Total pages in book: 362
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
“This is a responsibility.”
“One that can wait,” he argued.
“Ash.” I wrapped my hands around his arms. “I appreciate what you’re doing right now. I do. It’s sweet.” I stretched onto my tiptoes and kissed him. When I settled back on my feet, I saw that his eyes were now like pools of warm silver. “Not only am I ready to do this, I feel fine. But if I start to feel like I’m hiding, I won’t feel fine.”
“You’re not hiding.” His fingers trailed over my cheek. “I’m hiding you.”
“You’re hiding me because you don’t want me to get overwhelmed.”
“Damn straight.” His jaw hardened. “You’ve been through a lot, Sera. They can fucking wait.”
I stared at him for a moment, my heart feeling like it was turning to goo. “Gods, I love you. And honestly, if we didn’t have this meeting, I would throw myself at you.”
The streaks of eather whirled. “Meeting is canceled.”
“Reaver is right behind me,” I reminded him.
He dragged his teeth over his lower lip as his gaze dropped to my mouth. “He can join Jadis in terrorizing Bele.”
I laughed. “We’re going to have this meeting. We need to. Kolis may be holed up in his Court recovering, but he won’t stay that way for much longer. We can’t waste any time.”
Ash held my stare. “Fuck,” he muttered, his lashes lowering.
Knowing I had won, I smiled. “I just need to do something with my hair.” I waved in the general vicinity of my head. “I’m sure I look like a madwoman.”
Reaver made another low chuffing sound. Little brat.
“You look beautiful,” Ash replied. “But I’ll grab a brush.”
Before I could say anything, Ash disappeared into the bathing chamber and returned quickly, comb in hand. He gestured to one of the chairs. “Sit.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked as I went to one of the dining chairs and sat. Reaver followed, taking up position once more by my legs. “It’s a real pain to untangle.”
As Ash carefully worked the comb through the curls and waves, holding the strands above the comb so my head didn’t jerk, I felt Reaver rest his head on my knee. I reached down and gave the back of his neck a scratch. A soft purring sound radiated from him. “You like that, Reaver-butt?”
His vivid blue eyes closed, and he let out a happy little trilling sound. I smiled at his reaction to his nickname, relieved to see him in a better headspace than last night.
My eyes drifted shut as Ash quickly and painlessly freed the tangles. He was far gentler than I was with my hair, and there was something incredibly soothing about him combing it. I practically tore the thing through the strands, impatient and annoyed with how easily it tangled.
“You know,” I said, opening my eyes, “for a Primal of Death, you’re really good at getting the knots out of my hair.”
“It’s another of my hidden talents.” Tossing the comb onto the table, he divided the strands into sections and quickly braided the length, tying it off with one of the remaining hair bands. “As is braiding hair.”
“I like your diverse skill set.”
Chuckling, he pulled on the braid, tugging my head back, then bent to drop a kiss on my lips. “Ready?”
I stood, glancing in the direction of the adjoining chamber. Tiny balls of anxiety started bouncing in my stomach, but I squashed them before Ash absolutely refused to hold the meeting.
Reaver sank back onto his haunches and then pushed into the air, rapidly moving his wings until he rose and was at my shoulder. It still blew my mind how the draken switched forms, changing their entire body shape. What did it feel like when Ash shifted into the silver wolf? I hadn’t asked him—
I jerked to a stop. “Cave cat.”
“What?” Ash halted in the arched doorway, turning to face me.
“I had a dream while in stasis.” I pressed a hand to my chest as I stared up at him. “It was right before I woke up. I was at my lake, and I saw a cave cat standing on the shore—a silver cave cat.” I’d seen something else but couldn’t focus on the memory long enough to remember what. My heart thundered. “All Primals have…what is it called? A nota? An animal they can transform into. Right?”
Ash squinted. “Yes.”
“Okay, so when I saw the cave cat, she felt like me,” I told him. “Like I was looking at myself. Could that mean I can…?” It was almost too impossible to say. “Can I shift into a cave cat?”
“I don’t remember seeing anything like that during stasis, but it could mean that,” he said. “It usually takes time for a Primal’s first shift into their nota. Took me about a year or so before I could. You will likely be different, though.”