Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 48827 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 244(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 163(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48827 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 244(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 163(@300wpm)
Talia leads the way out of the dining room before waiting for me to show her where the war room is located. She follows me through the residence, weaving in and out of hallways quietly.
“What were you all talking about?” I ask when I can't hold it in a second longer.
“Mates,” she answers simply as we continue walking.
“Anything specific about mates or just mates in general?”
“A little of both,” she says, so aloof, so casual. “Annika is very interested in the lore,” she continues. “Of course, all she's seen is happy pairings, and it's natural to be fascinated by our situation.”
The knife slips into my heart another inch, but it's no more than I deserve.
I pause outside the entryway to the war room, not yet offering my hand to the biometric scanner. “Talia,” I start, searching for the right words to make her understand—
“Our king is waiting for us,” she says before I can continue, her eyes flicking to the very intimidating door before coming back to me. “I appreciate you including me on this. It shows that you understand how important this mission is to me, and I’m grateful for that.”
I swallow whatever explanation I'd been about to give her, letting it sink into the recess of my gut. Her words are soft and kind and harken back to the earliest memories I have of her when the sting of what I did to her hadn't affected her.
Times when she would tell me anything, and laugh joke with me. If she’s inching back to that mood with me, that feeling, the last thing I want to do is muck it up with more excuses that won't erase what I'd done.
“I'm never keeping you out of the loop again,” I say before pressing my hand against the biometric scanner, the door sliding open.
We step inside, and I watch her face as she takes in the room.
Her eyes widen as she scans the room and the array of screens on the wall, the computers spread over multiple desks, the lush furniture and eating area, the stacks of books in the far corner on shelves that reach to the ceiling, and then finally to the table in the center, big enough to hold far more than just who's sitting there.
Alek is, of course, at the head of the table, flanked by Lachlan and a rare sighting from Ransom, as this meeting is important enough to drag him away from his pregnant mate.
Hawke sits to the left of him, and Benedict, the king's personal lie detector, sits to the right of Lachlan.
Ajax, Dagon, and Talon fill up another three seats, leaving four empty chairs.
One of them should have Saint in it, and in a perfect world, Samuel.
Saint must be off helping Aurora through another panic attack, his unique ability to slip inside her mind and calm her with soothing dreams one of the only antidotes to the torture his twin brother inflicted upon her.
Talia only hesitates for a moment before she takes the first step toward the table, sinking into a seat next to Talon, who nods to her respectfully. I sit on her other side, grateful my brothers knew her in another life and still treat her as if she wears my mating mark.
It's more than I can ever ask for, as well as not one of them betraying my secret or grilling me over the situation when we were awoken from stasis.
They all knew it was the first thing on my mind as we came out of our deep sleep, and had expressed concerns about it in the beginning, but I'd always shut them down. I’d immediately reached out to any living acquaintances from my past, and they assured me Talia died centuries ago, a rumor she apparently started herself, one that freed her from the obligation of taking her seat in the royal court, no doubt. And Conrad clearly knew she was alive, but no other contacts from our past did. She burned that history down, setting fire to her family’s estate after her parents’ passed, and never looked back.
I'd carried that pain of her death with me while adjusting to the modern world and suffering the horrible blow from Samuel, but when I found out she was alive? I knew every single one of my brothers was wondering what the fuck I was doing and why I wasn't on my knees every second of every night begging for her forgiveness.
Begging for her to take me back.
But I know Talia better than she may even know herself, despite the huntress she'd turned into since I last saw her. I know begging won’t work, only atonement. And like I said the other night, even if it took me an eternity, I would find a way to make up for what I had done.