Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 107652 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107652 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Even if I did race over there...what could I do?
What if something really bad had happened?
I barely stomached seeing the lumpy body bags being carried out of Lucien’s palace without passing out. Let alone seeing a girl bleeding and glassy-eyed—no matter how heartless she was.
“Best just to stay here,” I whispered. “Go back to bed. This isn’t your fight.”
Call me weak or useless, but I knew my limits.
My heart squeezed as I turned to leave, but I looked over my shoulder.
My thoughts filled with Lucien. Of the way he’d kissed me so violently, so hungrily. Of the way I’d been too shocked, too overcome to kiss him back.
He wouldn’t pay for that, would he?
Those drones weren’t for him, were they?
I turned to face them again, a gush of nausea working through my system.
What if he was hurt?
What if they’d done something to him—
The drones suddenly shot upward and vanished over the wall, taking their lightshow with them. The sky seemed darker and domineering with them gone, an aura of cruelty clinging to the breeze.
I shuddered and stared at the faint stars above.
I couldn’t shed the feeling that something bad had happened to Lucien, even though common sense told me to calm the hell down.
Turning my back on the repressive night, I entered my pavilion’s courtyard and stood next to the quietly singing stream.
Ugh, who was I kidding?
I wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep now.
I should go and check on him.
I could sneak into his palace, creep into his bedroom, and—
He’d kill me for thinking I was there to sleep with him.
Ugh, forget it.
My shoulders slouched as I shuffled to bed.
I’d only make things worse.
He’s fine.
I’m sure he’s fine.
If I repeated it enough, hopefully I would eventually believe it.
Chapter Forty-One
I SHOT AWAKE AS SOMETHING HEAVY AND huge sprang on top of me.
“Ahhh!” My scream cut through the darkness as twin predator eyes glowered from above. Slapping both hands over my mouth, I froze solid.
I could barely make out the panther’s sleek, midnight outline as he crouched over me, tail whipping, fangs bared.
I squeezed my eyes closed, preparing to die.
I didn’t know what for or why tonight, but Lucien had obviously commanded Whisper to end me.
Was it because of the kiss?
Wasn’t that his fault, not mine?
When death didn’t come, I balled my hands under my chin and whimpered, “If you’re going to do it, can you hurry up?”
Whisper snarled.
I burrowed deeper into my blankets, only for him to launch off me and yank them away with his teeth.
He snapped at my nightgown, a rigid line of fur bristling along his back.
“W-What are you doing?”
The panther growled, a furious rumble that made my spine snap straight. Putting both paws on the bed again, he loomed over me, pushing his muzzle against my nose, the tips of his fangs flashing.
He roared right in my face.
I cringed away from the reek of carrion breath. “What on earth are you doing?”
Pushing off from the mattress, he dropped to all fours and raced toward the door. He roared again, tail whipping, eyes wide with...worry.
Understanding punched me hard. “Lucien.”
Leaping out of bed, all dregs of sleep vanished, leaving me with a wickedly sharp headache.
I didn’t bother asking questions that Whisper couldn’t answer. I merely grabbed a long-sleeved cream dressing gown—that was so long it trailed behind me—and slipped into it.
Tying it tight, I bolted.
“Where is he?” My bare feet flew over the carpet then sank into dew-cold grass.
Whisper loped beside me; his gaze locked on the palace in the distance. His hot breath fogged the cold night as he snapped at my elbow, making me run faster.
I’d never been a runner. Never been able to stomach the rise in my pulse and the pounding in my head, but tonight...I shut down all my discomfort and ran as fast as I could.
The journey through the flame-flickering gardens seemed to take forever. Lantern light skittered across the pebbled pathways and manicured hedges, granting morbid, hellish shadows.
I braced myself to find Evelyn and Lydia on the main steps where they usually lurked. I had no doubt if they tried to stop me, Whisper would tear them into pieces.
But the stairs were blessedly empty.
The door to Cinderkeep’s mansion hung open.
I choked on a stitch as the black stone palace swallowed us whole.
I’d thought running inside would be better than outside, but it was worse.
No light in here. No flames. No guidance.
Relying on familiarity from cleaning every inch, I chased after Whisper as he pulled ahead of me, streaking down the corridor.
He took a left and then a right, leading me deeper into the heart of Lucien’s home.
I expected him to race toward Lucien’s quarters—to take the path leading toward the only place his master let down his guard—but he didn’t. He took another left at the octagonal foyer, galloping toward the back of the property where I’d found the glass-surrounded swimming pool.