Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 120974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 403(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 403(@300wpm)
She definitely has the upper hand here. Fuck, what’s going to happen now?
I have no fucking idea, but I’m pretty sure I won’t like it one fucking bit.
6
IRENA
I pull away from his grip, rubbing my neck convulsively. My head feels like someone has driven an iron spike through my right eye and it’s still there. The pain is debilitating and it’s all I can do not to stumble and fall on the dirty dungeon floor.
By some miracle I stay upright, but as long as I hold the beast in this kind of magical stasis the collar seems to have put him in, the pain doesn’t ease.
I’m not even quite sure how this happened—I think it was because I panicked when he grabbed me by the throat. Which, by the way, I didn’t expect. I naively thought that because he can’t kill me, he also can’t lay hands on me.
Obviously, I was wrong about that.
The words that rose to my lips were from the list of “forbidden spells of power” that were on the scrap of manuscript beneath my brother’s mattress.
“Use these only in thy greatest peril!” it warned and then it listed three simple spells. “Be ye Still. Be ye Silent. Be ye Smoll.”
I think that last one was meant to be “small” but again, it was written in the Old Tongue.
I can tell now why the spells were listed as “forbidden.” My head is aching and I feel like I’m going blind in my right eye. Goddess, the pain is horrible!
But I must maintain my composure long enough to set some boundaries, or all this agony is for nothing.
“Listen to me…”
I raise one shaking finger to the beast’s face and see that the silver ring is glowing so brightly it lights up the room. Also, I’m definitely feeling the pulling or draining sensation again, siphoning away my strength. I need to make this quick.
“You’re never going to touch me again—do you understand?” I demand. “Speak!”
That command seems to have thawed his mouth because his lips—which are quite shapely for a male—twist into a cruel smile.
“Won’t that make it impossible for you to ride on me, Princess?” he drawls. “Or for me to drink from you?”
A very unladylike swear word rises to my lips and I swallow it down with some difficulty.
“Fine,” I say at last. “What I meant to say was, you’ll never again touch me without my permission. Is that clear?”
“As fucking crystal,” he growls. “Now are you going to let me go before you faint? Or would you prefer to collapse on the floor for the guards to find when they bring me the piss-poor excuse you have for supper around here?”
My breath catches in my throat. The guards haven’t brought him his supper yet? That means they could come in at any time! I’m quite sure I’ll be forgiven for letting the beast go free once my mother is well again, but I don’t like the idea of my brother finding out before I even get to go on my quest. I hate to say it, but I’m not entirely sure he would approve and let me go.
“Fine,” I say. “I release you.”
As I speak the words, it’s as though an invisible hand has pulled the spike out of my eye. And my head—while still throbbing—is no longer in complete agony.
However, I’m not completely back to normal. I feel weak and shaky and my finger—the one that wears the ring—feels scorched, as though I’d held it in the fire. Also, my stomach is rolling. But at least I’m no longer on the edge of fainting.
The beast shakes himself like a dog shaking off water and looks down at me.
“Well? Are we going?” he asks coolly, as though nothing happened. Apparently when I do one of the “forbidden spells” it only hurts me—not him. So even though he bears the effect of the spell, I take on the cost of it in bodily harm.
It’s a good thing to know—I’ll try to avoid those spells in the future if I can, though I won’t spare myself the agony if I have to use them. When I say I’ll do anything to save my mother’s life, I absolutely mean it—even endure that horrible pain.
Still, I hope I won’t have to. Maybe the beast has learned his lesson.
“Yes, we’re going,” I say.
I feel sick and weak and I’m not completely certain I won’t vomit up my dinner, but I straighten up and try to look unbothered.
“Which way?” he demands. “I have no fucking clue where the exit is. I was drugged asleep when your brother brought me in here.”
“What?” His words startle me. “But Kellis said he found you in your dragon form and then fought you until he turned you human before he brought you here.”
“The fuck he did,” the beast growls. “Your idiot brother wouldn’t have a chance against my Drake form. We met at a tavern on the border between our lands. He must have put something in my wine because I woke up here, already in chains, with him leering in my face about how he’d ‘captured a beast.’” His eyes glow red with fury. “The fucker,” he mutters.