Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71403 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71403 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
“Should we go and help them?” I asked, ready and willing to aid him however necessary.
“Until the rune is awakened, we keep our distance from him.” He stared straight ahead.
Noted. “Where are we headed?”
“That’s a discussion best had when we’re nearer our destination.”
Oookay. The car turned a corner, a thriving metropolis coming into view. I scanned, hoping to discover clues. While looking, I kept the conversation going. “Your grandmother is… interesting.”
He shifted closer to me, almost smiling. “She’s one of our most celebrated warriors. As brilliant as she is infuriating.”
Reminded me of Adelaide. I shifted closer to him, too. “We discussed you.”
His irises glittered. “I’m aware. She told you what she knew about my parents, I’m sure,” he said.
“Ja.” No reason to deny it.
“So.” One of his brows winged up. “Tell me about yours.”
Inward flinch. Not a story I usually shared. I always preferred to give only the surface details. Those with no trauma attached. “I’m one of ten daughters, and I’m smack-dab in the middle at five.”
“Ah. So you are the one who balances the scale. Who listens to both sides and facilitates peace.” Sebastian reached out to pinch a lock of my hair between two of his fingers, tickling my scalp.
So he’d expertly described me. So what?
“A female countless berserkers long to call theirs,” he said, his voice low.
A hot blush seared my cheeks. “I’m interested in only one berserker longing to call me his,” I told him. Then I cleared my throat because I’d revealed more than I’d meant.
His expression turned pensive. “I’m surprised you want a firebrand, considering what your father did to your mother.”
So he knew the worst of my family secrets. The memory I still shied away from. “Cedric was our primordial, and ja, he murdered my mother to be with his firebrand. But that only proves his lack of character, not the merits of the firebrand bond.”
Sebastian searched my face for a long while before smoothing the lock of hair behind my ear. His fingers lingered there, so soft, so gentle. “But you loved your parents, both of them. That kind of loss cuts deep and forever.”
The understanding swimming in his eyes threatened to undo me. Because in that moment, I didn’t feel as if I stood in the memory alone. He was right there with me.
“It really does,” I said softly.
His knuckles traced my jawline as he eased back. As soon as contact ended, he turned to peer out the window. “Our destination approaches.” He drew in a breath. “We are to meet with Jon, the kraken-shifter king.”
Oh, wow, my first encounter with his ally and former enemy. “Just so
I understand. I’m here as your consort, proving you’ve got skin in the game?”
“Exactly right.” He offered a wry smile. “Your job is to peer at me as if I’m the most fascinating creature in existence—já, just like that—and I,” he leaned closer to brush the tip of his nose against mine, “will sometimes pretend not to notice.”
He’d brought out the big gun: his playful side. Unable to rally the strength to resist, I purred, “Bastian? If you can go five seconds without smoldering at me, it will be a miracle.”
Chuckling, he gave my chin a gentle tap. “After our meeting with the shifter king, I intend to take you on a date. I want to give you the full consort experience before things get... not fun.”
Cue my brain blipping. Full consort experience? That explained the tuxedo. But first things first. “I’m guessing some of the not so fun stuff starts now.”
He settled more comfortably into the seat. “Recently, the primordial sent his calling card. An entire horde of shifters slaughtered. Their corpses were delivered to Jon. That’s the only reason he’s willing to work with me.”
The horrors, stated so matter-of-factly, hit harder somehow. “The primordial must be stopped.”
“And we will stop him.” Staring straight ahead, Sebastian gripped his knee. His breathing deepened. “Before our meeting with Jon, there’s something I wish to show you.”
To cause such a strong reaction…
What could it be?
He tugged at the index finger of his glove. “You know Jokull held me prisoner. What you do not know is what happened during my imprisonment.”
He pulled at the middle finger next. “There’s a long list of…”
Ring finger.
“...tortures he inflicted upon me.”
The material over his outermost finger flapped slightly before he yanked at it, tugging the glove off all the way.
“He made me watch as he ate my pinky.”
The air grew heavy and warm. The windows inched closer and the roof lower, as if the car shrank around us. Even the hum of the engine felt intrusive.
Sebastian held up his now gloveless hand, revealing the missing finger.
I flattened my palm over my tightening chest. Oh, Sebastian. This wasn’t just a wound, but a reminder of the primordial. A reminder the kraken king carried every day after his escape.