Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 171450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 857(@200wpm)___ 686(@250wpm)___ 572(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 857(@200wpm)___ 686(@250wpm)___ 572(@300wpm)
She reached for the handle, and it wouldn’t turn.
Walter gasped and released his magic as her portal dissipated. “Holy fuck.”
Graves smiled. “That’s how it’s done.”
Kierse jumped up and down and fell on top of Walter. “Walter, you brilliant, brilliant man. You did it!”
“I did it,” he said in a daze.
“Now perfect it,” Graves said. “We have four days until Kingston arrives. I want my trap set.”
“Yes,” Walter said, coming to his feet. He nodded his head at Graves and added, “Master.”
Graves’s grin was appreciative. “Apprentice.”
With that triumph with Walter’s force fields, they felt more ready than ever. Walter had gotten progressively better as they waited for Kingston’s arrival.
Though Kierse was more jittery over another arrival.
“Are you ready?” Graves asked. They stood before the elevator awaiting George’s return from the airport. He should be there any minute with Bram.
She stared down at their joined hands lost in thought. “What if…what if he doesn’t like me? Is that small to ask?”
He tilted her face up to meet his. “He buried a dead body for you on your first meeting.”
“But he doesn’t know me. That was because of my parents.” She chewed on her bottom lip as she glanced away from his imploring eyes. “I’m still broken inside, you know? I’m not the little girl he met.”
“Look at me.” He tipped her chin up again.
“I hate being like this. I want him to like me.”
“You are one of the most incredible people I have ever met in my life. Not because you’re my wren or a wisp or have magic. It’s the effervescent light that radiates from you. The reason people are drawn to you and love you is because of what’s in here.” He touched her chest. “The loyalty, the fierceness, the dedication. You may have been hurt in the past, but it hasn’t stopped you from showing up for the people who matter to you. Any person who doesn’t love every broken piece of you can fuck right off as far as I’m concerned, and I’ll be happy to tell anyone who accepts my hospitality that fact, all right?”
She swallowed and nodded. “And here I thought we shared an effervescent darkness.”
He chuckled and pressed a kiss to her full lips. “As you wish.”
The elevator dinged, and a rugged monster hunter with a thick beard and shoulder-length hair stepped out wearing a kilt. “Aye, lass.”
Bram threw his bags down and pulled Kierse into a bone-crushing hug. All the fears that enveloped her waiting for his arrival dissipated like a dandelion blowing in the wind. Bram was strong, solid, and here. He was here in New York City. Not a world away in Scotland. Her father’s best friend. The man that had saved her life to get her away from the Fae Council.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” she gasped out.
He released her with a gruff laugh. “I can’t believe it myself. Haven’t stepped foot in the States in some twenty years. Looks a little different than the last time.”
“Just a bit,” she agreed.
Bram held his hand out to Graves. “Thanks for letting me into your sanctum, warlock. I know how your kind normally feels about it.”
“So long as you take care of my most prized possession, then you are more than welcome,” he said as he shook his hand.
“Then we’re agreed. You take care of my goddaughter, and there’s no violence necessary.”
Graves grinned. “My sole mission in life.”
“Okay, enough of that,” Kierse said on a laugh at their posturing.
“I’ll take your bags upstairs, sir,” Edgar said, reaching down to lift the enormous duffle bags.
“Are you hungry?” Kierse asked, guiding him toward the kitchen. “Isolde can make anything.”
They stepped into the kitchen to find Isolde pulling out a fresh loaf of bread. Her favorite to make. She had a cheery smile on her face. “Oh, you made it!” Then her gaze swept to him, and a red flush hit her cheeks and down her chest. “Uh…hello.”
Kierse barely managed to smother her own laugh. Bram was a good-looking man, and Isolde had definitely noticed. “Isolde makes the best everything.”
“Just a cuppa if you don’t mind,” Bram said in his thick Scottish accent.
“Of course. Are you a PG Tips or a Scottish Blend?” she asked, reaching for her kettle.
He cleared his throat. “Actually more of a fruity tea person myself.”
She grinned. “Peach?”
“That would be perfect,” he said with a swoony smile.
Kierse sank into a barstool and watched their flirtatious interaction of them going back and forth on their favorite parts of the motherland.
George appeared a minute later. “Sir.”
Graves ducked out, and Kierse checked over her shoulder to watch him go with half a mind to listen in on their conversation. George handed him a piece of paper, which Graves opened and quickly frowned at.
She hopped off the stool and told the others she’d be back, then headed to the foyer. “What’s up?”