Total pages in book: 194
Estimated words: 187021 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 935(@200wpm)___ 748(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 187021 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 935(@200wpm)___ 748(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)
“I guess I didn’t think about it.” He frowned. “You really hate that you’re connected, don’t you?”
Kierse rose to her feet and dusted her hands off on her shorts. “It’s complicated.”
“Is it because it’s Lorcan? Would you be fine if it was Graves?” he asked through gritted teeth.
“I don’t hate Lorcan,” she said automatically and was surprised to find it was true. “Maybe he isn’t as bad as I’ve made him out to be. He took care of my best friend, after all.”
Ethan grinned. “That he did.”
“But I don’t want anyone or anything to tell me what to do.”
“What else is new?” he said with a laugh.
Kierse shoved him. “Shut up.”
“You’re just so predictable. You get the best thing in the entire world with one of the best people in it and you’re like, ‘Oh man, I’d rather make the worst decision I can instead.’”
She snorted. “Wow. Thanks for the show of support.”
“What would it hurt to give Lorcan a chance?”
“If I ever need a wingman, I’ll tag you in,” she promised. “Until then, stay out of my love life. Deal with yours first.”
Ethan laughed and held his hands up. “Fair. Fair. But…you are going to see him, aren’t you?”
“Yeah,” she admitted, heading across the bank floor. “I guess I am.”
She left Ethan at their tree and followed the invisible string that drew taut between her and Lorcan. Back through the tunnel to the large wooden double doors that he had brought her to the first time she’d shown up in Brooklyn. Behind these doors was the Oak Throne.
Which could be hers.
She put her hand against the door. She could feel him on the other side, though she was uncertain what he was doing in there. Ethan’s words about giving him a chance rang in her ears.
“Fuck,” she muttered.
Then she pushed the door open.
Chapter Fifty-Six
Lorcan looked much like a spoiled prince, lounging across the Oak Throne. One foot braced over the wooden armrest. His head in his hand propped up by his elbow. A navy three-piece suit draped across his powerful figure. All he was missing was the crown slipping over his brow to complete the modern Renaissance painting.
“Heavy is the head that wears the crown,” Kierse said as she stepped into the room.
Lorcan sighed heavily before glancing up at her. “Are you mocking me?”
“Would such a visage deserve mocking?”
“And what visage is that?”
“A king sitting upon his throne,” she said, gesturing to him as she stepped up to the dais. “All you need is the crown.”
Lorcan swirled his fingers in front of him. The golden glow of his magic materialized as he spoke a few indistinguishable words. The scent of summer rain and sunshine hit her afresh as the glow solidified into a crown made of magic. Something solid and yet insubstantial. Ephemeral and molten. It was a shiny gold piece interwoven in intricate Irish knots. He lifted the piece to his brow where it fit her pretty picture perfectly.
She smirked. “There it is. I’ll remember you like this forever.”
He gestured flippantly. “As a king?”
“Irreverent.”
He made a second circle, breathing life into a second crown. This one much smaller and almost dainty, yet powerful. It was a mirror to the first, with the same knots throughout. He held the second piece in his hand. “Then I would need an irreverent queen.”
She laughed. “Could you imagine me in a crown?”
He stood smoothly and took the step down the dais. She froze under those crystal-clear eyes as he settled the second crown easily into her dark hair.
“It suits you.”
She removed it, running her thumbs over the intricate metal work. “How’d you do it?”
“Magic is easier right now,” he said with a shrug. “Give it a day and I’ll be scrounging for summer magic.”
She’d been ignoring the approaching solstice, uncertain what exactly was going to happen this year. She didn’t want to ask. She didn’t want to know. And yet she couldn’t.
“How does it normally work? The Oak and Holly King battle. Are you always together?”
“No. Almost never. The magic releases and one of us is weakened regardless of whether the fight is physical.”
“I’ve read all the books about it,” Kierse said. “The scant few I could get my hands on, at least. They didn’t really explain how this started.”
Lorcan turned back toward the throne. “That is a story for another day, I’m afraid. I don’t have the patience for it today.”
“Is the Oak Throne also part of being the Oak King?” she asked, staring up at the massive thing.
“No. I was the Oak King first,” Lorcan told her. “The throne is for the ruler of the Druids. Only I can sit on it.” His eyes flicked back to her. “And my queen.”
“So why aren’t you in Dublin, then?” She glanced up at the throne. “Why isn’t the tree in Dublin?”
Lorcan flicked his eyes to her. “You know why.”