Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 123190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
Kendrick glances toward the door, then rests his forehead to mine. “Your handmaid will be here soon.” His fingers deftly fasten the top few buttons of my blouse.
“When did those come undone?” I ask, watching his strong hands and wishing we hadn’t been interrupted.
The corner of his mouth twitches up in a lopsided grin. “Let’s just say it’s a good thing I can’t stay.”
“Hmm. We might have different definitions of good.”
He groans. “Don’t tempt me, Princess. I’m already struggling with restraint when it comes to you.” He fastens the final button, then presses a hot, open-mouthed kiss to my clavicle just above his fingers. He sucks lightly before pulling away, and my whole body goes tight and hot, but then his mouth is gone and he’s backing toward the door. “Enjoy your bath. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Felicity
HER FRIEND HAS MAGIC.
Not like these wicked fae, and not like the mages back home in Elora. Crissa knows the words to murmur when the pain and the darkness and the panic are too much and Jasalyn can’t stop shaking. She knows how to make the panic stop, how to protect Jasalyn from her own thoughts.
Her whispered incantations calm Jas. They bring sleep when the terror threatens to destroy her from the inside.
But they leave her friend weak. Make her sleep for hours.
Her friend says magic is life, says she knows how to channel her energy into healing, says it’s okay, she doesn’t mind, says she needs Jas to hold on.
Can you do that for me? Can you hold on?
Her friend says the sleeping is normal. She says it’s because she’s a human using fae magic. She says help is coming. She says Jas needs to have faith in the life waiting for her beyond their cell walls. She says Jas will get to go home soon.
But her friend’s been sleeping for two days now, and Jas is afraid she won’t wake up.
Another day without the Wild Fae king in residence, another day wondering what exactly I think I’m doing.
I can’t deny it anymore. I have feelings. Big, complicated, inconvenient feelings.
And to top it all off, the ball is tomorrow night and chatter around the castle is that dozens of the guests are eligible females who would be ideal as the new queen. As someone who’s expected to be in attendance and cannot be Misha’s queen for dozens of obvious and less obvious reasons, I’m dreading the spectacle of watching females throw themselves at him.
I’m so desperate for some time alone with him before the big night that I find myself breaking early from my research and wandering the castle looking for a sign he’s returned from whatever important, kingly errand he’s been on today.
I’m headed out to the training yard for the second time since lunch when I run into Tynan.
“Still looking for the king?” he asks.
My cheeks heat. “I’m not trying to bother you. I didn’t have anything better to do, so I thought I’d check out here.”
I should return to my books, should get back to scouring the Wild Fae maps for remote mountain ranges where the portal could be. But instead, I’m chasing after a male I can’t have.
Tynan smiles at me. “You miss him.”
I drop my gaze to the floor, worried he can read too much there. “I wondered if he wanted to have dinner with me. It’s not a big deal.”
“He was called out to another realm unexpectedly this morning.”
My head snaps up. Another realm? “Where? Elora?”
“The Wild Fae have close ties with Summerbend, it’s another faerie realm.” He cocks his head to the side. “I promise you, he’s perfectly safe there. He might be more respected in that realm than he is in his own.”
“Did he go by goblin?”
“No. Goblins travel between Faerie and Elora because the realms are so closely tied, but even they aren’t powerful enough to travel between here and Summerbend.”
Which means he traveled through a portal.
“Ah, and there he is now,” Tynan says. “See? I told you there was nothing to worry about.”
“Who was worried?”
I spin at the sound of Misha’s voice. Tynan was right. I did miss him, and I can’t deny the feeling of relief that falls over me at the sight of him. His olive skin looks darker this afternoon, like he spent his day out in the sun, and I can’t resist skimming my gaze over him, as if I need to make sure he came back unharmed. I find no wounds. Only his broad chest in his lightweight tunic and his muscular thighs visible through his fitted leather riding pants.
“The princess wondered where you’d gone. When I told her you were in another realm, I think she was worried you were in Elora and might find trouble there.”
“Is that true?” He steps closer, then seems to remember himself and stops in the middle of the corridor, tucking his hands into his pockets.