Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 165618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 662(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 165618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 662(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
“I’d love that, Cat,” she whispered, but the words were choked and tight, and I knew the emotion behind them was about the fact that I hadn’t made it official, but all my gals knew they were losing me.
“You’re not getting rid of me that easy,” I promised. “I’ll be down a lot. And as queen, I can haul you all up to me too.”
She kept holding my hand tightly.
I held hers the same.
But the time came, and in that moment, with my most recent thoughts fresh in my mind, I hated doing it.
Because that night marked an official change in my life. And even if now, I was eager to face my future with Tanyn, that didn’t mean I wouldn’t miss the season of my life I was leaving behind.
Part of me wanted to cling.
But eventually, as always, she and I had to let go.
And it stung.
Deeply.
But we did it.
We three found each other during the first dance.
By “we” I meant Gayle, Mon and me.
And that dance was Aleksei and Laura’s dance.
As did everyone at the party, we stood in a ring around the dancefloor as the band with a female human singer, who had a sultry voice, beautifully sang the famous, soulful love song, “My Beginning and End.”
Laura didn’t appear happy and content, as she had done these last months she’d been with Aleksei.
She looked radiant.
Aleksei didn’t appear confident and delighted he’d scored his perfect mate.
He looked doting.
There was pomp. There was circumstance. There was a threat hanging over our heads. And they were having this intimate moment with over two hundred and fifty beings watching.
But they were in their own world.
“Oh shit, I think I might cry,” Monique mumbled.
I took her hand.
Gayle took mine.
We held on.
Hmm.
Okay.
Maybe I didn’t have to let go.
Maybe I just needed to loosen the hold, but still hold.
And on a squeeze for both of them, I determined I’d do that.
Forever.
Sometime later, I was laughing with Estra, who was relating hilarious stories about Uly, Nayden and Tanyn.
“When they get together, they’re just such…” She struggled to find a word, then found it. “Dudes.”
I laughed again.
“Though, allow me to assure you,” she went on. “Tanyn is less dude than the other two.”
His life had been more serious, more severe, so that wasn’t a surprise.
In fact, as insane as it was, I sort of wished he felt free to be more dude-like.
Occasionally.
“You don’t have to entertain me,” she said, regaining my focus. “I can fend for myself, and I know you have to mingle.”
“I’ve been mingling for three hours, not to mention, I’m going to have a lifetime of mingling,” I reminded her. “And the way you and Uly are, with who Uly is to Tanyn, it seems I might have a lifetime of you too.”
Black started seeping into her eyes, and I was glad to see it. It meant she felt the same about Uly as he did about her.
“So right now, my priority is you,” I concluded.
“That was…incredibly kind,” she replied, deep feeling behind her words.
“I’m not just a pretty face in a fantastic dress,” I quipped.
She smiled.
Suddenly, I felt a strange sensation gliding up the back of my neck.
It wasn’t pleasant.
It was so unpleasant, the red started to encroach in my vision.
I turned and scanned the crowd.
Beings were talking, drinking, and in the next room, they were dancing.
Some of the beings there, I knew (obviously). Others I’d met that night. Even others, I’d seen pics of somewhere along the way. And the last of them I simply didn’t know.
But no one was paying me any mind.
I found Tanyn and did another scan to see if this feeling was about someone watching or approaching him.
He was speaking with King Niall’s brother and his wife, and there didn’t seem to be anyone who was paying him undue attention either.
He also didn’t appear to be more alert, like he felt what I felt.
I located Aleksei and Laura, then Gayle and Mac, and Aleece and Bain.
All good.
However, when I found Monique, she was making her way across the room with purpose.
Though, she was heading toward the ladies’ lounge, so perhaps she had some business to attend to.
In other words, everyone seemed normal.
So why was I still experiencing that sensation?
“Are you all right?” Estra asked.
“I just got a strange feeling.”
“Do I need to find Uly or Nayden?” she asked urgently.
I turned to her. “They’re trained demon warriors. So is Tanyn. They’d feel something was amiss before me, don’t you think?”
“I would think, but you’re demon too, Catla. You have demon instincts. So should I find Uly or Nayden?”
I scanned the room and my senses.
The sensation was gone.
But I locked on Dinyn Climbright, just because Tanyn didn’t like him.
He was in the other room, dancing with one of Lex’s cousins.
“I think I’m just being overwrought because of all that’s going on,” I said.