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)
“Why are you angry with me? Is this about Lizzie?”
I shudder. I’ve been trying very hard not to think about Lizzie at all. She should be at a disadvantage since she’s in an unfamiliar realm with no transportation, but she shouldn’t have been able to find a portal and me so quickly, either. Underestimating her is a good way to end up dead.
Even so …
I’m so fucking weak, because I’m glad we escaped without killing her. “I don’t want her to die. Even after everything. That’s very silly, isn’t it? I won’t say she never cared about me at all, but she’s not sentimental enough to let feelings get in the way of her end goals. I wish I could say the same.”
“Very few people are that single-minded when there’s someone they care about on the other side of the conflict.” He settles his arms more firmly around me. “You’re not weak for wanting to keep the people you’ve cared about safe.”
Even if they don’t give you the same courtesy.
He doesn’t say it, but I hear the words all the same. I want to argue that Lizzie shot at him, not me, but I know better. She’s too smart to just straight-up kill me without getting the location of the family jewels first.
I could say all that, but instead what comes out of my mouth is something entirely different. “Why are you avoiding me?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play like you don’t know what I’m talking about. They set us up in our own rooms and you could have been in mine this whole time, but you haven’t.”
His sigh rumbles through his chest and into my back. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted it, and I didn’t want to put you in a position where you felt like you had to keep sharing my bed to ensure my protection.”
Oh, of all the honorable nonsense. “Bowen.” I turn around, and he allows it, but he doesn’t move back. I have to strain my neck to look into his dark eyes. “If someone tried to pressure their way into my bed, I’d curse them. I’m very good at cursing people, and Bunny had some incredibly creative ones she taught me. How about instead of assuming you know what’s best for me, you just ask me what I want?”
He frowns at me as if I’m being ridiculous, when he’s the one being ridiculous. Finally, he says, “Would you like to share my bed, Evelyn?”
“Yes. Next question—what the fuck are we going to do about Lizzie?”
“I don’t know.”
It’s not the answer I want, but it is the most honest one. That doesn’t mean I like it. “Any of the Cŵn Annwn who come across her and try to force a vow will end up dead.” I speak slowly, feeling my way. “I suppose that eventually becomes a numbers game. Lizzie is ridiculously powerful but she’s not all-powerful. She won’t survive indefinitely.”
I realize that should make me happy—or if not happy, then relieved. She doesn’t deserve to die just because she hurt my feelings, but I’m also not going to offer up my throat just because I made the mistake of stealing from her. There are no good options.
“That’s the most likely scenario if she won’t accept the vow.” Bowen lifts his head and looks out to sea. “I suppose the people on Sarvi might take pity on her and fold her into their ranks. There’s a small chance she could escape notice that way, though I don’t know that it would save her indefinitely. Unless you think it’s likely she’ll kill them, too.”
“No. She’s more than happy to slaughter her enemies, and occasionally her family, but she’s not one for indiscriminate murder.” There is absolutely no possibility of Lizzie giving up the hunt and settling down into some mundane life in a village on Sarvi. Even if there was … “Do the Cŵn Annwn police the locals?”
Bowen’s jaw goes tight. “We’re not supposed to interfere with the citizens of Threshold.”
Easy enough to read between the lines. It’s not even surprising that the Cŵn Annwn would overreach. Anytime there’s power to be had, there’s power to be misused. Threshold isn’t exempt from that rule. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and all that.
“Then she’s still a threat. It won’t take her long to figure out she can’t kill her way to me or the family jewels on the Crimson Hag. She’ll take a different route.”
“You sound almost relieved.”
I am, damn it. Or at least I should be. I shiver. Bowen tucks his cloak more firmly around me. He wraps his arms around me for good measure. As much as I appreciate the comfort, it does little to combat the conflicted feelings inside me. “I won’t say I loved her, because that wasn’t what we were to each other. But I’m fool enough to give at least part of my heart to the people I sleep with. I don’t want her dead. If she comes for me, I’ll do whatever it takes to survive, but really I’m going to hope that she never finds me again.” If I can find another portal to hop through, it becomes less likely. Threshold is littered with them, so it’s just a matter of going through one that she doesn’t expect.