Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
“Breathe,” Jasher instructed and this time, it seemed like a command given to us both.
Had my panic sparked his?
I concentrated on his face rather than my troubling thoughts. He was beautiful in a way that made danger feel like shelter. All lean muscle, molten, sunset eyes, and ruthless precision wrapped in six-foot-four steel.
My own appearance was less poetic. Mud-smeared, bloodstained, torn at the seams. A road-weary wreck beside an unflappable legend. “How are we going to free your brothers from the Guardian’s rule if we’re here?”
His brow wrinkled. “I don’t understand it, but I have a sense that I’ll see them again.”
“Here?” I squeaked.
A shake of his head. “There.”
He might return. I wouldn’t.
My next thought hit hard: What if I lost Jasher?
“For now, we should find shelter,” he said. Scanning the sky above us, he frowned. “A storm comes. I sense that, too.”
A quick glance showed no clouds, only clear blue perfection. And other than sandalwood and orchids, all I smelled was summer: bacon grease, gasoline, and freshly cut grass baking in heat. “I don’t see any signs of a storm.”
“Not with your eyes, no.” He tilted his head, listening to something I couldn’t hear. “Oh, yes. It’s coming.”
My unease doubled. Another complication. “My family farm is a six-mile hike from here.” Paved Kansas roads should be as easy as pie to navigate compared to paths laden with man-eating flowers and toxic sludge pits. “There’s an old barn I used to play in. We can hide there.” I knew all the secret spots.
“Mission accepted.” He pressed a soft kiss into my lips, released me, and straightened. “Point the way.”
I missed his touch already, but at least his warmth lingered on my skin. “First things first. People will notice your weapons.” Maybe we should hide them beneath a trash bin.
He jutted his chin. “I dare anyone to issue a challenge.”
Okay, so leaving them behind wasn’t an option.
Deep breath in, out. If we moved fast, we might remain undetected, making hiding the axes a nonstarter. “Come on.” I clasped his hand and led him across the parking lot, moving farther away from my mother’s chapel.
For a long stretch, shadows concealed us, and no one cried out with alarm. No sirens sounded. When we reached the woods alongside the highway, tangles of leaves offered decent cover, and I relaxed enough to pick up our conversation.
“You should be home,” I mumbled. He’d planned to stay and fight his king. So had I. For the kingdom, yes. But mostly for him.
Jasher was a complicated man with a complex history, trained from birth to obey and execute without question or mercy. And yet, beneath his (sometimes, mostly) cold façade, he was shockingly kind, unerringly fierce, and brutally honest, with a delightful soft spot only for me. He was also a disturbingly good kisser. His strength and skill on the battlefield awed me.
“I cannot regret seeing your home.” He ran his gaze over the landmarks. “Where do you most like to visit?”
Easy. I pointed to a billboard for an ice cream parlor. “Mom and Dad used to take me there after every ballet recital. I always ordered a marshmallow sundae.” Mmm. Marshmallow sundae. I hadn’t enjoyed one in years.
“I don’t know what that is,” he said, “but I want one.”
I bumped his shoulder with my own. “I’ll add it to our list of to-dos.”
As we walked on, clouds gathered overhead, thicker than normal and swiftly darkening. The predicted storm. My pulse jumped.
We made it another half hour without incident.
Jasher groaned and slowed. “Something’s wrong. My joints are stiffening.”
I looked his way—and froze. “You’re glowing.” Stars shimmered across his skin, silver blazing against bronze. Beautiful. Wrong.
Brows knitted, he studied his arms in the light. “This has never happened before.”
I swallowed hard. “Let’s hustle.”
We started forward at a faster clip.
“Just stay calm,” I added. This world couldn’t handle one of his rages.
He was a monstra, able to shift into a ferocious beast. Half dragon, half hellspawn. When the transformation occurred, villages burned.
“I won’t shift.” Determination hardened his tone. “You have my word.”
“That’s great, wonderful, but you’re still glowing like a night light.”
“And we’ll figure out why.”
We picked up the pace again. For three miles, I debated possibilities. When we reached a small stretch with a video store, two drive-thrus and a car dealership—all ghosts of the future—I was no closer to an answer.
The glow hadn’t faded, but it hadn’t brightened, either.
After passing the cluster of businesses, we came to an open road. Nothing to conceal us.
“Tell me what you know of time travel,” he said, perhaps to distract us both.
I exhaled. “Stories warn against meeting other versions of yourself.”
“But you did meet yourself, in a way. Nothing bad happened.”
“True.” Not that I knew of, anyway.
“Perhaps you’re meant to change the future.”
There were things I’d longed to do for years.
Stop Dad’s smoking, preventing his cancer diagnosis.