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)
Oookay. “I’m listening.”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” he muttered. “But I think we should wait to be together until the marriage vows are spoken.” He arched a brow. “I’m assuming you’ve never been with a man.”
I chewed my bottom lip. “I, um. No, I haven’t.”
The tenderness he beamed at me would’ve knocked me to the floor if I’d been standing. Slowly he lowered his face to mine and kissed my lips with gentle reverence. “Let me make your—our—first time special, as husband and wife.”
His husky words burned a blush of pleasure into my cheeks. “All right. Yes.”
“The wait is going to be torture.” As he straightened, he pulled me to my feet. Smiling at me, he glided his strong hands over my dress, smoothing the material. He even tidied my hair, heart-wrenchingly gentle. “But I swear I’ll make it worth every second.”
Standing there, drinking in his gorgeous, branded face, I could finally see a path to overcome the prophecies written in our books. Tomorrow, I would help acquire Emperor Dolion’s key and reclaim the field of berries. Then, whenever the horn blasted and Astan officially selected Cyrus as a host, Cyrus would refuse, no matter the consequences. He would become king of Theirland, despite this. He didn’t even require the emperor’s blessing. All he had to do? Publicly out himself as a Soalian, lead an army, and take the crown.
But would he agree? I thought he might. There was no other way to get everything we wanted without compromising our futures. Once we’d accomplished our goals, we could wed.
Think of it. Me, Arden Dawn Dolion. Cyrus, my husband. Flutters teased my belly. “Let’s not tell people about our engagement just yet. We have enough on our plates.”
Though he appeared disappointed, he said, “We’ll do this at your pace, however you are comfortable.”
“Thank you.” I was about to snake my arms around his shoulders when I caught sight of Domino, his features etched with pain. Except, no. The librarian wasn’t there. Our bond had dulled again.
A knock at the door ended the conversation and my musings. Time to attend the emperor’s “gathering.”
Cyrus and I walked hand in hand to a temple that featured a statue of Astan, midair, with massive diamond-encrusted wings outstretched, casting shadows across the room. I tried to wrap my mind around the architecture. Nothing held him in the air. Not a cord nor a base. The stone was just there, centered between the ceiling and the floor. More shocking, his horns had risen yet again and were now almost at full height.
I pressed my free hand over the pulse pounding in my throat. Closer to the end than ever.
There were other statues as well: Bala and ten hybrids. The pet dragon crouched behind Astan to watch over him, roaring at the world, ready to leap at one and all. To the right of her was a couple wrapped together in a highly suggestive lover’s pose. Both beings possessed four arms each, and those arms covered a lot of ground.
To the left, two men reached for a large, round orb that hovered several inches above them, and like Astan, it had no anchor. One of the males looked to have daggers rather than fingers, while the other’s fingernails coiled like whips.
A female with three legs, each from a different animal, appeared to dance in flames, while the hem of her gauzy, transparent dress rippled at her feet.
Some kind of lizard man stretched across a dais in the back, his expression projecting boredom, anger, and glee all at once.
A catlike man raised a goblet as if toasting the others, while crystal tears glistened on his cheeks.
The being next to him possessed the lower half of a warhorse and the upper body of a man. He held two swords in the air, the tips crossed.
A man with four faces rode him, looking everywhere at once. One face was that of a human with thorny protrusions, the second some kind of goat, the third what might be a prehistoric lion with two sets of razor-sharp teeth, and the fourth that of a snake-monster-thing.
In the very center of the room posed a beauty I recognized: Briar Rose. My breath faltered. Flowers coiled around her throat, while vines covered her arms and legs. Leaves and petals created a dazzling gown. Roses bloomed in her hands.
Unlike the other statues, these were made with shiny obsidian. Shadows slithered around them all, flowing in and out of cracks.
All of it left me disquieted. Tick tock.
“Astan’s council of gods,” Cyrus muttered. “Prophecy tells us Astan, Briar Rose, and two of the others will be the first to gain their freedom in the coming waves, but it won’t be long before the others follow.”
“Are the gods inside these specific casings? Here?”
“Yes and no.” He lifted our joined hands and kissed mine. “These stones contain their essence, which seeps from a different dimensional plane than ours.”