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)
Kyran tightens his hold around me. “You are not lacking in any way, and I will make sure you understand that even if it takes me a lifetime. Your value isn’t tied to your mother’s opinion.”
We ride in comfortable silence as I mull over his words.
“Maybe I can be special to you. I’d like to feel special,” I whisper, because it’s such an embarrassing thing to admit. ‘Luke wants to be a special little snowflake’ I can almost hear my mother’s mocking voice. And still, it’s what my heart yearns for. To do something different, to excel at something. To prove to my mother I wasn’t a waste of womb space.
“Of course you’re special to me,” Kyran whispers as the music gets louder upon our approach to the village. It’s vibrant, full of wind instruments and tambourines, like something one might hear at a renfaire, but right now all I can focus on is the soft whisper of Kyran’s breath in my ear. “Destiny brought us together. I let it guide me and pulled you out of the depths of death. And since I’ve been getting to know you, it’s been almost uncanny how well we fit together. Like a shadow and the man who casts it.”
No one’s ever been so tender with me, and I can’t help but lean into it with a smile. Kyran might be a murderous elf prince on a ruthless quest to steal the crown of the Nocturne Court, but I can’t deny the way he makes me feel. He is a whirlwind, untamed as the Sea of Sorrows when we’re in bed, yet tender as if I were made of porcelain when he handles my silly feelings.
When I’m with him, I don’t care whether I come off as corny. I’m not self-conscious about expressing my joy. Instead of criticizing my style, he gets me new nail polish, just because he noticed it chipped. He might not like Count Flapula, but he still let me keep him, because it makes me happy.
Maybe he’s right, and some kind of invisible hand of destiny did bring us together.
I want to believe that.
I squeeze his hand where he holds it on my chest, but I don’t have fine words, so I resort to jokes. “And now we’ll need to pretend I wasn’t easy, and didn’t put out on the night we met. We’re still courting after all.”
I will do my best to locate Carol in the village and talk to her so I can put my heart at ease once and for all.
Kyran laughs as we approach two columns marking the entrance into the village. Green flames illuminate homes beyond the symbolic border, and I watch them as he kisses my cheek.
“Nothing feels easier than being with you. It’s as if it’s in my nature.”
I tell my heart to stop beating so fast, because I can’t be falling for him so soon.
Chapter 28
Luke
My skin itches as we approach the village. The trees on either side of the road reach for us like the claws of a giant. Back in my world, I’d be convincing myself there’s nothing to be afraid of, nothing malevolent hiding in the dark, but as Kyran strokes my forearm and invites me to lean against his strong chest, I fear nothing.
I’ve learned not to trust anyone, even less so the men I’ve been sleeping with, but in the two weeks since he snatched me from Best Burger Bonanza’s parking lot, Kyran entangled me in a web of charm, and I can only wish it’s not being held together by a bunch of lies.
Because right now, as I sense his warmth against my back and the strength of his thighs pressed to mine, I feel more connected to him than to anyone else in my life.
Two figures loom at the gate, and the pink glow of the torches in their hands turns their faces into grotesque masks. Kyran remains as confident as ever, so I allow myself to remain calm as well even when one of the men walks toward us with a pike. “Who’s there?”
“Do you not recognize the kelpie under me, guard? Maybe you shouldn’t have any liquor on duty after all?” Kyran shouts back, unperturbed.
“It’s the Lord—I mean Prince, Prince Kyranis” one whispers to the other, then quickly steps to the side. “Excuse me, Your Highness.”
The other guard smiles, watching me with the curiosity of a puppy meeting a cat for the first time. “If I may say so, the cherin is both potent and delicious this year. It must be tried.”
The guard who didn’t initially recognize Kyran pulls the torch close to his chest, so close in fact that for a moment I worry he might set himself on fire, but he’s focused on me now, his big, round eyes widening with a sense of wonder. “Then is this… your promised, Your Highness?”