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)
Perhaps once I could have been satisfied with being a wife and a mother as my own was, but I’m changed. Pain, loss, and work transformed me.
I don’t want to sit on the sidelines as my mother did. If I wear a crown, it will be because I earned it. I gave my blood once. It’s time to give more.
Shim and Lach. They were in my dreams for so long, but I must deal with reality. Reality is the Seelie plane and Torin.
“Help me escape.”
The phooka practically purrs. “It will be my greatest pleasure, Your Highness. I am your servant.”
“Turn around. I need to get dressed.”
The phooka gives me the privacy I requested. With shaking hands, I dress. When I’m ready, I look at the bed where I lost my innocence. Given it. No matter what potion I was under, I wanted them. I loved them.
The phooka guides me out the window, and I wonder if I’ll ever see them again.
Chapter Twenty-One
Shim
I step off the final step and into the small store, eyes on my sister.
Gillian looks so different than I remember her. Thinner. Older. Wearing practical clothes where once she preferred gloriously feminine garb. Gillian McIver is a few years older than Lach and I, but she always seemed much more mature. After our mother died, Gilly ran the household. She took care of everything, including certain political situations. The Unseelie plane lost a valuable royal when Gillian was caught here. My sister stands, looking over maps, her eyes serious as she speaks.
“We will need to move out after dark. The guards are dead, but at least five got away. There’s no telling where they ran to or who they will tell. I can only promise that someone will talk and reinforcements will be sent.” Gillian straightens up.
William Roan stands in the small store. The floor was cleared out, and a large table brought in. Maps and vampire technology cover the table. And yet William Roan seems to have eyes for only one person in the room. The vampire’s whole being is focused on Gillian McIver.
Fuck. I should have thought about it, but I was utterly overwhelmed by being close to my bondmate.
“The vampire wants our sister,” Lachlan whispers. “I didn’t remember how bright her glow was.”
Gillian glows. I can see it because of my vampire blood. It tells the royal vampire which beings hold blood that will elongate our lives. It calls to the royal.
My protective instincts flare.
“Don’t,” Lach whispers. “Not yet. Give Gillian a chance to deal with him. She’s done an amazing job here. She’s not a delicate flower. She’s survived and kept our Bron alive. She deserves our respect.” Lach steps forward. “Sister.”
Gillian’s smile grows vibrant. She opens her arms. “Lachlan!”
I watch William Roan as my sister embraces my other half. The vampire studies her like a hungry predator, his eyes following every move she makes. And I would swear the vampire’s fangs are out.
Gillian embraces me, hugging me tight. “Brother, I thought I might never see you again.”
“Yes, I thought the same,” Roan says, every word a silky threat. “Imagine my surprise when I went to wake you so we could leave Aoibhneas.”
Lach lets our sister go. He doesn’t back down an inch from Roan. “I believe I mentioned that we should leave earlier. It was a good thing or our bondmate would be dead.”
Gillian straightens her shoulders. “His Highness, the Prince of the Unseelie Fae, is correct. Her Royal Highness, the Princess Bronwyn, would be dead if her mates had not saved her. You were late, mercenary.”
“I was attempting to keep the princes alive. Torin has guards on the roads. He has spies everywhere. I don’t doubt that the events of the day will reach his ears soon. His Royal Highness has created a huge clusterfuck for my men.” Roan leans across the table. “There is a reason your father put me in charge.”
Gillian laughs, a short, sharp sound that makes me wonder what the vampire did to set my sister off. “Is my father paying you? He shouldn’t.”
The air practically crackles around them. Roan’s eyes get dark and big. The damn vampire isn’t even trying to control himself. “Your father and I made a deal. I don’t get paid, Princess. I get a boon. Your father intends to make sure I get what I want.”
“I’m sure someone of your stature will want gold,” Gillian shoots back. “That’s what you poor vampires want.”
“If you think that gold is what a vampire cherishes, you haven’t spent enough time on our plane. Understand this, Princess. I mean to get what I want,” Roan replies. He shakes his head and seems to calm a bit. “Prince Lachlan, would you like to explain why you and your brother chose to run away from the guard your father sent?”