Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 125179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Wynter stood. “But you could do something to stop that from happening, right? You could protect my soul somehow. I mean, you own it.”
If there was room in his system for any emotion other than deadly rage, he would have been touched at her faith in him and his ability to protect her. “Having full ownership of your soul won’t be enough in this instance,” said Cain, still pacing.
“But—”
“Kali owns the soul of whatever monster you host or, if nothing else, has full control of it. If that entity merged with you, yanked you to the netherworld, and then didn’t break that merge, I could of course pull on your soul to drag you back. But, just the same, Kali could keep pulling on the monster’s soul and, thus, yours. Between the two of us, we’d be fighting over who gets to keep you. I don’t know for sure that I could beat Her at a push-and-pull contest.”
Wynter bit down on her lower lip hard enough he wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d drawn blood.
Bringing himself to an abrupt halt, Cain raked a hand through his hair. “We need to speak with Her. Now.”
Wynter gave him a pointed look. “You promised.”
Cain advanced on her fast. “Why the fuck would you have wanted me to promise not to contact Kali about this? You don’t care if She takes you?”
“You know I do. Don’t be a dick. The problem is that what you most want right now is for Her to drop what plans She has for me. We both know you’ll insist on it if you speak with Her. Just as we both know She isn’t going to dance to your tune.” Wynter lifted a brow. “Remember what She once said to you? She warned you that She’d tolerate your presence in my life unless you tried interfering with Her plans.”
Cain bared his teeth, and his creature hissed long and loud. “I don’t give a shit what She’s prepared to tolerate.”
“That’s my point.”
His monster lunged quickly, fighting for supremacy with such vigor Cain almost flinched. Struggling to maintain control of it, Cain backed away from Wynter. “Give me a minute,” he said through gritted teeth.
She didn’t argue or approach him, so maybe she sensed the current danger. Not that his creature would hurt her. But it would bite her. Would take another step toward binding with her, determined to somehow ensure that she remained locked to its side. Not that tying her life-force with that of his monster would be enough, but the creature didn’t much care to think rationally right then.
Once it threw up its metaphorical hands and stopped fighting, Cain took a deep, steadying breath.
“You okay?” Wynter asked, her voice soft.
“Yes.” Cain cricked his neck. “My creature isn’t quite stable right now. It doesn’t react well at the best of times to the emotions you make it feel. It’s never been so attached to another person, and it’s not very good at handling any situation where it feels it could lose you.” Not that Cain was much better. “What your monster did to you last night . . . we can’t ignore that, Wynter. We can’t ignore what it means.”
“We also can’t confront Kali the way you want to.”
Cain felt his nostrils flare. “Regardless of what She might want to believe, my claim to you runs deeper than Hers ever could.”
“But that’s not how She sees it. And it doesn’t change that She has a way to still take me from you. So let’s not tempt Her to do that.”
Cursing beneath his breath, he scrubbed a hand down his face.
“Before last night, I might have thought She’d never truly take me away from you; might have believed that She wouldn’t want to hurt me that way. But when She urged my monster to merge with me, She didn’t bother to warn me, She clearly wasn’t concerned for how I might freak the fuck out. She just did it.” Wynter swallowed. “It was the first time I’ve ever really felt like I was just a tool to Her.”
The note of pain in her voice pierced the rage fogging his mind like nothing else could have. Struggling to be gentle, Cain drew her to him, curling his arms around her. “I don’t believe you’re merely a tool to Her. She’s too invested in you for that to be the case. But that doesn’t change who or what She is. A deity. A being that will never consider us Her equals. I doubt She’d even think to consider your feelings before acting on Her own.”
“Is there something you can do to protect my soul from it ever again merging with my monster like that?”
“I can protect it from souls who exist outside your body—I already do purely by owning it so completely. But a soul that your body acts as a vessel for? No. You might be two separate beings, but you are connected in a fashion.”