Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 115432 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115432 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
“Very.”
“Took me a bit of practice. Do not tell Rhea I touched one of her roses.”
I smiled and nodded. “It’s our secret.”
“It all worked out for me—ah, about time,” she replied, turning to face the tree lines.
I didn’t hear it as soon as she did, but I did hear it, the sound of running. Three vampires were rushing right toward us. Knowing one of them was Theseus actually made me very nervous about what I was going to say to him.
“On a scale of one to ten, how pissed do you think he is?” I asked when she hopped off the railing to stand beside me.
She laughed. “Throw away the scale. It cannot handle that much weight.”
“Oh, no.” I groaned, tensing as they came closer and closer, my eyes beginning to pick them up. If my heart could beat, it would have exploded in anxiety.
“They’re here.”
No sooner had she said it, Theseus broke through the trees. He came so fast that the gust of wind he caused had the leaves of the trees shaking. No wonder she wanted us outside. If he came into the house like that, walls would break. He stood there dressed in all black, his dark hair disheveled, his gray eyes wide, almost crazed—no, they were definitely crazed. I heard his brothers come as well, but I did not dare break eye contact with him. Something in me just knew that if I did, he’d genuinely snap. He did not move, only staring at me. I walked down the patio stairs and through the trail of red roses until I was standing right in front of him. His eyes locked on me, and what worried me was I could not see anything in them—other than emptiness. I did not have words for him. How could I even begin?
Instead, I reached up, wrapped my arm around his neck, and hugged him tightly. It took him a moment before he wrapped his arms around my waist, his head lowering beside my neck. Good, we can start from here—
“Ahh!” I cried out in pain as he bit so hard into my skin it felt as if my collarbone had broken. “Theseus!” I called, trying to push him off me.
But he would not release me, and as I struggled, we both fell on the roses. I felt my blood soak into my blouse and drip down my skin. This was different from when he had bitten me before to see what was in my mind. This hurt!
“Theseus, you are hurting me. Please stop.” I winced, and he did stop slowly, his teeth releasing my skin.
However, he did not lift his head or rise off of me.
“I said a little insanity was good, Druella, but this was not a little,” he whispered, finally raising his head for me to see the pained look in his eyes, and my blood upon his lips, and a masterpiece of stars above his head.
My heart ached at his pain.
I did not want this.
I was trying to be good to him, and this was what happened.
“I was here,” I whispered.
“I could not find you.”
“But I was here.” It did not make sense, but I needed him to understand. “I chose to stay here with you. I would not leave—”
He was angry. “I did not think you left. I thought you…you…I thought you were taken from me.”
“I would not allow myself to be taken from you without a fight.”
He brought his head back down, licking the bite mark he’d left on me, and this time, it was more pleasurable. I closed my eyes, wrapping my arms around his neck and resting my hand on his head. “Let’s stop this?”
Thinking I meant his tongue on my skin, he stopped and tried to move back again, but I held him to me.
“I mean, let’s stop trying to figure out what happened,” I whispered, staring up at the sky. “I don’t want to cause any more trouble than I already have. Can Sigbjørn figure out another way? To understand what is happening? You said you were fine not having your memories. I’m fine, too. Can’t we just start from here? Every time I look into this magic stuff, I somehow end up causing another issue. Can’t we just do whatever other vampire mates do?”
“You admit to being my mate now, no longer my intending?” he whispered, kissing my neck.
“I think I admitted that in other ways a while ago.”
He chuckled. “No more fighting me?”
“No more seriously fighting you.”
He moved, resting his forehead on top of mine.
Reaching up, I brushed the blood from his mouth. “So, what do you say? Can we be normal for a while?”
“Define normal.”
“Not disappearing, no magic. Nothing but Theseus and Druella, a boring vampire couple.”
He lifted his lips into a grin and nodded. “We can do that…until Father demands we stop doing that.”