Total pages in book: 222
Estimated words: 213974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1070(@200wpm)___ 856(@250wpm)___ 713(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 213974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1070(@200wpm)___ 856(@250wpm)___ 713(@300wpm)
“And just so you know,”—Callum leaned forward and lowered his voice—“I’m well aware of the wards Nyktos placed around your mortal family. Nice of him to do so, but rather pointless. I’ve already been invited inside Wayfair. No wards will keep me out.”
It didn’t pass me by that I’d just learned something new about the Revenants, but that didn’t matter at the moment. I stepped forward, feeling the embers in my chest thrumming. “If you go near her, I will—”
“What will you do?” His brows rose, causing the painted wings across his forehead to crease as I slowly approached the bars. “Other than offend my senses with your stench. You smell of the ceeren, and the gods only know what else.”
My chest clenched at the mention of those who’d given their lives in the water. “I will make you wish you stayed dead.”
Callum chuckled lightly. “I’m not sure if you realize this or not, but in your current condition and situation, your words are not nearly as threatening as you may think.”
I matched his smile. “How did it feel when I slammed that glass into your throat?”
“Wonderful,” he replied. “Can’t you tell?”
“I don’t know much about whatever you are, but I have to imagine that coming back to life isn’t exactly pleasant, especially when you have numerous injuries to heal.”
His smile froze.
I was right. My lips curved more. “And I bet reattaching your head is painful, just as repairing your heart.” I lifted my brows. “But your cock? How did that feel?”
“I have a question for you,” he said. “How did it feel going through all that trouble, only to end up exactly where you were?”
My nostrils flared with a burst of anger.
“I bet it feels just as good as it did regrowing a dick,” he said. “And by the way, that was totally unnecessary and brutish.”
I rolled my eyes. “Disagree.”
“And so like something His Majesty would do,” he tacked on. “But you have always been more like him than you’ll ever be willing to admit.”
I stiffened. “If you think that, then you know nothing about me.”
“I’ve watched you for years,” Callum announced. “Kept an eye on you for Kolis.”
My skin prickled with irritation. I was getting really tired of learning that I’d been watched. Ash had done it, too, although his reasons had been less…cringe-worthy. “I’m sure that was a stimulating task.”
“Well, not particularly. But when you decided to start spending your time fucking instead of moping about, it became far more entertaining.”
The heat of my anger simmered just below the surface. “You’re such a fucking creeper.”
“Perhaps. But I know everything about you, Seraphena,” he said, the glow of eather flaring in his eyes, though fainter than a god’s. “Every irrelevant detail of the insignificant, sad life you’ve led. I know enough to realize the only time you ever appeared to actually live was when you were killing.”
He struck a nerve, and I glared at him. What he’d said wasn’t true. I always felt like I was dying.
I’d felt as monstrous as Kolis.
I lifted my chin. “Yet you didn’t know who I really was, did you?”
Callum’s lips flattened.
I smirked. Just like with Kolis earlier, I knew better than to clarify that. “You watched me for years, and you never realized that I was the one thing His Majesty,” I said, mockery dripping from my tone, “valued more than the embers of life. I bet that really pissed him off.” I gave Callum my best sympathetic smile. “And worse yet, it likely made him so disappointed in you.”
His jaw tensed.
Something occurred to me then as I leaned in as close to the bars as possible without touching them. “Does he know that you told my mother how a Primal can be killed?”
The Revenant went so still I didn’t think he breathed.
Damn, that response told me there was a good chance that Kolis had no idea, which led to the question of why, exactly, he’d done it. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell him.” I winked. “It’ll be our little secret.”
Callum moved damn near as quickly as a god, standing so only the bars separated us. It caught me off guard—anyone moving like that did.
“I would be very careful if I were you, Seraphena.” His lip lifted enough that I saw he had no fangs. “I can see by your face that Kolis isn’t completely convinced of who you are.”
Was he suggesting that Kolis had never harmed Sotoria? What a fucking liar. He could take that lie and go fuck himself, taking Kolis’s apology with him. “As if him believing that or not matters.”
“If you were truly Sotoria, you would know that it does,” he said. “But perhaps you’ve forgotten. Either way, I know how this ends.”
“Oh, so you’re also an Arae?”
“What I am is patient. I only have to wait. Eventually, Kolis must choose between love and…well, literally everything else.” Callum grasped the bars. He didn’t react. Either he was masking the pain I’d felt when I touched the bars, or they did not affect him. “So, he may humor this…whatever this is.” His gaze swept over me with that cold-as-a-grave stare. “He may spend the next days, weeks, months, or even years convincing himself that you are all he’s ever wanted or needed, but rest assured, you will eventually end up like all of his other favorites.”