Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 132138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 661(@200wpm)___ 529(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 661(@200wpm)___ 529(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Some could call forth the dead, bringing them back to life when their power merged with fire.
A chill crosses my skin. Where did that thought come from?
I shake it off. It doesn’t matter. “I pray the rumors are correct and that Beck and Cian have found their mate. I don’t believe the true triad stuff. All I want is my brothers alive and happy and safe.”
I hope they’re out there, perhaps on the Vampire plane with our cousin Dante, enjoying life. They don’t know I’m alive. It’s better this way. They can have their family without risking themselves. Even as the thought crosses my mind, I know Torin won’t allow it. As long as Beck and Ci draw breath, he will plot to kill them. He has to.
And I must stay alive. Because in the end, my brothers will be forced to come back to Tír na nÓg one way or another. I take a deep breath, the cool night air filling my lungs. That’s a battle for another day.
“I’ll deal with Micha. He’ll want a grand wedding. He’s intent on inviting the queen herself.” Maris. My fists clench. Maris, the betrayer. Over the years, I learned that Maris was the one to open the palace gates and allow Torin’s marauders in. Maris, who pledged to love my brothers. Maris, whose corpse I intend to see tossed over her husband’s.
Gillian stands, seemingly satisfied with that bit of news. “Excellent. A wedding like that will take months to plan. We can sell our crops and disappear. Perhaps a seaside province this time. I’ve long wanted to try my hand with a fishing net.”
So I’ll be learning another skill. Well, I do enjoy a challenge. “We’ll have the most profitable boat in no time.”
Gillian nods and leaves. My heart races a bit as I get under the covers and snuff out the candle. I settle into the firm straw mattress, wiggling around until I’m as comfortable as I’m likely to be.
Moonlight streams in, casting everything with a silvery glow. I close my eyes and pray for sleep.
I walk into the room, white marble under my feet. This is the White Palace, my home. I know it, even years later. It plays in the back of my mind that it’s probably different now. Thirteen years of Torin’s rule undoubtedly changed the place, but in my dreams, the palace is still my sunny home, unchanged, undimmed by faulty memory.
I turn my face up. This is the sunshine room. Oh, my mother calls it the waiting room, where she and her ladies sit and sew and chat, but I call it the sunshine room because it’s always filled with light.
A familiar shape moves just outside of the light’s reach. This shape hides in shadows.
My Dark Ones.
“Are you coming out?” I call, teasing them a bit. I catch sight of one and then the other, their forms clinging to the edge of the light.
“Why don’t you come back in?” They speak in one voice, a slight echo in the words.
It’s always this way. Come morning, I’ll wonder why I never sit down and talk to them, but caught in the dream, I simply do what feels right.
They don’t love the light the way I do, but they always wait for me. I turn my face up to the sun, letting it warm me. The sun feels different here. In my village, it’s always so hot during the summers, but at the palace the sun is a soft kiss on my skin, warming me gently.
“We can kiss you better than the sun. Come here.”
I smile, not looking their way yet. They grow surer and more dominant with each night. It’s hard to believe that they came to me as children. I was five and so shy of the boys who called out to me in dreams.
I want to play with them now, but not as children.
My nipples tighten against the soft silk of my gown.
“If you don’t come to us, we’ll be forced to get you, sweetheart. It might not go well for you,” the more dominant voice says.
“He’s itching to spank you, love. Give him a reason.” This second voice is gentler, but there is no mistaking his interest.
Nor mine. I can explore everything in these dreams, and lately, my interests have taken a distinctly disciplinary tone. I wonder if they will truly spank me. I wonder how it will feel.
“Yes, and you’ll love it.”
I feel a strong hand at my wrist and the scene changes. I’m no longer in the palace, but some dark place where the marble at my feet is black and the room is dominated by an enormous bed draped with curtains.
My Dark Ones stand by the bed. Twins. So alike I was not able to tell them apart at first, but then I assigned them numbers. One is the rougher of the twins, though his hands are always gentle on my skin. Two has a sweet smile and likes to talk dirty.