Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 121324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Azazel shrugged. “It won’t matter if he does or he doesn’t. The people at Aeon are likely to assume that Eve and her grandchildren came to us, considering we’re the only people who are powerful enough to keep them safe.”
“Even if they were truthful, we’ll have to consider that the information they gave us on Abel and Adam’s plans could be literally worth shit,” said Cain.
Azazel’s brows dipped. “Worth shit? Why?”
“Because it will be assumed by Adam that said information was relayed to us,” Cain replied. “Battle tactics will change in the hope of catching us by surprise.”
“So we gained nothing from them coming here,” groused Inanna.
“Untrue,” said Cain. “We know now that the decay has spread to the underground city, where it will eventually run rampant and ensure that the place is inhabitable. We know that the Aeons haven’t given up on the idea of getting their hands on Wynter, believing she can undo the curse. We also know that there may be an additional reason why the Aeons can’t afford for the city to fall.” And Cain couldn’t help but wonder if that reason was somehow connected to Kali’s goals.
It was shortly after she and her coven had dinner that Wynter made her way to Cain’s Keep. She knew her way around, so his aides no longer escorted her to him. They just said hi and told her where to find him.
As she headed for Cain’s bedchamber, she let out a tired sigh. Throughout the day—in between running their shop, pausing for breaks, and having dinner—she and her coven had taken turns at trying to scry for Saul using various mediums, including water, crystals, and wax.
Their efforts had unfortunately come to nothing.
Searching for people via scrying wasn’t the most reliable practice. And the more powerful the person you were trying to locate, the harder they were to pinpoint.
Anabel intended to create some of her “Finders Potions” tonight, but there was no saying they’d work well. They helped people locate a lost object that belonged to them, not a murderous asshole who needed his throat slit.
Finally reaching the door of Cain’s chamber, Wynter rapped her knuckles on it even as she walked inside. At his insistence, she didn’t wait for an invitation to enter anymore. It had reached a point where it offended him that she’d felt she needed one.
The gorgeous bastard stood near the window, a glass tumbler in hand half-filled with amber liquid. Her hackles rose, because he looked . . . She couldn’t quite describe it. Not tired. Not weary. But something along those lines.
Concern tightened her chest. One thing she’d learned fast about Cain was that he wasn’t easily affected by things on a deeply emotional level. As if his feelings struggled to mentally latch on and have any real impact on him. For something to evidently put a dent in his normal coolly composed state, it couldn’t be something small. “What’s wrong?”
He set his glass down on the nearby table. “Come.”
It was nothing short of an order, but she didn’t bristle, too intent on finding out what was messing with his head. Crossing to him, she studied his face, trying and failing to see past the inscrutable mask he wore.
Cain drew her close and curled his arms around her. Burying one hand in her hair, he tucked his face into the crook of her neck. A deep sigh eased out of him, but the tension in his muscles remained.
She smoothed her hands up his back and just held him, patiently waiting for him to speak. Okay, maybe not patiently. But she waited rather than pushed—that was what counted in her opinion.
Finally, he raised his head. “My mother is here, as are two of Abel’s children.”
Wynter would have jerked back in surprise if he wasn’t holding her so tightly to him. “Uh, say what now?”
“They arrived early this afternoon. They told quite a story.”
She squinted. “A good story or a bad story?”
“It could be considered good for some but bad for others.”
She listened quietly as he gave her a very detailed rundown of his conversation with the Aeons. “Wait, Adam would so easily kill your mother? Seriously?”
“He has no affection for her. I don’t know if he ever loved her. He claimed her as his consort and insisted she be loyal to him and take no other lovers, but he wasn’t loyal to her in return. He even had children with other women. A few were born before Eve conceived any of her own.”
“But she stayed with him despite all that? I’m not judging, I’m just . . . I personally couldn’t stay in a relationship with someone who quite clearly didn’t respect, care for, or be loyal to me.”
“She was born in a different time. It wasn’t uncommon back then for the males of our people to seek pleasure outside of their relationships. Which does not whatsoever make his actions excusable—double-standards never are. I am merely explaining why she accepted such treatment. They did eventually separate, but . . .” Cain hesitated to continue, his gaze boring into hers. “I will tell you some of what happened back then. But there will be holes in the story. Holes I will fill in another time.”