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)
Wynter quickly explained what happened. “He thought he’d have the upper hand that way. When things didn’t go as he’d planned, he retreated in typical Saul fashion.”
Cursing, Cain drew her onto his lap so she straddled him and then buried his face in her neck. “I’ll kill him.”
“Okay. But not until I’ve ripped his cock off—I was totally serious about that.”
The following afternoon, Cain called the other Ancients to his Keep. As they sat around the long dining table, he told them of Saul’s most recent attack on Wynter. His voice was cool and calm, giving away none of the anger that slinked around his bones. His woman had been trapped in a dream, where she’d been viciously attacked . . . and he’d been sleeping beside her, blissfully unaware.
Beside him, Azazel let out a low whistle. “Bold move.”
Cain grunted. “Saul thought that if both he and Wynter were stripped of power he’d have an edge. He was mistaken. She’s trained in hand-to-hand combat, not simply fencing and magickal combat.” Cain couldn’t have been more thankful for that.
Azazel’s mouth tipped up. “Your witch is badass.”
“More like ‘lucky,’” Ishtar sniped beneath her breath.
Cain forced his expression to remain blank, but his inner creature fired a hard glare at her. She truly had some nerve to casually stroll right into his dining room, not a care in the world, and make sly little remarks when she’d so fiercely betrayed him.
Since arriving, she’d repeatedly cast him confused looks from where she sat at the other end of the table. She was no doubt wondering why he hadn’t confronted her over the visit she paid Wynter. They’d get to that soon enough.
“He must be able to dream-walk,” said Lilith, sitting on Cain’s other side. “A substantial ability. It isn’t simple to hijack a dream. Especially if you’re doing it from afar. You are essentially hacking into a person’s consciousness—something which has no physical properties and so, in that sense, is much like an online cloud of information—bypassing their mental barriers.”
Sitting directly opposite Cain, Seth frowned slightly. “But if he has the ability to stroll into a person’s dreams, why didn’t he hijack hers sooner?”
“Killing her in a dream would only place her in a coma,” Cain reminded him. “Saul wants to eliminate her.”
“That he’d be willing to settle for putting her in a coma says that he’s realized she isn’t an easy enough target for him to take out,” said Azazel. “Took him long enough.”
“Should we worry that he might attempt to walk in our dreams?” asked Inanna.
Beside her, Dantalion shook his head. “He’d never manage it. Not even an Aeon is powerful enough to bypass the mental shields of an Ancient.”
Lilith looked at Cain. “He’ll invade your consort’s dreams again, and he’ll be better prepared next time.”
“He might try,” said Cain. “He won’t succeed. Wynter’s a witch, remember? She intends to create a talisman to put beneath her pillow to protect her dreams from being invaded. She’s confident it will work.”
“That’s something, I suppose,” said Seth. “I’m glad she’s okay.”
Cain slid his gaze to Ishtar. “You must be equally relieved that Wynter is alive. After all, despite how spectacularly you failed yesterday, you probably haven’t lost hope that you can convince her to give herself up to the Aeons.”
Silence fell.
Ishtar inched up her chin in a gesture that was both haughty and defensive, but said nothing.
Inanna blinked at her sister. “You . . . you tried to talk her into surrendering herself to the Aeons?”
A look of exasperation crossed Ishtar’s face. “I should have known that the witch would go whining to you about it,” she said to Cain.
“You did know that she’d tell me if you failed to convince her to leave,” said Cain, feeling his face harden. “But you took a chance anyway, clearly confident that you could persuade her to see things your way. She’s not as easily manipulated as you assume.”
Ishtar sniffed. “I wouldn’t be too certain of that. She agreed to be the consort of someone she barely knows, did she not? She’s fully aware that you harbor secrets, but you still managed to manipulate her into accepting your claim.”
“You persist in viewing Wynter as weak on so many levels—”
“Because she is. And yet, you are willing to place her safety before yours. Well, she wasn’t willing to do the same for you, was she? No, she chose to instead stay at Devil’s Cradle even knowing what the consequences would be for you.”
Inanna shook her head, incredulous. “I cannot believe you would go behind Cain’s back that way.”
Ishtar waved a hand, sweeping her gaze around the table. “You all fear him too much to press the issue. I do not.”
“You should,” Cain told her, his voice clipped. “Wynter is my consort. You saw fit to urge her to not only leave me but put herself in danger. Did you think you wouldn’t pay a price for that?”