Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 97071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
I grin. “Now who’s trying to hurt someone’s feelings?”
“Come here.” He holds out his hand but makes no move to close the distance between us. Leaving the choice up to me. But then he always leaves the choice up to me. At least after that first one upon arriving in Threshold.
I should be focusing on ensuring that he understands that this is just sex. And temporary sex at that. I have every intention of finding the portal home and slipping through it back into my life. Or, if not to my life, at least into a realm that’s familiar. One where I know the rules. If I have to run, I have a better chance of surviving there. Falling for Bowen means all of that will be so much harder. It’s a fool’s gamble that I’m destined to lose. Maybe I’ve already lost.
I slip my hand into his and let him tow me across the distance to situate in his lap. He smooths my hair back from my face. “I feel like my entire world has been turned upside down.”
“Sex with me will do that to you.” The joke comes out far more strained than I intend.
He smiles, but his eyes remain serious. “We really are the villains, aren’t we?”
I can’t lie to him. The fact that I would even consider it speaks for itself. I take a breath and cover his wrists with my hands. “I think it might be wise to examine where your laws came from and who they actually serve. I won’t pretend there aren’t some creatures out there who are dangerous, but the moment we start labeling anything nonhuman as monsters, it becomes a slippery slope.” I almost stop there, but I might as well get the rest of my reservations out. “And it’s worth asking: Who does it serve that you have a policy where instead of escorting people who are lost back to their home realms, you conscript them into your service? It’s almost as if the Council doesn’t think people would join of their own volition …”
He looks stricken. But he doesn’t instantly jump to the defense of the Cŵn Annwn. That’s progress. It’s a damn shame I won’t be around to see him truly break free. Because he will. Bowen is too good a person to continue fighting for a cause that is so clearly evil. He just has to be able to recognize it for the evil it is.
“I feel like a fool,” he says. “These are all questions I should’ve been asking on my own. You shouldn’t have had to force me to see the truth.”
“What is the truth?” I don’t know if there needs to be a deeper purpose. Tyrants exist in every realm. Maybe the original Cŵn Annwn set things up this way so they’d have unquestioned power. Maybe there’s some ancient reason for it, but it got twisted by mortals along the way. That sort of thing happens often enough in my realm. Religion and politics exist on a spectrum to be abused by the powerful. If there’s a universal truth across all realms, it’s probably that.
“I don’t know.” He slides his hands down to my shoulders and over my arms. It’s not a sexual touch, for all that I’m straddling him. He’s obviously looking for comfort. “I should know.”
“Don’t beat yourself up too much for not being all-knowing. You were dropped in this world as a child. From the comments you’ve made, the last captain of the Crimson Hag wasn’t a terrible person, so it makes sense that you looked up to him and took his word as truth. You never had a reason to question it.”
He shakes his head. “Don’t go giving me the benefit of the doubt. I’ve had doubts before now, but I let the laws drown them out. That’s on me.”
Yeah, it kind of is. But he’s already feeling so shitty, I don’t want to kick him while he’s down. Not when I’m already planning on leaving him to deal with this on his own. Guilt swarms me, but I breathe through it. I am a witch and a thief who likes drinking and fucking in chaos. I am not the person you want at your side if you’re starting a revolution. That might not even be something Bowen is doing, but if I stay here, the only choice is the Cŵn Annwn or whatever force rises to oppose them. Which is no choice at all. “What will you do now?” I finally ask.
“I haven’t decided. The first step is getting on a ship, and then I’ll figure it out as I go. But I don’t want to waste the time I have left with you talking about what happens after you leave.” His hands find my hips and he jerks me close, eliminating the last few inches between us. “Once more, Evie. Do you think you’re up for it?”