Total pages in book: 248
Estimated words: 236909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1185(@200wpm)___ 948(@250wpm)___ 790(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 236909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1185(@200wpm)___ 948(@250wpm)___ 790(@300wpm)
I saw absolutely nothing but swirling, silvery-white mist.
“I cannot go farther in that direction,” he said as his hand left my hip and his arm loosened around me.
I turned as Nektas rode in front of the riders, who had returned to their eerily still positions. Nyktos swung off Gala’s back. He unstrapped the two short swords he’d brought with him and secured them to Gala’s side. “Just in case.” Then he passed the reins to me, but his hand remained folded over mine.
Dark silver eyes locked onto mine, and I felt that same sweeping motion in my chest and stomach as he said, “She’s very important to me, Nektas.”
“I know,” the draken responded.
I thought that was a strange thing for Nyktos to say, but he’d said that I was very important. To him. Not the embers. Me. And maybe that was why I blurted out what I did.
“I want to be your Consort, Nyktos.”
The moment those words left my mouth, I was this close to diving headfirst beneath the riders’ shrouds. My lips parted, but no air was getting into my lungs. My heart had stopped. The entire realm had stopped as I stared down at Nyktos.
What in the hell was wrong with me? Had I not decided to keep my big mouth shut?
Nyktos was completely still as he looked up at me. Seconds passed, and in that time, I felt the blood draining rapidly from my face before flooding back. My chest started to squeeze and ache.
He moved, lifting his other hand to my cheek. “Breathe,” he whispered.
I sucked in air, shaking.
His thumb drew that line over my chin, just below my lip, and my heart was beating too fast for someone who was sitting. Because the way he stared at me, the wisps of eather beginning to spread out from behind his pupils, it felt like…more. Which I knew was impossible, yet…
He lifted the hand he held to his mouth and pressed a kiss against my knuckles. Then, slowly, he turned it over and pressed another kiss to my palm. He never took those now-heated, quicksilver eyes off me. “I’ll be waiting for you, liessa.”
Chapter 27
Sunlight.
That was the first thing I noticed when the thick, swirling mist slowly scattered as we traveled down what sounded like a stone road. It had been so long since I’d seen the sun. Felt its warmth on my skin. I looked up, eyes stinging from the brightness as I lowered my hood. The sky was painted in shades of vivid blue and soft white, but there was no sun, and as the Primal mist continued to drift and fade, lush, rolling, green hills full of trees with purple and pink blossoms trailing down to the ground became visible. The landscape looked like a painting. There were no people. No homes or any other signs of life. My grip firm on Gala’s reins, I glanced down. My brows shot up at the sight of the sparkling road.
“Are those…diamonds?” I asked.
“Crushed diamonds. The Vale was formed by the joyous tears of the most ancient Primals and gods,” he said. “You’ll find them just about everywhere here.”
I looked over at him. He was grinning at me, and I didn’t think he’d stopped since we’d left Nyktos at the crossroads. When I thought that Nyktos had possibly wanted to kiss me goodbye, and somehow felt that was almost as good as him doing so.
Nektas was still grinning.
“Shut up,” I muttered.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You didn’t need to.” More of the mist cleared. The diamond road appeared endless, snaking through the grassy hills and the heavily blossomed weeping trees, their hanging branches nearly reaching the ground.
“I didn’t know you could read thoughts.”
I shot him an arch glare.
His grin didn’t fade, not for a second as he drew his steed closer. He was only quiet for a few moments. “Is it true? What you told him at the crossroads?”
My face warmed, and it had nothing to do with the sun. I still couldn’t believe that I’d blurted that out. But I had, and I couldn’t exactly say I regretted it. Maybe I’d been wrong to think it was better if Nyktos didn’t know. “I did,” I said finally. “I meant it.”
We rode on for a few paces. “You care for him.”
It wasn’t a question but a statement of fact. Truth. I opened my mouth as I glanced over at him, my stomach tumbling as if I’d slipped from Gala—from the horse Nyktos had gifted me. “I do,” I whispered.
That grin remained as he arched a brow. “I know.”
“Well, glad that’s established.” I cleared my throat, facing the road.
“I knew that before you were ready to admit it to yourself.”
“Congratulations,” I muttered.
“Why do you think I told you to go to him when he needed to feed?” he continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “I knew you needed to help him. Not wanted. Not because you felt like you had to. But because you needed to.”