Total pages in book: 401
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
“Well, considering the current state of things…” she said, waving an arm around, “I had no idea what I would be walking into. Figured I’d better get in and check things out first.”
“Makes sense,” my father chimed in.
Millicent gave him a blinding smile. “Thank you. I thought it was a very senseful thing to do.”
The deep, long breath I took didn’t do shit for me as I resisted the urge to tell her senseful didn’t fit that sentence. “Where have you been?”
“Where have you been?” she parroted.
My nostrils flared. I didn’t even ask what kind of question that was. The answer would make as much sense as her throwing the question back at me did.
She shifted her weight from one heel to the other, and the corners of her lips tightened as her gaze darted around the atrium. “Where is my sister?”
What came out of my mouth might shame me later. “Like you give a fuck about your sister.”
Millicent stiffened.
“Kieran,” my father said, his voice low.
“No.” A muscle ticked in my jaw. “She’s been gone. If she cared enough, she would’ve been here.”
Something akin to pain flickered across her face as she sucked in a sharp breath, but I figured I had to be imagining it because I wasn’t sure Millicent was ever in the right frame of mind to experience that.
“You have no idea what I do or don’t care about,” she fired back.
“And you know what? I don’t—” A deep moan cut me off, drawing my gaze to the empty, dark hall behind her. Remembering the thudding sound, I took a step forward. “Millicent?”
She clasped her hands in front of her. “Yes?”
“What was that sound?”
“Why would you think I know what the source of the moaning in your haunted castle is?” she countered.
My father started forward, obviously at his wit’s end. “I’ll check it out.”
“No. No need.” Exhaling loudly, Millicent rolled her eyes. “I’ll go get him.”
“Him?”
She was already moving down the hall…humming.
My father looked over at me.
“I don’t even know what to say about that. Her.” I shook my head. “Whatever.”
Luckily, Millicent didn’t take her time. She disappeared around the bend in the hall and then reappeared a second later, dragging a…person-sized sack along the wall.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I muttered. What now?
“You know, I could use a little help.” She dragged what was clearly a person straight into the base of a heavy pedestal. “Oops.”
My father met her halfway and took the rope from her. He started to lift whoever was in the sack.
“I wouldn’t waste precious time or effort on him,” Millicent said, her arms swinging at her sides. “Thank you, kind gentleman.”
My father only looked at her and then dragged the sack a bit more gently as she skipped back to the atrium.
“Who is he?” I asked as my father let go of the rope.
“He is why I’ve been gone.” Millicent knelt and untied the rope at the top of the sack. Pulling the burlap back, she revealed matted, blood-streaked golden hair and—
“Callum,” I spat.
“Yep.” She rose. “I’ve been chasing him clear across the kingdom as he tried to get back to his daddy.”
“Daddy?” My father frowned.
“Kolis,” I said. “It’s not really his father but…” Picking up on another set of footsteps echoing from the corridor opposite the Hall of Gods, I dragged a hand down my face. Who now? Knowing my luck, it would be Reaver. “Where did you find him?”
“Somewhere between Lockswood and it doesn’t matter,” she replied as Callum’s pale face tensed. “Hold on.”
Before I could say a word, she reached between the halves of her cloak and spun. There was only a brief glint of crimson—bloodstone—before she plunged the blade into Callum’s chest.
My father’s brows lifted as the Revenant’s body jerked once, twice, and then stilled.
“Bloodstone burns like a bitch.” She wiped the blade on the burlap and rose, sheathing it. “I figured if anyone knew anything about Kolis, it would be him. He’s a fucked-up treasure chest of fucked-up information.”
I stared at Callum. Having him here a few weeks earlier could’ve changed everything. I kept that to myself. The less conversation with Millicent, the better. Glancing over to the hall, I spotted Malik.
A barely-there smile appeared on Cas’s brother’s face when he saw my father. It did little to soften the harshness of his features, but there was some measure of relief in his expression.
“Malik,” my father called after a deep inhale.
Seeing Malik was almost like looking at Valyn—a man he’d known his whole life. It had to be hard.
And he hadn’t even seen Attes yet.
Millicent stiffened, muttering under her breath, “Fuck my life.”
Malik was still several feet from the mouth of the hall, but he heard her. His already bloodless face paled further. He jerked to a stop as he entered the atrium, his wide eyes finding her immediately.