Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 62637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 313(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 313(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
“You will always be mine, Kitsune. If you get lost—look to the stars.”
So I do.
I look away from him and up to the stars while my body explodes around his hand, while I feel lust and love for the first time and know I’ve been changed, and when he kisses me again and tucks my tunic back around me, I know. Even if my star is gone, I’ll be okay.
Because I have the sky.
I choke on a breath and fall to the grass, and look up. I’m back at the house. I hear laughter. My face is wet with tears.
I remember that moment.
The stars.
More promises.
Slowly, I rise to my feet. And I walk alone to the house, realizing sadly that many times I’ve been with him—but I’ve also been without him, and this is just a repeat of those times.
I force a smile. And walk into the kitchen.
The girls are busy drinking wine, talking about kids and family things. Meanwhile, the guy who claims to love me, to know me, is going into a place where he no longer has anything.
And yet he left me a gift.
Stars don’t just fall, do they? I gaze upward one last time before opening the door.
No, stars don’t just fall; they soar across the sky, lighting it up like Christmas. I smile as we walk back into the giant mansion. Men are on either side of the door looking more FBI than paranormal. I ignore the fact that the door opens on its own without anyone touching it, only to close behind us with finality.
This is where I’ll stay until Horus comes back.
Because he will come back.
I have to believe it.
The girls, the wives, whatever you want to call them, are all waiting for me in the kitchen. Genesis is making cookies. Hope is feeding Genesis’s kids. Kyra, half-Greek Goddess that she is, is looking at me with pity.
Mason’s wife is currently pouring wine like we’re facing the apocalypse.
And I know. I just know they’re doing everything in their power to make me feel better, but their looks aren’t helping.
“It’s going to be fine,” Genesis finally says, washing her hands. “It always is.”
Stephanie walks into the room. “Of course, it will be. Cassius says it will be, so it will. He’s, um…” She tucks her dark hair behind her ears. “He’s at the gates right now. Horus.”
“Has he gone in?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “He has to go in blind; he can’t use his powers. The Abyss pulls your essence. That’s why the four unnamed haven’t been able to escape.” She draws in a long breath. “There is nothing there that can save you.”
“So, how will he break free?” I ask.
“He isn’t imprisoned,” Kyra explains. “He’s visiting, so now we just pray that he brought something worth exchanging.”
I freeze. “What?”
“You can’t leave without a sacrifice,” Hope whispers softly. I can tell she wants to reach for my hand, to comfort me. Instead, she keeps her hands at her sides, but her eyes say it all. “You must sacrifice for information, but also in order to gain back what you’ve lost, he has to lose too.”
I stumble into a chair. “Why? Why would he do that for me?”
Genesis speaks first, coming over to me and wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “Don’t you see? How can’t you? He’s known you in past lives; he loves you more than you’ll ever understand. How could he not? That should be what you’re asking.”
I shake my head. “I only remember fragments.”
I leave out the sexy one I just saw, and even then, my chest clenches. Who am I to deserve that sort of sacrifice?
“Exactly just like him, he wants to know more, and he’s willing to sacrifice everything for it. For you.,” Stephanie says. “Why else would he go? You’re not human, and you’ve been suffering, and for whatever reason, he thinks it’s his fault, so let him help and know that in the end, all we have control over is waiting until the results happen, waiting until it’s finished.”
I squeeze my eyes shut. “Does it always have a happy ending?”
The room falls silent.
“Okay.” I nod. I draw in a deep breath. “Okay.”
“Ladies?” Timber waltzes into the room. “Okay, bad timing, but I thought we could watch a movie while we wait?”
“How long will it take?”
Cassius walks in past Timber, grabs a bottle of wine, and starts to open it. “It could be minutes; it could be an eternity. Pray it’s minutes because if he’s stuck longer…” He checks the clock. “…then that is his new existence.”
“No longer god of the skies.” Timber curses. “But god of the Abyss.”
Genesis releases a long sigh. “I think we could have been a bit more encouraging with that speech, guys.”
“Sorry,” they mumble in unison just as Ethan walks in.
He glances around the room. “What did I miss?”