Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 235897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1179(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 786(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 235897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1179(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 786(@300wpm)
He nods, dropping his hand from mine and fully wrapping his arms around me. “I channeled from Sgaeyl.”
I savor the feel of his body against mine but don’t push my luck for a kiss. “Did she tell you we were in trouble?”
His gaze falls away and he shakes his head. “She’s still not speaking to me. Flying is awkward as fuck.”
My chest threatens to crack under the weight of the sadness in his tone. “I’m so sorry.” I slide my hands around the small of his back and hug him, turning my head so his heart beats beneath my ear. “She’ll come around.”
“Don’t count on it,” Tairn warns with a growl down the mental pathway that only belongs to us, and I blatantly ignore him.
Xaden lowers his chin to the top of my head. “She knows I’m not…whole. She senses it.”
I startle and pull back, lifting my hands to hold his face. “You’re whole,” I whisper. “I don’t know what you paid to access that power, but it didn’t change you—”
“It did,” he counters, sidestepping down a stair and out of my arms.
I can only think of one way to prove it didn’t. “Do you still love me?” I hurl the inquiry at him like a weapon.
His gaze snaps to mine. “What kind of question is that?”
“Do. You. Still. Love. Me?” I enunciate every word and lean right into his space just to prove that I’m not intimidated by him.
He cups the back of my neck and pulls me within inches of his face—close enough to kiss. “I could reach the rank of Maven, lead armies of dark wielders against everyone we care for, and watch every vein in my body turn red as I channel all the power in the Continent, and I would still love you. What I did doesn’t change that. I’m not sure anything can.”
“See? You’re still you.” My gaze drops to his mouth. “Telling me you’re capable of horrible things while still loving me is pretty much your idea of foreplay.”
His eyes darken, and he hauls me closer until only his own obstinance separates our lips. “That should scare the shit out of you, Violet.”
“It doesn’t.” I rise on my toes and brush my lips over his. “Nothing about you scares me. I won’t run, Xaden.”
“Damn it.” He drops his hand and retreats a step, putting space between us again. “With my shields up, I didn’t know you were in the interrogation chamber until I was halfway down the stairs.”
“What?” I blink. “Then how did you know to come help?”
Silence stretches between us, and a prickle of apprehension makes me shift my weight, aggravating my lower back.
“I sensed them,” he finally answers. “The same way they sense me.”
My stomach pitches, and I reach for the wall, splaying my palm over the rough-hewn stone to keep my balance. “That’s not possible.”
“It is.” He nods slowly, watching me. “That’s how I know I’ve changed, how Garrick and I have managed to slay more than a dozen of them this week. I can feel them calling to me, just like I can feel the source pulsing beneath my feet with its incomparable power…because I’m one of them.” His eyes narrow. “Scared yet?”
Sometimes I worry about Violet. She has your sharp wit, quick mind, and steadfast heart paired with my bullheaded tenacity. When she finally and truly gives that heart, I fear it will overrule the other gifts you’ve given her and logic will cede its voice to love. And if her first two liaisons are any indication of what we might expect… Gods help her, my love, I’m afraid our daughter has atrocious taste in men.
—Recovered, Unsent Correspondence of General Lilith Sorrengail
CHAPTER THREE
Xaden can sense them.
My fingernails bend slightly when my hand flexes along the grout line, holding on for dear life as my mind spins. But just because he can sense them doesn’t mean he gave up part of his soul, right? It’s there in his eyes, watching me, waiting for me to reject him, or worse, push him away like I did after Resson.
Maybe it’s more dire than I thought, but he’s still whole, still him. Just with…heightened senses.
I shove my stomach right back where it belongs and hold his stare. “Scared of you?” I shake my head. “Never.”
“You will be,” he whispers, looking over my features like he needs to memorize them.
“Your five minutes are up,” Garrick says from the base of the steps. “And Violet has a meeting to get to.”
Xaden’s expression shifts into something dangerous as he glares at his best friend and leans away from me.
“She told you we think you should sleep somewhere else, didn’t she?” Garrick rolls his neck like he’s preparing for a fight.
“She did.” Xaden starts down the steps, and I follow. “And I’ll tell you the same thing she said to Imogen. Get fucked.”