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 wanted to say something.
To apologise for not rehearsing how to tell him who I was. To assure him I would do my best to put his mind at ease when we landed but...he looked away from me—tore his eyes away from me was more like it.
Whisper chirped, his usual powerful growl cracking with panic as the helicopter added yet more speed, rocketing across the volcanic fields, racing toward the cliff up ahead.
A lifetime of comforting his pet had Lucien reaching out instinctively, planting his burning hand on the panther’s head, directly over mine.
He froze.
I froze.
Whisper glanced at both of us.
Glowering at our touching fingers, Lucien stiffened as that undeniable web of connection snapped tight, tight around us.
It’d never been any different.
Even from that very first moment we’d met, our bodies had acted like a conduit for the other. In-tune and in-sync, tumbling into the same heartbeat as if we’d always belonged and hadn’t been fully whole until we’d found each other.
With a soft snarl, he wrenched his hand from mine and balled it.
I straightened, unable to hold my tongue anymore—
But a house came into sight.
Ha! A house.
As if that puny word could describe the immensity of the estate.
It took up most of the mountain, looking as if it’d been there since time began. Towers and terraces sprawled outward in perfect geometry, black stone capped endless intricate buildings all linked by open-air corridors—just like Cinderkeep. Pagodas and sweeping eaves, the flutter of blossom trees, the maze of courtyards, the groupings of dwellings, and a labyrinth of rivers and ponds.
We soared over it, before banking left and returning to hover above.
Lucien was right.
There was a wall.
And I couldn’t take my eyes off it.
A serpentine oriental dragon had been carved from the very cliff—snaking around the entire estate, forming a barricade with its scaled stone body. Its giant feet were planted with purpose, its reptilian legs bent at rest but bunched with power, ready to stand if anything threatened what it protected. Its huge head was carved with such mastery, it looked real, raising its long snout to the sky in a fanged snarl.
Lucien sucked in a breath as he looked at the furious people below. Men and women gathered in the huge central courtyard, pointing angrily, waving their arms in despair at the hurricane we caused—our downdraft smacking the delicate fruit trees, making silk banners and windchimes swing wildly in their branches.
“Is this it?” one of the pilots asked.
“It is,” Lucien replied, bringing the headset’s microphone closer to his lips. “There’s a flat area outside the wall to the right. Or at least there was. Land there.”
“Copy.”
With a crank of speed, the pilot manoeuvred us away from the red-faced mob and skipped over the huge dragon. Up ahead, the cliff edge was flat and unobstructed, providing a perfect landing spot.
My stomach knotted as we descended, buffeted by the thermals coming straight off the valley.
Lucien tensed.
Whisper panted with terror.
And as we finally touched down—trading sky for land—Lucien turned to face me.
The smallest smile tugged his lips—not sweet or soft but more like a murderous promise. “I’m back,” he whispered as the engines cut off and the rotor blades slowly silenced.
He shook his head in wonder, his eyes sparking with fire. “After twenty never-ending years...I’m home.”
Chapter Thirty-One
I WAS MOMENTS AWAY FROM BREAKING.
I’d imagined this day so many times.
It’d been the only thing that kept me going.
The only purpose I’d had left.
To return. To repay. To reap vengeance.
But as I stood on the cliff edge—so close to my ancestral home that I could hear the bamboo windchimes singing and smell marinated meat barbecuing—instead of feeling relief, all I felt was rage.
Fire tore through me like a fault line splitting open, ripping up my spine and detonating behind my eyes. My vision washed red as my pulse slammed hard enough to hurt—each beat feeding the flames until I inched closer to detonation.
Burning.
Fuck, I was burning.
I wanted to go on a rampage.
I wanted to build a pyre full of the bodies of traitors and set it on fire.
I would burn them all.
I would slaughter and purge and—
A cold, perfect hand wriggled its way into my clenched fist.
A shock of winter blizzarded through me, making my heart hitch.
It was instantaneous.
Her snowy presence blew straight through the madness clawing at my skull. The red haze thinned. The roar in my ears dimmed...reminding me of where I was and why I couldn’t break.
Dragging in a shaky breath, I snatched her hand so tightly she whimpered.
Even knowing I’d hurt her, I couldn’t let go. Yanking her against me with brutal force, I locked her in my arms as if she was the only thing keeping me from razing Ashfall Cliff to the ground.
Whisper growled as my arms hugged her tight enough to bruise—warning me to be gentle. Rook sucked in a breath as I buried my face into her neck—dragging her frosty, delicious scent into my lungs.