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)
The second I was close enough, my arms gave out and I dropped her.
She bounced on top of the blankets, her hair splaying like ink, her arms loose and face tilted away from me.
I staggered as fire bled through my veins.
I could feel it cannibalising the rest of me, devouring me, coiling and gathering, demanding to be released.
I have to go...
But her breath puffed with little white clouds, her skin thickening with ice.
With quaking hands, I tore the red-stitched blanket from beneath her and bundled it over her subzero body. Frost spread outward over the bedding the second it touched her, shimmering like frozen stars.
“What are you?” I choked as my heat rose to answer her frigid temperature.
If it was true that Snowflake Corp had done this to me, then what the hell had they done to her?
What if her parents had tampered with both of us?
I cried out as a catastrophic spike drove through my heart.
Orange-gilded flames broke free, swallowing me whole.
I touched extinction.
I felt the end.
An utterly inhuman roar escaped me as my insides turned to ash.
Grabbing Whisper by his scruff, I dragged him close and pressed the fiercest kiss on his forehead. “I love you.” Pointing at Rook, I pushed him away from me. “Guard her. Don’t leave her side. Ever. You belong to her now, got it?”
And then, I ran—
Chapter Thirty-Eight
I WOKE TO THE SOFTEST KNOCK.
Wincing, I cradled my head as the worst vasovagal syncope hangover of my life crushed me against the pillow. The room spun, my mouth watered, and it was honestly touch and go if I would be violently sick.
The knock came again, making Whisper snarl from where he towered over me, sitting as stiff as the lion statues outside. Unlike the weed-covered beasts, the black-pelted cat took up most of the bed, sitting primly with his tail wrapped tight around his front paws, his eyes locked on the door.
Gritting my teeth, I sat up.
I couldn’t get my bearings at all.
Everywhere I looked was wreathed in darkness and...slightly singed.
The temple-like ceiling was no longer proud with straight beams but depressed with drooping wood. The pearlescent walls were dull. The furniture charred.
I remembered coming inside and marvelling at the beauty. I recalled the crush of staff all welcoming Lucien home. But...
I frowned, trying to remember what happened next.
The tinkle of keys interrupted me just before the door swung open.
“Xiao Lu?” Three silhouettes entered the pavilion, framed by the lanterns gleaming outside.
Whisper roared.
Launching himself off the bed, the panther flew toward the unwanted visitors, ready to disembowel.
“Don’t!” I kicked off the blankets, getting tangled in my rush. “Whisper!”
A chorus of screams rang out.
“Whisper. Stop it!”
He paced like a prison guard, snapping at the three guests as they cowered together, clinging to whatever they held in their hands.
“Is it...is it safe?”
I recognised the voice.
Auntie Mei?
What...what was she doing here so late?
Finally freeing myself from the confounded blankets, I swung my legs over the bed. “Come here, you oversized pest.”
Whisper’s eyes caught the moonlight pouring through the circular window—his expression hinting he’d much rather indulge in murder.
“If you’re here with me and not Lucien, I know he would’ve given you orders to obey me, so...” I patted my thigh, brushing down my wrinkled white skirt. “Come here.”
The huge cat grumbled and stalked reluctantly back to me. Planting his rump directly in front of the bed, his claws dug into the wooden floorboards as if imagining he sank them into the women’s necks.
“Can we come in?” Auntie Mei asked warily.
“Yes. Sorry. He’s just not used to unannounced visitors, that’s all.” I rested my hand on the back of his stiff neck. “He won’t hurt you. I’m sorry he scared—”
“No, no, it’s me who should apologise.” Auntie Mei stepped deeper into the room. Bustling toward the lamps scattered about, she turned them on as she went. “I didn’t mean to intrude. I would never usually just let myself in like that...but I was worried.” Her gaze landed on the singed corners and sooty furniture. She tensed but continued walking...almost as if she’d seen such things before.
I tapped my temple, trying to jog the rest of my memory. This happened sometimes. My system tried to protect me by removing the very thing that caused me to blackout in the first place.
Auntie Mei skirted around a charred cushion; her expression resigned instead of shocked. Giving me a polite smile, she said, “I’ve been waiting for you both for a while. But when night fell and you didn’t appear, I grew concerned.”
“Where’s Lucien?” I asked, my heart starting to race.
“I thought he was with you.” Auntie Mei came to a stop, close but not too close—Whisper hissing as she strayed over his imaginary line.
“He’s not here.” Worry flared bright as I glanced around the empty bedroom. “Are you sure you haven’t seen him?”