Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 112500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 563(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 563(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
The Hunter’s Moon was less than a month away!
Even as nothing could tempt him more, the Queen’s answer was unwelcome. Thane could never leave his people. “Is there anything else you can give me?”
“Come see us again.” The three chimed, “So many years. So few visitors.”
Stunned, he turned for the exit, ready to leave this fetid cave. At least Ditch followed him as he picked his way through heaps of green. He couldn’t even look at her without feeling as if she was already lost.
No. He would find another path. And keep seducing her in the meantime.
“Wait,” Pemphre called.
He stopped, jaw tight. “What?”
“So few visitors. How did you learn about us?”
“Aye, I was supposed to tell you an archwarlock named Baelor the Unraveler sent me.”
All three jerked. Pemphre tore off her mask—revealing melted skin and weeping sores—and hissed, “He stirs. He stirs!”
Enya: “We hate. We fear. He pulls at loose threads!”
Mind on his own issues, Thane said, “I’ve never met him. Have nothing to do with him.”
Pemphre’s cracked lips ran with pus as she cried, “You’ve been unraveled! Everything he touches unravels! We have been unraveled. The Skein will fall this Accession! The braid must be healed or we all burn!”
“So be it.” He’d had his fill of doom-singing Sorceri.
Nothing had changed between him and Ditch. He would have to continue his imprisonment each full moon and plan for the coming conflicts.
He glanced back at her. Part of him wished he’d never met his mate. But he held on to memories of last night—and even their chemistry in that earlier skirmish—like he might hold on to his sword in the All-Battle.
On the descent, Ditch said, “Pemphre’s right. Enemies to lovers is not so easy a feat when battle lines have already been drawn. A reset world would be the only option, which is no option for you at all.”
“As promised, an unwelcome answer.”
Amusement flickered in her lovely face. “You never even considered it, did you? Spending time with you would quash the ego of a lesser female. I’m used to provoking mindless obsession in others, yet a male fated to me refuses to punch his ticket to live with me in a heaven realm.”
“It’s no’ an option for a king. And what about you? You’ve forgotten the other side of this equation. I dinna consider it because I canna force you to go, and I know you’d refuse me.”
“True. I like the Skein, and I believe that I am meant to be here. So no, I’m not giving up my new home and my coveted position for a wolf I vaguely tolerate and will eventually ruin.”
“Then why did fate pair us?” He let her see his frustration. “To punish me?”
“Knowing me? Likely.” She arched a brow. “Have you done something that deserved this kind of punishment?”
“No. That’s what maddens me.” He stared out into the red mist of a hellish world, then back at her. “You feel no destined draw toward me? No disappointment from the sorceress’s words?”
She lifted a slim shoulder. “My emotions were twisted at a young age. Love is hate, retribution is divine, vulnerability is death. I won’t feel things the way you want me to.”
“Because your dam abandoned you to perish?” The words slipped out, but he wouldn’t call them back.
Instead of the outrage he expected, she said, “Maybe. Those formative years were…educational.”
“Why was a demoness in Akelarre, the home realm of witches and warlocks?”
“The oldest tale: she loved a warlock and followed him there. He left her behind, and her demonarchy disowned her. No going back.”
“You ever find her?”
“I did. She was shocked to see me alive. Let’s just say you never want to be a jump scare to your own dam!”
He couldn’t imagine that pain and wished he could’ve shielded Ditch from it. “She show any remorse?”
“None.” Another shrug. “I expected nothing, so I wasn’t disappointed.”
“What became of her?”
“She died defending her latest lover when rogue warlocks overran his stronghold. Loyal to him to the end.”
Her mother’s to-the-death protectiveness of another must’ve been even more of a mindfuck for Ditch. “Is that when you decided to rule all the worlds for the House?”
She grinned. “My clichés are between me and my goddesses.”
He suddenly motioned for her to stop, listening intently. Just a large rodent in the brush. They continued on. The Helter felt too quiet—no game, relatively few monsters—as if the creatures were awaiting something.
He rubbed his nape. Biding time…
She asked, “What were your parents like?”
“They were warm,” he admitted quietly. “Loving.”
“How unsurprising.” Then her eyes narrowed. “After your father died, what happened to your mother? Mated Lykae don’t live long after the death of a fated one.”
Because they couldn’t part with the other half of their soul. “Grief overwhelmed her. She made her way to the Firis, no’ far from where we embarked, and sacrificed herself in those flames.” Watching Ditch’s fire powers had left him conflicted. Being in this place…