Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 153795 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 769(@200wpm)___ 615(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 153795 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 769(@200wpm)___ 615(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
I’m hopeful about it. He was in hiding for over a year before showing up in Meriva again.
Before I can get too far away, Thane catches my hand and reels me toward him. I wind up between his thighs and can’t help shaking my head and smiling as he reaches up to clasp my face in his hands.
“Kiss me one last time before you go,” he murmurs, already bringing my face down so our lips can meet.
He kisses me softly, tenderly, and the strongest, most delightful buzz courses through my bones. Shadows. Do I really want to go through with taking it slow? Climbing him like a tree seems much more ideal.
I break the kiss and replace my lips with my index finger, pressing it to his mouth. “I think you’re trying to unravel me.”
He smirks behind my finger. “Is it working?”
I huff a laugh as he lowers his gaze. For some reason, he frowns as he sweeps the backs of his fingers across my chest. “Where’s your necklace?”
I instantly look down. My stomach hollows as I rub my chest. “Oh my gods.”
“What?” he asks, now a bit more concerned.
My eyes drift to the cabin door, as if my necklace will just appear there. “I—I don’t know where it is. It must’ve fallen off while we were escaping or…”
As I snap my gaze back to Thane’s worried and partially confused eyes, it hits me like a ton of alvanite.
No…it didn’t fall. It was snatched off of me.
I remember feeling a popping sensation when Seferin grabbed me by the collar of my shirt. I thought it was just threads breaking loose, but that was my chain snapping.
He took my necklace. Oh gods. I didn’t even notice.
Panicking, I start to run for the door so I can search for it on the deck, but before I can go anywhere, dizziness strikes me, and the interior of the cabin feels as if it’s expanding and then contracting.
“Zaira,” Thane calls with more urgency. “Are you okay?”
The ship crew quiets as they look at me.
“Is there something you need, Zaira?” Conred asks.
The oddest sensation comes over me before I can answer him or Thane. Something putrid and cold seeps through my skin, and an icy chill slithers through my veins. The edges of my vision tunnel, and black shadows swirl inward. Everything is so black. I can’t see.
Several of the crew members gasp while one of them curses loudly.
“What’s happening to her?” I hear Conred call out.
Their voices are drowned out by the sound of my roaring pulse and panicked breathing.
Then a familiar, sinister voice enters my mind.
Mind and marrow. Soul and dreams.
I’ll take from you to restore my means.
The chant is repeated.
Again.
And again.
And again.
The blackness in my vision clears, and I feel my knees weaken. Thane catches me before I can collapse on the floor, and he holds me close.
“What just happened?” he asks as our eyes connect. “What did you see?”
“I didn’t see anything. It was all black,” I answer as the crew steps in closer, surrounding us. “I heard someone.”
Thane leads me back to the bed so I can sit. “Do you know where your necklace is, Zaira?” There’s a unique tone to his question, like he has an idea of what the answer might be but needs to be certain it’s not true.
“Seferin,” I croak, shivering. Why am I so cold now? “I heard Seferin’s voice. I—I think he has it.”
Thane lowers to a squat in front of me with panic swimming in his eyes. “Fuck.”
“What?” I reach for his hand. “What does this mean?”
He gives my hand a weak squeeze. “It means…” He swallows hard. “It means you—”
I widen my eyes, waiting for him to tell me. When he turns to Analla and shakes his head, it dawns on me—what he’s struggling to say.
“It means I’m the one who’s cursed now,” I whisper.