Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
2
The room was perfect.
Echo pulled on the iron handcuffs William had given her to make sure they were locked securely to the bed frame. It had taken a while to find accommodation that used metal bed frames. It wasn’t the best hotel, but Echo imagined that would only make her part as a journalist on assignment more realistic.
She slid her fingers over the silvery iron. Pure iron wasn’t as tough as the iron used in most products these days. It was slightly more malleable. For instance, if it were Echo being locked into these things, she’d snap them off in a second.
William had warned her that fae sensed when iron was in the vicinity, but considering Elijah didn’t know what he was, Echo reckoned he wouldn’t understand if he suddenly experienced fatigue when he entered the room.
William thought she was still in the early stages of investigating Elijah. That she hadn’t been able to learn much about him in Vienna but that she’d caught his attention, and they’d agreed to meet on the last leg of the band’s tour. Garm soldiers had accompanied her but were staying in a different hotel to not arouse suspicion. Echo was to call on them if she discovered Elijah was in fact fae. And William had given her the handcuffs to test him.
She didn’t need to test him.
Echo had known as soon as she got close to Elijah in that bar that he was fae. Not only did he emit incredible energy that pushed against her body like a wave but he smelled so similar to Niamh Farren. Sweet, heady, like hot caramel. And yet his scent was different too. It was also smoky and woodsy, almost like a werewolf’s base scent but not quite. An intriguing combination. His scent had been hard to resist, as had the pulse in his neck.
In that bar, sitting across from him, she’d imagined sinking her teeth deep into him and drinking while he thrust inside her. That never happened to Echo. She always had her bloodlust and sexual desire under control.
Elijah Webb wasn’t even her type.
Echo curled her lip in self-recrimination.
It had to be the fae thing.
And yet … she hadn’t felt drawn to Niamh Farren like this.
Maybe Niamh hadn’t stuck around long enough for Echo to feel the draw.
Shaking off her ridiculous anxiety over being attracted to the damn fae, Echo launched up off the bed and smoothed her tight dress down her body. It was short but classy. Way more expensive than a journalist could probably afford, the designer navy cocktail dress molded to her figure. It had a modest high neckline but bare shoulders, and in the back was where all the fun was to be had—except for one strip of beaded fabric holding the dress together, Echo’s back was bare.
Six-inch navy stilettos made her legs look like they went on forever.
She was dressed to seduce a fae so she could trap him in iron.
It should be easy enough.
Before arriving in Vienna, she’d used the file William gave her to research Elijah Webb thoroughly. Born in Carlisle but moved around England until approximately six years old. From there was settled and raised in East London by the Webbs—Nancy, a midwife, and Bill, a high school math teacher. In his youth, Elijah seemed to make no mark on the world at all, though his school records proved he was intelligent and industrious. He’d been accepted into five of the top schools in the UK and had gone to UCL with two of three friends he’d formed a band with at age sixteen. The Strix, named after a mythological bird of ill omen who (ironically) fed on human blood (Echo wondered if that wasn’t a prophetic name to give his band considering her current plans), had gotten a record deal when Elijah was twenty. The Strix found fame with their second studio album two years later and had grown in popularity over the last four years.
Contrary to the lie she’d told Elijah, even Echo had listened to and enjoyed some of their music.
In all that time, there had been no news articles surrounding Webb, no incidents mentioned in the supernatural websites or online chat groups until the last eighteen months. Nothing in his medical records. No illnesses as a child, no fever, no flu or broken bones. Odd, but not something people would likely have picked up on. It made Echo question if his parents knew about his abilities.
Online mentions of Elijah only surfaced after supes who’d met him commented on the energy levels he exuded. This was the reason William had sent Echo after Elijah. And Elijah had no idea to mute himself because he didn’t know he was in danger from The Garm.
Because he didn’t know he was fae.
And Echo was one hundred percent positive he was fae … because … she sensed it. When she’d called him a warlock, she perceived no denial within him, only discomfort that someone might guess how powerful he was. How Echo could feel that, or any of his emotions, she didn’t know. And she didn’t care to understand. It was probably all in her head.