Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 114925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 575(@200wpm)___ 460(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 575(@200wpm)___ 460(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
If I lost his love, I lost his love. “It will hurt,” I muttered, needing to hear myself say it, “but I. Am. Not. Afraid.” Hearts could mend. I nodded with confident assurance, dulling the doubts. “I’m not afraid.” I repeated the mantra again and again, until I was screaming it. “I am not afraid!”
In the ensuing silence, my heart rate slowed. A heavy weight I hadn’t known I carried lifted from my shoulders, and a little laugh escaped me, all hint of fear gone.
“You are stronger than I anticipated.”
Cyrus’s voice pulled me from my head, and I twisted to face him. He stood in the open doorway, one shoulder leaning against the frame. Though he did his best to appear completely at ease, he couldn’t mask the sharp energy seething beneath his skin.
He held a glass of what looked to be champagne.
“Vyle said the same. But I’m stronger, period,” I replied and grinned. He might host a god, but I served the god. The one who’d defeated Astan before, who would do it again. A fact that I’d lost sight of at some point. I had consumed the Rock. Tsuri himself. Son to Soal. I could do anything. “I believe you mentioned we had a place to be.”
His gaze slid over me—and iced. “There’s something I wish to do first.” He gulped back what remained of the champagne, set the glass on the counter, and closed the distance.
My pulse fluttered. Whatever he intended . . .
He didn’t utter another word. Just lowered his head and slammed his lips to mine. I reacted on instinct, opening for him as I’d done countless times before. Using my culpability to his advantage, he poured the champagne down my throat, ensuring I swallowed it before he thrust his tongue against mine once, twice, three times. He lifted his head and smiled coldly. “Now we’re ready.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
This day, don your armor and take up your weapons, for the battle is upon us.
—The Book of Soal 2.10.6.10
As my former fiancé led me through the castle, I felt as if I floated in a dream. Clouds somehow both light as spun sugar and as dense as fog swept me up in the most delicious, effervescent dizziness. Thoughts loosened, desires unmoored, and inhibitions drifted into the ether.
“You drugged me,” I said, and a little laugh bubbled up.
“Just a bit.” He pinched his fingers, all sheepishness and charm.
My sweet prince. I could almost pretend he was Cyrus again and all was well. “I’m going to defeat you,” I told him, beaming a sunny smile and batting my lashes at him.
He snorted and flashed an indulgent smile I’d missed. “I like you like this. Soft and silly.”
“Wrong. You don’t like me at all.” He couldn’t. “Someone who likes me doesn’t drug or threaten me. You’re more Astan than Cyrus.”
“Impossible. I told you, sweetness. We are one and the same, equal parts of each other.”
“Repeating a lie doesn’t make it true.”
“I can’t dip into his memories without permission, and he can’t dip into mine.” He performed a little spin to gently bop my nose without missing a beat, as playful as Cyrus. “We know only what we think together.”
That couldn’t be right, but okay. “If any part of Astan is mixed into any part of you, that means you are no longer one hundred percent grade-A Cyrus Dolion, and that’s who I love.” My Cyrus was strong and brave, protective and playful. Integrity lived and breathed in his veins. He didn’t murder, lie, or cajole.
“Now, now. I don’t hate you for being bonded to Domino, do I?” he asked, ever reasonable. “Just give me a chance to prove my affection for you is as genuine as always.”
A sliver of me wanted to say yes, but deep down, I knew that choice would open a door I’d never be able to close. “What was in that champagne, anyway?” I tried to force myself to concentrate on what mattered. I had a plan to execute . . . probably?
“Nothing dangerous. Just a little something to whisk all your troubles away. The same substance Felix used.” How amused he sounded. Smug too. “You enjoyed it then, and you are enjoying it now. Admit it.”
“Enjoying something doesn’t make it enjoyable.” No, that wasn’t what I’d meant to say. Or even the crux of the problem. Focus. “You violated my trust.” Yes. That. And how did he know what Felix had done?
“I helped you, and you didn’t even have to ask. You’re welcome.”
Great. He made it sound as if I was ridiculous to question him. “You’re being deliberately confusing. Stop it.”
“Certainly, but only because you asked so sweetly.” He caught my hand, giving my knuckles a soft kiss, sending warm tingles skimming up my arm. Still holding on, he paused at the threshold of a vast chamber and spread his free arm. “Welcome to paradise, Lady Pink.”