Series: Lords of Rathe Series by Meagan Brandy
Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 95227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Legend is a heavy warmth at my back, his arm still slung over my waist, hand splayed against my stomach. For a second, I let myself stay there, eyes closed, breathing with him.
Eventually, reality slaps me upside the head.
I wriggle carefully out from under his arm, easing his hand onto the mattress. He makes a low sound, a protest threaded with confusion, but doesn’t wake fully. I slide off the bed, wincing when my feet hit the cold floor, and steal his shirt off the ground.
Just as I reach for my boots, a rough voice rasps behind me.
“Where do you think you’re going, little monster?”
I glance back to find his eyes locked on the hem of his shirt, brushing against my thighs.
He sits up, sheets pooling around his hips, hair a mess and eyes shadowed. He’s paler than normal and his under eyes look bruised. They might just be, I didn’t exactly see all the damage he did yesterday.
He looks like he’s been trampled by a pack of Lycans and then dragged behind for good measure.
“Back,” I say, straightening slowly. “To the university. The place where I live now, remember?”
“No.” His answer is immediate, flat. “You’re staying here.”
I cross my arms, ignoring the way the movement tugs at bruises. “I said take me back.”
He studies me, gaze moving from the set of my jaw to the stubborn line of my shoulders, and something darker than usual flares in his eyes. “I will burn that place to the ground if anyone even thinks about hurting you again,” he says, voice low and lethal. “I’ll kill every gifted in that place if I have to. Then I’ll come back here and kill the ones who gave them their names. That can’t happen, so I can’t send you back.”
“You don’t have a choice, Legend,” I remind him. “You stood before your people and claimed me as your queen—still fucking ridiculous, by the way. But you did that. That was your premature ass half-cocked decision.”
“You are my mate, Haide. That makes you a queen.”
“If you don’t send me back, you make me look weak.” I ignore his statement. “I will look like I’m hiding or afraid. And I will not fucking hide and I am not fucking afraid.”
“Haide—”
“I think Creed was right and I might have powers,” I cut in, the words tumbling out before I can second-guess them.
That pulls him up short.
“I don’t know for sure, or what I could be able to do, but I need to figure it out,” I speak slowly but firmly, hoping it’ll get through that thick skull. “I can’t do that if I’m tucked away here like some little trophy. I’m not, Legend. If those assholes didn’t have the jump on me, I could have beat them with my hands alone. Imagine if I could do more.”
Slowly, satisfaction curls at the edges of his mouth, tempered by a pride so fierce it steals my breath more than once. He swings his legs over the side of the bed, standing despite the way the motion nearly sways him.
He crosses the space between us, stopping close enough that I have to tip my chin back to keep our eyes locked. His knuckles graze along my cheek so gently it almost undoes me more than anything that happened last night.
“Okay,” he says, voice rough but sure. “Okay, little mate, but I will be watching.”
The word digs into my chest, sharp and sweet, and I pretend it doesn’t.
He takes my wrist and leads me back to The Royal Gateway we entered through.
He reaches for it without hesitation, palm closing around a jagged, golden thorn along the door’s frame. It slices deep into the flesh below his thumb. Blood wells, and he drags it across the center of the door in a slow, deliberate line.
The stone shudders.
The sigils flare, lighting up one by one, following the stroke of his hand until the entire surface glows with blinding radiance. A crack splits down the middle, widening, the air rippling with heat and the metallic tang of portal magic.
A gateway opens.
He releases my hand and steps back. “I’ll see you soon.”
I nod, moving closer, and just before I step through, Legend asks,
“What did you mean when you said you think Creed is right? What did he say?”
Shit.
“He said maybe I had real power. That I should behave while I’m here and figure out if I do.”
“Is that all my brother said?”
“That’s it,” I lie.
Legend studies me for a long moment before finally nodding. “Okay.”
“Okay.” I turn and step through the portal.
If they’re going to come at me, let them come.
Chapter Twenty
Haide
Professor Astra’s class is officially my favorite, even over Warcraft. Shocking as fuck, honestly. I never expected I’d like listening to someone talk more than I would punching their face, but here we are.
That’s because you never had the chance to be taught anything real before now.