Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 119158 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 596(@200wpm)___ 477(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119158 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 596(@200wpm)___ 477(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
“So be it!”
The duke lifted his sword, preparing to swing it to remove my head from my neck, and I held his gaze, refusing to look away. But I didn’t see him in those last heartbeats. I could only see Nylian’s smiling face as I mentally repeated, over and over again, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough. I’m sorry I wasn’t smart enough. I’m sorry I wasn’t fast enough. I’m sorry I left you too soon.
The sword sliced downward but never touched me. Something flashed through the air and deflected it with a loud metal ting. The duke backpedaled, his head jerking up to stare past me with eyes wide. There were soft footsteps rushing toward us. I blinked as someone snatched up my sword with a loud scrape. In the next second, Nylian stood between me and the duke, his borrowed sword flashing through the air as he hammered at his stunned uncle. The duke was just barely managing to block each of Nylian’s ruthless attacks.
“No! Stop!” I wheezed. I lunged forward, trying to grab for Nylian, but I missed and would have fallen over if not for the hands that caught me. I looked up to find Adeline and Jasper on either side of me.
“Are you okay?” Adeline demanded, appearing as if she were torn between helping me and taking out Thallan as well.
“I’ll be fine. We need to stop this,” I gritted out. With their help, I sat upright and shouted. “Nylian! Stop this! I’m okay. Don’t kill him!”
Almost like I’d bellowed a magic spell, Nylian stopped attacking his uncle, who was breathing heavily and pale. The prince stared at the duke and then threw aside the sword as if the thing were tainted.
Without saying a word, Nylian marched over and kneeled beside me. His careful hands flitted over my body, checking each of the wounds, his expression growing grimmer. I was afraid he’d go after his uncle again, so I captured his hand and squeezed, forcing him to meet my eyes.
“What were you thinking?” Nylian snarled, but I didn’t miss the tremor of fear in his words.
“He challenged me. What was I supposed to do?”
“You tell him to fuck off! You tell him to mind his own business,” Nylian snapped. He looked like he wanted to shake some sense into me, but he made do with brushing some sweaty hair away from my forehead.
A smile twitched and formed before I could catch it. “Sorry. I didn’t know that was an option.”
“Nephew, get away from him!” The duke’s order cut through our little moment. “He claims he wants to protect you, but the man can’t even protect himself. He’s beneath you. This man has said to all who would listen that he wishes to destroy our family and crush our people in war.”
“Wow. This asshole has a serious death wish,” Adeline muttered, and I couldn’t agree more with her. “Nylian, if you don’t kill this guy, I’m going to.”
“Yeah,” Jasper chimed in. “I think I remember that spell that turned those men in Riverhold into ducks.”
Okay, while it was touching, they were not helping.
The softness that had wormed its way into Nylian’s eyes disappeared as his gaze hardened and his expression turned cold. He rose and turned toward his uncle, but I caught his ankle this time, keeping him from attacking the duke. Yes, Thallan was taking the express straight to pain town, but I couldn’t let Nylian kill his uncle. He’d regret it eventually, and he was dealing with enough family problems already.
“This is not the man you’ve heard about. He has changed, grown in our time together. He’s become even greater than that old shadow people cling to. And while Adam might not be skilled at using a sword, he has other abilities. I don’t keep him at my side because I need his protection,” Nylian bit out, which only earned him a confused look on the duke’s face.
I gave an overly loud fake cough and said, “Victor,” then followed it up with another cough.
Nylian groaned. “Whatever. This man is worth more to me than all of Wolfrest’s soldiers. In the weeks we’ve known each other, he has cared for me, respected me, and supported me more than a lifetime of servants, so-called friends, and even my family. Doubt him and his integrity all you want, but doing so means you also doubt me. And if you want to harm a single hair on his head, you’re going to have to kill me first.”
“Xeran—”
The duke started to argue, but Nylian cut him off with a sharp slice of his hand through the air as if he were holding a sword.
“I love him, and nothing you ever do or say will change that,” Nylian declared in a loud, ringing voice.
A gasp jumped from my parted lips. It was like the duke’s sword had pierced me yet again, but this time through the heart. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t even think.