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)
“Give a fuck? No need to say it. That much is evident.” He glanced at the door again, and his eyes were narrowed when they returned to me. “Don’t even think about shifting on me. Whatever the fuck you are now won’t win that fight.”
I followed his stare, not surprised to see that sharp claws had replaced my fingernails. I slowly returned my gaze to the draken. “Didn’t seem like that when we went at it before, now did it? You want to put it to a test?”
His pupils contracted once more. “What I want is for you to wake your wife up,” he hissed. “I did my part. I got Attes. He did his part. He broke the connection between her and Kolis. Now, it’s your turn.”
“Exactly how do you propose I make that happen?” Shimmery ice crawled up my throat. “Because I have tried everything, you fuck. I’ve held her. I’ve talked to her. I’ve begged her. I’ve tried to find her in dreams. I’ve even yelled at her,” I spat, ashamed to even admit that I had yelled at her sleeping form in desperation. “Nothing has worked.”
“Have you tried not getting yourself nearly killed?”
I went completely still.
Reaver smirked.
I snapped.
There was no other way to describe it. I moved before I realized I was doing it. In one heartbeat, I had Reaver against the wall, my hand around his throat. “What did you say?”
“The truth.”
A growl peeled my lips back as the vibrating in my veins hit my flesh. I lifted him, fangs bared.
Through strands of blond hair, the draken’s eyes narrowed. “Careful with those claws,” he warned softly as the sound of footsteps drew near. “You saw what can happen if you draw a draken’s blood.”
“Nah,” I drawled. “I think I’m going to thoroughly enjoy it.”
“You have no idea how badly I want to see you proved wrong.” Reaver gripped my arm. He tried to move it and failed. “But if you end up with another missing finger,”—he paused—“or a missing hand, meyaah Liessa will be upset.”
“She’ll get over it,” I said, my grip tightening on his throat until I felt his flesh hardening beneath my hand.
“She needs to wake up first,” he retorted.
Muscles tensing, I tasted ash in my throat. There was a good chance I was about to do that unfortunate thing I was trying to prevent.
“Look, I get it. You’re angry. You’re worried Kolis will find a way to get back inside her. You feel helpless and desperate. You would do anything for Poppy to wake up. I get it,” Reaver choked out. “Because I feel the same as you do. I’d do anything for Jadis to wake. But the difference is, I’ve spent a lot longer with that desperation.”
My jaw clenched. If that was true, then his repeated visits since he’d found Jadis were born of the same fruitless desperation as my yelling at Poppy was.
“What in the…?” My brother’s voice exploded from the end of the hall.
Reaver lifted his other hand, telling Malik to stay back. “Everything’s fine.”
“No,” I stated. “It is not.”
The draken’s eyes rolled.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but, Cas, you need to put the draken down,” Malik said, his voice low-pitched and steady as if he were speaking to a feral animal about to attack. “And you need to put him down gently.”
“I will if he swears not to come near this chamber again,” I said, not taking my eyes off Reaver.
The draken said nothing.
Malik drew closer. “Do I need to get Kieran?”
“No,” both Reaver and I answered at the same time. But the draken continued. “Someone has to handle the business of running a kingdom.”
I growled, and the sound was distinctively…feline.
“Besides, I was about to leave,” Reaver tacked on.
Bull. Shit.
The draken smirked at me.
My grip tightened until I saw a flicker of pain in his slitted eyes.
“Let him go,” Malik urged. “He can’t leave unless you do, and that’s what you want.”
I didn’t want to let him go. In fact, I wanted to see him bleed.
Malik cursed under his breath. “Cas,” he said, placing his hand on my shoulder. “You should be with Poppy.”
My head snapped in his direction, and whatever my brother saw in my face had him dropping his hand and taking a step back. He got an eyeful of my fangs, too.
Malik’s shoulders tensed. “She needs you.”
The only other person—besides Poppy—in this realm or beyond, who could’ve gotten through to me would’ve been Kieran. At least at one time.
But those three words…
Fuck.
I released Reaver, forcing myself to take several slow, measured steps away. Both sides of his neck were red. “Leave and do not come back.”
The draken looked like he wanted to put me through a wall, but he turned and started walking, then stopped and looked over his shoulder. “The next time you do something like that, I will not hold myself back.”