Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 106600 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 533(@200wpm)___ 426(@250wpm)___ 355(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106600 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 533(@200wpm)___ 426(@250wpm)___ 355(@300wpm)
I wasn’t expecting to feel this hurt from his silence. It’s grating my nerves that I miss talking to him. At this point, I just want to forget about everything and decompress.
“What are you thinking, little mate?” Ardan says, startling me as he wraps his arms around my waist from behind.
“About what I plan to do before I go to bed.”
“I’m going to make you something to eat,” he says.
“You cook?”
“Yes, I can feel you are hungry, and cooking relaxes me. Go relax. We can talk later.”
I turn in his arms and look up at him. “Why won’t you talk to me now?”
He looks at me with his brows furrowed. Then he reaches to brush his thumb across my cheek. I want to know what he’s thinking so I open my thoughts for him to see mine.
After a few beats, he grunts and pulls a frown. “You think I’m upset with you? I’m not.”
“But you haven’t spoken to me all day. You didn’t return until I had to leave for work, and you said nothing as you entered the pendant.”
“I lost track of time while in the oasis realm. I had to hurry back to make sure I left with you. The boys were struggling with what happened.
“They never want to hurt anyone and were very upset they attacked you. When I returned, I could feel you shutting down. I knew we needed to talk, but I didn’t want to distract you from work.
“This isn’t a quick conversation we need to have. When you’re in the human world, you need your focus. I would never place you in danger by rambling in your head.
“You were also surrounded by people and situations today. There was never a free moment for us to talk,” he explains.
“I’m sorry. This is all so new for me. All of it. Not just your world but dating too. I feel like a fish out of water.”
He cups my face and leans in to kiss me. All the sadness and frustration melt away as his soft lips touch mine. I begin to wonder if I can close off compartments of my thoughts to allow him in more.
“Yes, you can. The more you work at it, the more skilled you will become,” he murmurs against my lips in response to my thoughts. “This is on me. I should be helping you to understand more.”
“I could have reached out to you today as well. It’s my fault too. I did shut down.”
“Because you felt like you weren’t needed or wanted. Billy, I want you wherever I am. Last night, I was angry with myself. You could have been hurt and that would have destroyed me.”
“What exactly happened last night? Who was that woman? She’s the one from my vision.”
“You mean Kai? She works for our mercaptain. He’s out of town and Candido tried to press her to find him. That is what you saw in your vision.”
“She’s a mermaid?” I ask as I see her in his thoughts.
“Yes, she is. As for the boys, water titans are born in pairs. Bardo, the being you saw with Candido at the restaurant, was their father’s twin.
“When a water titan’s heart turns cold, so do they. They become ice titans. They are vicious and care about nothing but themselves.”
“What happened to turn their uncle cold?”
“His mate killed herself. No one knows why, but he found her body. After that, he was broken and inconsolable. He disappeared sometime after that, and then the sirens lured Brodny and Marina to him.”
“And he killed them? Brodny and Marina are the boys’ parents, right?”
“Yes, they were. That’s when I found out Bardo had become an ice titan. He tried to take the boys, but I had already stepped in and taken them,” he says.
I nod my understanding. This is much bigger than I understood. My heart goes out to the boys.
“So what was that about last night?”
“I believe that Bardo is somehow controlling the boys, trying to turn them. When they lose control, they can’t see who they are harming. It’s not them.
“It’s whatever or whoever he has taking over their minds. I think he’s trying to break them because he knows I won’t accept an ice titan among the fold,” he says.
“Oh my God, that’s terrible. How do we stop him?”
He gives me a grin. I can feel the flood of warmth in his emotions. Suddenly, I have access to his thoughts.
“Of course I want to help them. I wish someone cared to help me when I was their age. Not having someone when you’re that small is enough to make you jaded.”
“When we find Bardo, we will find our answers. He’s been eluding me for this very reason. Sea guards are important to both our worlds. Bardo has thrown the balance off and it will be years before Beck and Bourne can take their rightful places.