground out. Then his voice dipped low as he got serious. “I’m never going to let them take you again.”
“I’m right here,” she said, taking his hands. “I’m here, and I’m yours, and we’re going to beat Amberdash at his own game.”
He drew her lips to his. “I don’t ever want to lose you.” The kiss deepened as she angled her mouth to fit against his. “The fear I had when you were gone and there was no way for me to get to you.”
He pulled back to meet her gaze, and she saw everything he wasn’t saying clear as day on his face. That he would have torn the world apart for her, razed it to the ground to find her. That no one would have survived his wrath until she was located.
She loved him even more for it.
“I love the certainty that you would have found me no matter what. I’ve never had that before in my life. I have friends that I love, but in the end, it was always just me.” She met his gaze, pulling him to her as she laid back in the bed. “But not anymore. Now it’s us.”