Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 147891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 739(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 739(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
“Are you sure that’s all?” I ask.
“Yes. Now, go.” Beatrix sighs, leaning back and sinking into her sofa. “Let me rest.”
“Beatrix, if there’s ever anything we can do to make your life easier…” I trail off, looking the frail woman from head to toe.
“I appreciate the gesture, Monarch Harlow.” Beatrix curls into the couch. “If there is, I’ll let you know.”
Willow lingers, studying Beatrix. I hear her thoughts: This is our fault. She’s dying because of us. This Tether is killing everyone.
I grip her hand, and she shakes out of it, her glassy brown eyes lifting to mine. She thanks Beatrix for the elixir, and we make our way toward the door. Kimina follows us out, and as we make our way down the stoop, she says, “I fear for ya, Monarch Harlow! Ya name floats through the trees and the clay. Your blood is charged, and people will do anything to have it. Betta watch ya back. Yours and hers! She’s watchin’. Watchin’ ya like a vulture in the sky.”
A frown takes over my face, and I whirl around to look at Kimina, but she’s already shut the door. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I snap.
“Just leave it, Caz. Please,” Willow pleads, squeezing my hand. “We have to go.” She tugs on my hand, forcing me to move. When we’re inside the truck, the bottle of elixir secure in Willow’s hand, I peer back at Beatrix’s cottage, and can’t help sensing there’s a warning to what Kimina said. How does she know my blood is charged? And who the hell is watching?
Chapter 83
WILLOW
Caz doesn’t trust Danica to be inside the castle again. It makes no sense, seeing as she got in once and could easily do it again, but he makes an agreement to let her and Warren sleep in the guesthouse.
Warren remains on the bed we collected from The Trench. I wasn’t aware that one side of the guesthouse’s wall could lift like a garage door until Rowan pressed a button to do so. They carried the bed Warren was on into the guesthouse in one piece.
I now watch from the corner of the room as Maeve sets up the folded bed, places a sheet on it, and tells Danica it’s where she can sleep if she prefers not to lie on the Trench bed. She then waltzes to the kitchen, returning with a spoon. She hands it to Danica, and Danica opens the elixir from Beatrix immediately, pouring the blueish liquid onto the spoon and force feeding it to Warren.
The liquid dribbles down Warren’s chin, and Danica wipes it away with her fingers. She presses her hands to my brother’s shoulders and lays him back on the bed. Relief fills her eyes and sinks into my veins as we watch Warren finally close his eyes and fall asleep. I move closer, stroking some of his locs away with a smile.
“You don’t mind if I stick around until he wakes up, do you?” I ask, side-eyeing Danica.
“No. Just stay in your own space and I’ll stay in mine,” she mutters.
I take it she has to warm up to me. Well, same here. I need to warm up to her. After Manx, I can’t trust a single soul outside of the clan. For all I know, this woman isn’t even Warren’s mate, but is pretending to be. A bit farfetched? Possibly. But people have lied about things much smaller than mating.
“You also won’t mind Juniper popping in, right?” I inquire just as Juniper walks through the front door.
Danica stands up straight, her eyes going up and down the length of Juniper. Juniper has changed from the black bodysuit to jeans and a fitted dark-green T-shirt. Her platform boots thud on the floor as she enters. A belt is around her waist with guns and other weapons strapped into separate sheaths.
“Might as well get used to my face ’cause you’ll be seeing a lot of it,” Juniper quips before raising a blackfruit to her mouth and chewing.
“What is this?” Danica demands, a deep frown taking over her. “I don’t need babysitters!”
“No one said you did,” Maeve interjects, raising a hand. “But you infiltrated before and lied about who you were. You’re lucky we don’t cut you down where you are. After all we’ve been through, we can’t take any chances.”
Danica huffs, folding her arms and taking a step back. As she does, Maeve holds out a hand. “What?” Danica snaps, glaring at it.
“Your Katana. Monarch Harlow says he’d like to keep it inside the castle under his watch until we get more information on you.”
Danica scoffs, her frown morphing into pure shock. “Are you serious?”
Maeve’s hand remains steady while one of her brows shift upward.
“My Katana is sacred. It is bound by my blood and the blood of my mother. I never let it out of my sight,” Danica declares.