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 he never turned around, and he let her go.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Kierse stood on the doorstep of the Williamsburgh Bank building in Brooklyn in the middle of the night, wondering where it had all gone wrong. Her eyes were dry, but she was hollow, empty. Her stomach was a twisted knot, her body was shaky, and she’d navigated the subway in a stupor without her phone or even money. She must have looked terrifying because literally no human or monster fucked with her.
She had no magic, no strength, and even her lock pick was missing. She was just a girl in a dress and uncomfortable heels with the world against her.
She wanted to give up, but she couldn’t even then. She had one thing left to her. With a sigh, she dove into her magic. The tiniest bit imaginable was there, and instead of reaching for Lorcan, she pushed past that bond to the sacred tree on the other side of the door.
Nothing happened, of course. It was just a tree.
Then with a click, the door opened.
Kierse jerked back as she felt the well of her magic shoot up. “Uh…hello?”
She pushed the door open, anticipating finding an enemy waiting on the other side. But it was empty. The room was completely empty. The only logical explanation was that the tree had unlocked the door.
Kierse slumped inside, kicking the door closed behind her and trekking through the darkened interior to the tree that now stood in the central atrium. Even in the dark, she could tell that the leaves were starting to change to a bright golden red that almost sparked with magic. And there at the base of the beautiful tree was the Ash Door.
“So, tree, do you talk, too? Or just answer when I ask for magic?” she asked the huge thing as she stepped up to it.
Of course, the tree didn’t answer.
She didn’t expect it to.
Her fingers closed around the wooden handle. She expected it to be warm after all the magic that now coursed through her, but it was cool to the touch.
She turned the handle, deflating when it did nothing.
“Stupid tree,” she grumbled. “What do you even open to?”
There were no answers here. Not about her magic or the tree or Graves or Lorcan or the stone or literally any number of horrible things going on in her life. The problem was always that there were no answers. This was just a tree with a door at the center that wouldn’t open for her.
Then she slumped down with her back to the door, tilting her head backward and staring up into its branches. Defeated.
All she really wanted was to go back to an hour ago when she was at Graves’s house and redo that argument. She hated the part of her that wanted Lorcan. No matter how she tried to escape it, there he was. And the world wanted that for her.
A soulmate was supposed to be some miraculous thing.
Instead, it was bullshit.
Fuck the universe for making decisions for her.
She didn’t need a mate. She didn’t need a magical bond. She didn’t want someone in her head all the time.
She just wanted Graves.
A tear slipped from her eyes, and she furiously scrubbed it away. She was not going to cry. She was not going to have a pity party. She’d rather seethe over the unreality of it all.
Footsteps jarred her from her own thoughts, and she reached for her magic as she scrambled back to her feet.
“Kierse?” the voice said out of the darkness.
Kierse relaxed at the sound. “Gen?”
“What are you doing here?”
“That’s a long story,” Kierse said. “How did you know I was here?”
“Prophecy shit.” Gen sank into the seat next to her. “What happened?”
And it all poured out. The party, portaling, Lorcan saving her, the bond, Graves seeing them, getting caught and beat up, the flight from the party, and ultimately the argument.
Gen blew out a harsh breath. “He kicked you out?”
“Yeah,” she said, small, tucking her legs into her chest. “He’s pushing me away because he’s hurting.”
“Yeah, but he loves you.”
Something broke in her chest at those words. Like Gen had stabbed her through the chest. And she shattered into a million pieces and was blown into the wind.
Her head fell forward, and tears collected in her lashes. “I just…don’t know if he really does.”
Gen put her hand on her shoulder, and Kierse sobbed. She let Gen scoop her into her arms as the tears fell hard and fast. Suddenly, it was as if she couldn’t get air, her breath coming in short, erratic bursts as the stress of the last several hours collapsed onto her like a building demolition.
Between sobs, she said, “I don’t want to live without him.”
Gen sighed, rubbing her back. “We can deal with Graves later. For now, we need to worry about you.”