Total pages in book: 163
Estimated words: 152616 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 763(@200wpm)___ 610(@250wpm)___ 509(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 152616 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 763(@200wpm)___ 610(@250wpm)___ 509(@300wpm)
“I know.” Lord Samriel leaned back, resting one ankle on his knee. The shafts of his boots were polished, but something dark smeared the foot. I glanced at the tile near the door. A footprint in red stained the floor. Blood. I quickly looked away, stomach churning. “I want to hear how you would describe them.”
Not at all experienced in speaking of my abilities, I squirmed. “I have . . . heightened intuition and I can sometimes see the future— in visions or when asked a question.”
“Interesting,” he murmured, the curve of his lips doing nothing to soften the harsh angles of his features. “This heightened intuition you speak of? How does it work?”
“It . . . it guides me toward certain choices. Sometimes I’m unaware of it until I’m doing something.”
“Like?”
My thoughts were so scattered it took a moment for me to think of an example. “Sometimes I’ll see someone and know what is about to occur. It can happen in a premonition— something I see happening in my mind before it occurs— and other times it’s a voice I hear.”
“Voice?” he questioned.
“My own voice. It’ll . . . whisper what is about to occur or it will tell me to stop and listen, take another path or enter a different— ” A scream from outside caused me to jump. My pulse sped up, and my head swung toward the window, but I could see nothing beyond the curtains. Who was that? Someone I knew? A stranger?
“Pay that no mind,” Lord Samriel said, tone gentle and almost kind. His tone had been that way this entire time. Casual, even. “There is nothing you can do for them. Focus on what you can do for yourself and for your friend. What is his name?”
A knot lodged in my chest as I dragged my gaze from the window. “Grady,” I whispered, clearing my throat. “My intuition is just very heightened.”
“And seeing the future?” Lord Samriel asked.
I nodded. “Usually it takes someone asking me a question. I . . . I will need to concentrate on them and sometimes I need to touch them.”
“But you also have premonitions without being asked. Did you not see this coming?”
“I did, but . . .” I swallowed, unnerved as I focused on the hand resting on the arm of the settee. The ring finger on his left hand was missing. Could he not regenerate it? There was no doubt in my mind that Lord Samriel was powerful enough, which meant that keeping from him the fact that I could hear thoughts was not wise, but Hymel hadn’t mentioned it. The others might not know. “But it was vague. I knew there’d be . . . bloodshed but I didn’t know what would cause it.”
“Is it because the events involved you?”
My gaze shot to his as my heart skipped.
His smile deepened as his chin dipped. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
“How . . . how did you know that?”
“I knew of someone like you once, with similar gifts. Their future was often hidden to them.” His gaze, like shards of obsidian except for the green ring around the pupil, flickered across my face. “For a time.” His head straightened. “You were an orphan?”
Surprise ripped through me, then understanding. “Hymel?”
Lord Samriel nodded.
Anger built, tasting of ash on my tongue. It was clear that Hymel had been working with these Hyhborn, who likely hailed from the Lowlands. For how long was anyone’s guess. “Hymel . . . he said Prince Rainer would be joining us for the Feasts.”
“He did,” Lord Samriel said. “Or I suppose it would be more accurate to say that he was going to. However, the Prince of Primvera wasn’t in agreement with the King’s wishes.” He paused. “May the gods rest his soul.”
The breath I took went nowhere. “Prince Rainer . . . he’s dead?”
“Unfortunately.”
Oh my gods. I rocked back, toes pressing into the thick rug. “The King . . .” I couldn’t bring myself to say what I suspected.
“What has Prince Thorne told you?” Lord Samriel asked.
I tensed. “About . . . about what?”
“About the King.”
“Nothing much,” I said, and that wasn’t a lie. Not exactly. “All I know is that he was sent here to determine if Archwood was worth defending against the Iron Knights.”
Lord Samriel made a noncommittal sound.
“Was that not true?” I asked, not daring to open my senses to him. Not then.
“Hyhborn cannot lie.” The green circles churned slowly around his pupils. “Prince Thorne is unaware of your abilities, isn’t he? He’s unaware of what you are to him?”
“No, he doesn’t know about my abilities.” My throat tightened. “And I’m nothing to him.”
“That’s not true at all, Calista,” he said, and my skin chilled at the sound of my name. “He may not yet be aware of what you mean to him on a conscious level, but on a primal one? I’m confident he does. He’s drawn to you, whether he understands why or not.”