Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 98496 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98496 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Nicolo froze. “Say that again, will you?”
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Celestini. The profiles...they were supposed to go to Prince Alexei. He’s the real Mr. Block of Ice. I sent his matchmaking requests to you by mistake.”
Nicolo closed his eyes, the full scope of his error crashing over him like a wave.
“Are you telling me...Maryah was never trying to find me a mate?”
“No! She was trying to fulfill Prince Alexei’s request for compatibility matching. You know how he’s, like, super icy and formal? Hence the nickname. Oh gosh, I’ve messed up everything, haven’t I? Do you think I’m really going to get fired—”
“Ada?”
“Yes, Mr. Celestini?”
“I think you should update your resumé.”
Chapter Nine
“Iapologize, Mr. Celestini. Ms. Gray still isn’t accepting visitors.”
Janet, the receptionist at Maryah’s new apartment building, didn’t add “today” or “again.” She didn’t need to. The past thirty-one days had followed the same pattern: Nicolo would arrive, ask to see Maryah, and leave with nothing but the knowledge that she was still breathing somewhere in the building above him.
“I understand. Thank you.”
Nicolo had just turned to leave when the receptionist called out to him.
“Mr. Celestini?”
He glanced back at her.
“I’m not sure if this will be of any help, but I might have overheard...”
Her next words had Nicolo’s face turning blank. “I see.”
He waited until he was back in his car before allowing the full import of Janet’s revelation to hit him.
Maryah.
L’Alliance.
Alexei.
That...could only mean one thing, and if he was too late...
No. No. No.
Nicolo felt as if someone else had taken over his body as he heard himself instruct his driver to take him to the headquarters of L’Alliance. It was as if he could no longer bear to live inside his body, knowing that with every second that passed, his chances of getting her back were also getting slimmer.
God, please.
To preters like him, God had always been real but rarely acknowledged, Him being something they could not understand because of the way He seemed to favor humans over all other races, and for reasons that didn’t make sense. It didn’t matter which period of history they were in. Humans were His favored child while preters like him were...not.
But because he had seen how belief in God had changed the lives of even the most powerful preters like Domenico Moretti, in which the powerful Lyccan prince had to be brought low in order to realize the true source of his strength rested not in worldly power and wealth...
I know I can’t do this on my own.
Please.
Help me get her back.
THE L’Alliance Cathedral loomed against the skyline, its red and gold spires catching the afternoon sun. Inside, the main reception area bustled with supernatural activity, winged Souris gliding between levels, shifters of every designation moving with purpose, and the occasional Caro in formal attire casting disdainful glances at human visitors like me.
It wasn’t my first time to be here, but the place’s grandeur was still overwhelming, and the way every inch pulsed with preternatural power still daunting in ways that I didn’t even know how to express.
Like, seriously.
What was I even doing here?
After moving out of the Celestini mansion—best decision ever, even if my new apartment was half the size and twice the price—I’d thrown myself into work. Expanded the client base. Refined the algorithms. Pretended I wasn’t counting down the days until I had to fulfill Nicolo’s ultimatum or lose everything.
And now time was up.
“Please follow me, Ms. Gray.”
I followed the attendant through the grand atrium, past the security checkpoints where guards gave me the standard human-who-doesn’t-know-her-place once-over, down corridors that seemed to shift and change as we walked. Finally, we reached a section marked with the Blood Oval emblem, a perfect circle rendered in what I hoped wasn’t actual blood.
Prince Alexei will see you shortly.” He disappeared inside, leaving the door slightly ajar.
And that’s when I heard it.
Nicolo?
My heart stuttered, then raced like I’d mainlined espresso directly into my veins.
That had to be...Nicolo.
I couldn’t be mistaken about it, even if my heart had yet to recover from the wound he had inflicted.
Why...why was he here?
My body moved before my brain could catch up, pushing the door open without announcement, and I froze in shock upon seeing Nicolo...standing next to Prince Alexei?
“Maryah.”
It hurt, oh how it hurt to have him say my name, and it hurt even more to see him looking so...different. He was still handsome, still immaculately dressed, but there was also an unmistakable gauntness to him that just didn’t feel right.
“W-What are you doing here?” I whispered.
“I came here to let you know I lied—” His jaw clenched. “—about everything.”
“I d-don’t understand.”
“The Blood Oval never demanded you get married.” His voice was steady, but I caught the faintest tremor in his hands before he clasped them behind his back. “That was me. I invented it.”
The floor seemed to tilt beneath my feet. “But w-why?”