Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 156210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 781(@200wpm)___ 625(@250wpm)___ 521(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 156210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 781(@200wpm)___ 625(@250wpm)___ 521(@300wpm)
“Let me guess,” I say in an ice-cold voice. “She said Luke ran away on his own and there was nothing she could do?”
Reiner won’t look into my eyes. He knows he had the right to refuse Elodie in a matter such as this.
Tristan rubs his chin with a frown. “If they did this, they’re out of their minds. What do they think will happen if Heartbreak comes before you wed your Dark Companion? People will die. Their father served as a knight. He’d be called upon too.”
But Anatole Goldweed doesn’t care about his father's fate. What matters to him is my failure and the chance to contest my right to the crown.
“Luke couldn’t have gotten far, Your Highness,” Reiner mutters. “Unless magic we do not comprehend is involved, he must be reachable. Can you feel him through the bond, Sire?”
I know what he’s really asking. ‘Is he alive?’
My hand shakes, and as Reiner crawls away from my shadow when it starts to bubble, I hiss, “Get out of my sight. Now!”
Reiner dashes to the door, not even trying to argue or apologize anymore, but once he’s gone, I glare at Tristan and bare my teeth. “Get the knights. We need to find him. I want all the Goldweeds under watch.”
“Do you want the knights aligned with them to participate in the search?” Tristan asks, for once without a hint of smile.
“No. Let them stand watch in the palace.”
When I glance at the bright full moon, I’m all too aware that the chances of the wedding happening today are close to none. Time is ticking away all too fast. At this point, my focus needs to be on finding Luke.
But when I send a pulse of my heartbeat down our bond to locate him, I get the faintest reply. I can’t pinpoint the direction, but he’s alive. I want to throttle and kiss him all at once. How dare he run away from me? How dare he betray my trust when I’m offering him everything?
I almost hate myself for the intense pain in my chest, because I have only known him for a day and therefore shouldn’t have this kind of weakness, but I already need him in my life, and not just because the future of my reign depends on it.
Tristan nods, and when he leaves, I face the big window, my mind racing for answers. There are numerous ways to protect oneself against shadow magic, and there is no way a human could know them. Someone helped him. And I know exactly who that someone is.
But until I can prove it, the most important thing is to find Luke.
To manage such a feat while our bond remains so weak and confused, I need more power than my own shadow has even on a full moon.
I roll up my sleeve in disbelief, because I never thought this would be the way for me to use one of the eels swimming over my skin. I’ve always held it as a point of pride that I’ve never had to use one, but I can now see how silly it was of me to think that.
Whether Luke ran away or was abducted, I need to find him all the same.
I call the eel all the way to my open palm, then pluck it out of my hand. It twists between my fingers, semi-translucent, with the details of its form barely discernible against the bright background. When I open my mouth and bring it close, its shadowy form gets sucked into my lungs, and my skin sparks with power I have never before experienced.
Closing my eyes, I go to my knees, press my forehead to the cold floor and reach into the shadow under my crouched form, calling out to my lost mate, because I already know I shall forgive him this transgression. Right now, I just want him safe.
As the eel amplifies my powers, a weak heartbeat calls out to mine, and my consciousness dives toward it, past floors, walls, and deep into rock.
And that’s when I know that he’s below the palace. In the caves.
But the sense of peace this discovery brings me is soon replaced by dread as I look out at the shimmering reflection of the moon’s face in the endless waters.
It’s high tide.
Chapter 14
Luke
The stairs take me down to an abyss. They wind endlessly, making me dizzy, and I have to watch my feet on the narrow steps to avoid tumbling into the void below. Without the warm glow of the lantern, I would have probably slipped and broken my neck by now.
The farther I climb down, the colder it gets, and my wedding outfit isn’t meant for any of this. I drape the cape over my other shoulder for warmth, but my focus is solely on getting out of here alive. At least the cardio I’m doing keeps my blood pumping as I sink further into the depths where silence is the loudest of all noises.