Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 42412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 212(@200wpm)___ 170(@250wpm)___ 141(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 212(@200wpm)___ 170(@250wpm)___ 141(@300wpm)
I knew the moment Jasper saw me. It was the sharp inhale.
My gaze shifted to the man beside Kieran.
A dark cloak hung from shoulders that had carried me as a boy. The garment would’ve been far too heavy for a typical southern winter, let alone the summer—the season we were currently in. But the weather…it was imbalanced, and Jasper looked tired. Not the kind that came from traveling across the kingdoms. Or the type of exhaustion that came from having a newborn babe at home. This was the kind that went deeper than the bone and settled into the soul, tasting of grief. The kind I saw in the shadows beneath his son’s eyes. The same tiredness I couldn’t allow myself to feel.
Especially now.
Jasper’s gaze swept over me, starting at the jagged bone crown and then lowering, lingering over the left side of my face where shadows had replaced the flesh, and the silver bone of my cheek and jaw were visible. His gaze dropped to my right hand. It wasn’t the missing finger he stared at, but the gleam of silver bone.
A tart, heavy taste gathered in my throat. Not fear, but unease and wariness.
Slowly, he lifted his eyes. “Cas?”
Flashes of bright-white sand and the crystal-clear waters of Saion’s Cove accompanied the sound of the deep, gruff voice. I didn’t respond.
Jasper stepped forward, causing Attes to mirror his movements. Kieran didn’t. He stood back, arms crossed over his chest, and his gaze fixed on me.
“Cas,” he repeated, his voice thicker, rougher. “I… I’m…” He broke off, and I couldn’t remember a time when he’d sounded so unsure of his words. He still came forward, each step slow as he ignored the ravens flying above us.
“I wouldn’t get too close,” Attes said, the lilt of his accent making his words sound like advice instead of what it was. A warning. “He’s…temperamental.”
Jasper stiffened.
I flicked a flat stare in the Primal’s direction.
Attes raised his brows as if to say, “Am I wrong?”
He wasn’t.
“Cas has always been temperamental,” Jasper said, drawing my gaze back to him. His body was once more loose, and he had moved a foot closer. “You should have seen him as a child.”
Attes’s hand hovered near the sword strapped to his hip. “Yeah, well, I doubt he made a person’s insides their outsides as a temperamental child.”
I smirked as my gaze slid back to Kieran. His features were expressionless.
“Can’t say I’ve seen him do that,” Jasper commented, seemingly unfazed by Attes’s presence. I knew damn well he sensed what the Primal god was. “But I’m sure whoever that happened to had it coming.”
They had.
“And he isn’t going to touch me,” Jasper continued with all the bravado of someone who was like blood to me. “Isn’t that right, Cas?”
I said nothing, my gaze still locked with Kieran’s. What Jasper had said wasn’t a question. It had been a statement.
“I want to talk,” Jasper said, which was the very last thing I wanted. Needed. “I can’t even begin to know what you’re feeling. Not gonna even pretend that I do…”
Jasper’s words faded as I dragged my stare from Kieran. My gaze flicked past Attes to the doors. I didn’t have time for this.
Whoever had woken me was still in Wayfair.
Opening my senses once more, I willed the ravens to take flight. Some remained behind, but one obeyed, quietly flying from the Hall. I went with it. Not physically, just my vision as the raven entered the corridor beyond, its feathers whispering against the cool air. Hallways unfolded in quick bursts, glimpses of closed doors, flickering light, and pulsing vines. We didn’t have to go far before I felt them. The unnaturalness of something not quite dead but also not alive. The raven swooped under a tangle of vines, gliding past the chamber where statues once stood.
I saw them. My brother and…Millicent’s silvery-blond head.
Nice of her to finally return.
They were squared off, facing each other. Malik’s lips were faintly curved, eyes glinting with a hint of amusement, something I hadn’t seen since our father…since then. On the other hand, Millicent looked like she was a second from ripping his balls off.
No longer hearing what Jasper said, I focused on Millicent through the raven’s eyes. She shared some of her features. The heart-shaped face. The stubborn jaw. She stepped toward Malik, pointing a finger up at him. The attitude. My fingers curled around the smooth bone of the throne’s arm. The raven slowed, eyeing a lumpy sack roughly the size of a body. I willed the chora closer as it flew silently above them, its head tilted down and sharp eyes scanning the burlap. The drawstring along the top was loose, and through the small gap, golden hair fanned out.
Well, well, well, it appeared Millicent had returned with a gift.
Satisfaction surged, mingling with anticipation as a slow smile pulled at my lips.