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)
He softened, but only slightly. “It is. And that is why you are a danger to my very existence.” The more he spoke, the more his voice became the consistency of sandpaper.
The fire in my blood cooled. Had my mission failed so spectacularly? “You still see me as a weakness?” A danger to his power. Not because I was a dragon with ties to the dragon crown. Because I made him feel.
He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I cannot afford what you make me want, princess.”
Nein. Nein! “You can.” I was his firebrand, and he knew it. “But you are afraid.”
“I am.”
The lack of denial shocked me into silence. He’d admitted it. Admitted he feared losing me.
With his guard down, I could have asked about the cost of the rune. Draining, as I suspected? Could have requested he share one of his secrets now, not later. But I’d just spent an hour teaching him that being close to me didn’t have to hurt. I’d not undo that lesson on questions sure to put his guard back up.
He released me, second by second, piece by piece, lifting his head, withdrawing one hand, then the other, then stepping away. Determination hardened his expression.
I knew he would walk away. He had before, when I’d gained too much ground too fast. First at the Tideweave, then during our date. I wrapped my arms around my middle, the inches separating us beginning to feel like a chasm without a bridge.
“Gunnar will escort you to our room. I’ll see you at the ball.” He strode off without another word, as expected, but this time he wasn’t quick about it. He moved at a snail’s pace, as if he warred within himself.
I took comfort in that and didn’t chase after him. Didn’t demand we continue what we’d started. What that kiss promised. That would be foolish. The wiser course of action was to think this through and plan my next move.
Gunnar arrived to collect me, and he looked shell-shocked. “This way, majesty.”
Majesty. A title for a queen.
Trembling, I followed him past the reefs. As we passed line after line of guards, they watched me as if I were some kind of apparition. “Why are they looking at me like that?” I whispered.
“You made him laugh.” A quiet wonder laced Gunnar’s words. “Out loud.”
Had he not before?
I almost smiled. Confirmation that I’d reached him. And now, he’d had a taste of the good stuff. Us, together. Soon, he would want another. And another.
I would be his only dealer.
I would make him laugh again. And again.
I would make him admit what I was to him.
Give up now? I’d rather die. When the ball arrived, I’d have a new plan locked and loaded. My firebrand wouldn’t know what hit him.
Chapter
Seventeen
How do you spot a kraken before he spots you? You don’t.
–An Incomplete Guide to Kraken Survival
Heart thundering, I stood in the entrance of a ballroom transformed. Above, the vaulted ceiling shimmered with three currents of light. One flowed in deep sapphire, like the endless outer sea. Another glowed silver-white, rising and falling in slow pulses that mimicked the dome tide. The last drifted overhead in pale moonlight.
Every few moments the colors overlapped, only for a beat, before separating again, as if rehearsing the moment when sea, tide and moon breathed as one. The air hummed with soft music.
Crystal chandeliers refracted light in the shape of little fish. Yet to me, this didn’t feel like an ocean but an open sky. If I unfurled my wings, I could soar. And in this dress? I’d be doing it in style.
The pearlescent fabric flowed in sheer, layered panels that moved even when I stood still, whispering with every breath. It bared my shoulders and collarbones, cinched at the waist and cascaded freely to the floor. Subtle threads of pearl and silver gave the illusion of clouds. I felt unbound and weightless. A little dangerous.
“Even when you cannot see me, I will be nearby,” Gunnar assured me. “Your protection is my only concern for the evening.”
The mountain of a man stood behind me, as usual. “I don’t think hiding is possible for you, Guns. You are at least a foot taller than the tallest man here.”
“Guns?” He snorted. “Expect to be surprised then. I’m that good.”
I lingered in the doorway a moment more, going over my battleplan to win Sebastian. It was absolutely diabolical, and something he’d never see coming. I intended… to be myself. That was it. If I was his firebrand, and I was, that would be more than enough.
And there he was. Ash and embers, what a magnificent male.
He stood at the room’s center, surrounded by nobles, with Lady Harpa at his side. He looked calm and controlled in black leathers cut to perfection, embroidered with deep sapphire accents that echoed the royal crest and complemented the shadow of kraken power humming just under his skin. A power barely contained, if the runes glowing beneath his clothing were any indication.