Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 140780 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140780 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
“I know,” she breathed, trembling a little as I skated my thumb back to her pulse and squeezed just a little. “And I’m an absolute idiot for using that word. I-I was just being dramatic. Nothing more. I just meant that Snowflake Corp is—”
“You’re right that this isn’t the place for this conversation,” I cut her off as the plane swooped downward, hinting we were getting close to my homeland. A sense of lethal calm settled over me that had nothing to do with her chill.
Whatever she told me, when she told me...I wanted to be in a place where I wouldn’t accidentally kill her. If she deserved to die, then I wanted it to be on my turf, in a place where I could take my time asking a thousand questions.
Letting her go, I balled my tingling fingers. Her sweet, icy scent continued to intoxicate me, growing stronger instead of weaker the longer I struggled with my temper.
At least I was almost home.
At least I was almost safe.
“Here’s what’s going to happen.” My hands shook with how much I needed her to fix this, all while terrified that she was only making it worse. “From now on, you will never leave my side, not even for a moment. You will cool me down when I need you to. You will do whatever I ask without question, understood?”
“Of course,” she rushed. “I’ve already decided that I won’t leave until you’re okay.”
I smirked at her belief that she could decide if and when she left me.
“When we get to Ashfall Cliff—where no one can find you and there’s no escape unless I give it to you—you’re going to tell me everything.” I pointed a finger in her face. “And I do mean everything.”
She nodded quickly. “I will literally tell you what my favourite food was as a child. I’ll answer any question you have. I’ll prove that I’m not—”
“Fine.” I headed toward the door, needing to get away from her—despite my newly issued rules of her never leaving my side. “Until then, pray that you’re right about not being my enemy.”
She sucked in a breath, but I couldn’t go back to her.
I needed Whisper.
I needed a familiar, trustworthy face before my ridiculous heart burned itself out with terror that she might be the one to destroy me and I couldn’t even bring myself to hurt her to prevent it.
“And have a shower,” I commanded softly as I unlocked the latch and opened the door. “I can smell you as keenly as I can feel you and it’s driving me insane.”
My best friend stalked inside, sleek and black and wonderful.
With an obnoxiously loud purr, he headbutted my hip, winding around me as if assuring me I’d made the right choice not to hurt Rook. Resting my hand on his giant head, I let fifteen years of companionship ground me.
He loved Rook.
He’d never reacted to another girl the way he reacted to her.
Even if I didn’t trust her, I trusted that.
Or at least enough to keep me from turning this plane into a funeral pyre before we landed.
Chapter Thirty
THE DAMN HELICOPTER WAS TOO SMALL.
Too loud.
Too claustrophobic.
The rotors thundered overhead, the vibration rattling through my bones as the ground blurred beneath us. I gripped the edge of the seat so hard, my fingers went numb.
I’d been on helicopters before. I wasn’t a fan but at least they weren’t like this—at least those hadn’t felt as if I sat in a tiny metal coffin filled with heat and smoke and the most dangerous man alive.
Lucien sat as far away from me as he could, rigid as a statue about to burst into flames. He hadn’t looked at me since we’d disembarked the plane, cut across a small airfield, and boarded the chopper as if he did this every day and knew exactly where he was going.
I hadn’t even had time to locate the airport name before we soared into the air.
Readjusting the headset, I dared to glance at him. Tiny wisps of mist bled from his shoulders, only to be snatched by the breeze coming in from the slightly open windows.
Whisper whimpered between us, looking pathetically terrified.
Harnessed in with a makeshift contraption meant for cargo—cargo the pilots definitely hadn’t been briefed about—he had no choice but to hunker down and hold on.
It’d taken Lucien a couple of angry commands followed by actually scooping up the giant beast to get him on the helicopter. The poor cat panted with pure panic, looking like he’d happily leap out and take his chances.
Whisper howled and pressed against me, trembling like a kitten.
Leaning forward as much as I could in my tight five-point safety belt, I pressed my hand on his trembling shoulder blades. “It’s okay, oversized kitty cat. We’re almost there...I think.”
Smoke curled faintly from Lucien’s shoulders as he flicked me a guarded look, hearing me through his own headset.