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)
It would be like an angel getting its wings cut.
It would be like what happened to Bannik over and over again, a wound that will never heal and a reminder that will never stop, a reminder of your power of what you once were and a reminder you will never be that again.
She stands up and moves quickly, entering the bedroom. The door closes with an explosive bang.
I have to admit, I’m not used to getting doors slammed in my face. I raise my hand and knock. “Kit?”
“Why?” Her voice is muffled, but I can see the shadow of her feet in the bedroom light peeking underneath the door. “Why did you never come back? Was it really because of Timber?”
I sigh. “Kit, time shifted. One minute I was back in Egypt; the next, I was given a choice. Save my brother the way he’s always saved me, allow him to survive and love, something he deserved after all his sacrifices in the underworld… or return to you. I won’t lie. I would do anything for you, Kit. But when it came to my love for you and my love for my brother. I chose my brother.”
“You forgot me.”
“Time works differently when you’re thrust out of it, Kit. I have memories flickers of our memories together. I went forward while you stayed back.”
She jerks open the door. “Aren’t I allowed to be angry that I was second choice to your brother? Aren’t I allowed to be selfish for once in my life that I gave up everything for you? That I cut off my beautiful tails for a chance to see you again? She cut me!” Kit shrieks. “She would have killed me had I not traded with her!”
A tear slides down her cheek. It looks like a luminescent pearl. I reach for it, brushing it away softly. “You were very brave for a dumb fox.”
“That’s not funny.” She shoves her hands against my chest. I grab her by the wrists and walk into the room, kicking the door shut behind me. “Let me go.”
I release her hands, backing her up against the bed. “Do you think I’ve forgotten every heated summer night with you? How the water from the river would glisten off your naked body, tempting me day in and day out?”
She gulps and looks down, her eyes uncertain. “It was forbidden.”
“I still looked,” I admit softly. “I still touched you that one time. I still dreamed about it. Most people look to the stars and make a wish—I simply looked at you.”
“Don’t say things like that.”
“Your kisses were always sweet.”
“Sweet. Innocent.” Kit’s cheeks burn bright pink. “You were thousands of years older than me.”
“Gross crush, Kit, even for a dumb fox.”
“Stop calling me dumb fox!” She shoves my chest.
I grip her wrists again and spin her down onto the bed; her short dirty blonde hair hits the mattress, it’s pink pieces glisten against the white duvet. “I would have gone through with it, I think. My self-control was already gone the day I left.”
She squirms. I know it’s embarrassing.
I wish I had my all-seeing eye so I could show it to her—the memory—to show her how adorable she looked when she asked me to be her mate in that forest.
The day before I left.
“I like this one the best.” I run my palm along her orange and white tail. “It has character.”
She flicks my hand away. “That’s because I got it caught between two rocks while I was swimming.”
“And nobody came to rescue you?” I pull her onto my chest. “Did you cry out to your family?”
She squirms beneath my touch. “What family? My entire den was—” Her breath hitches. “—anyway, I’m alone here, I have been for a while.”
“Who taught you? Who cleaned your fur? Who helped you learn to shapeshift? Who caught your fish or collected your berries?”
She laughs. “I’m not an idiot; I did all that myself.”
How tragic.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to promise her that she’ll never be alone again, but I can’t see any of her destiny when I’m in her forest. All I see is darkness shrouding the stars above us, it is its own enchantment, and I’m careful to stay away from the very watchful eyes of the fallen angels guarding each territory. A god randomly walking around with a lesser deity is frowned upon.
Gods would hunt foxes in order to gain the power of their beads, and they’d try all sorts of tricks in order to gain more and more. And anyone watching could easily misunderstand and think all I want from this pretty little fox is what makes her special, when to me, what makes her special… is her.
The Creator eventually made seduction and luring of foxes forbidden.
But what the Creator clearly never took into consideration was foxes seducing the very gods that hunted them, and I’m very much seduced by this one.