Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 113848 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113848 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
“Find a hidden vampire realm?” She raised her brows. “Though no one has before?”
“No Lykae has ever looked for Dacia.” Lachlain had nearly found Helvita, the royal seat of the vampire Horde, but had been waylaid outside its borders. The thought gave Munro pause. A search for Dacia would expose Kereny to tremendous risk, and not just from vampires or a forest of threats.
Munro’s beast was still trying to slip the leash, and the full moon neared. I’m a bomb on a countdown.
But he had no choice.
Without missing a beat, she said, “I’m in. We just have to make one stop first.”
Braided brooks and stone pines surrounded a field of wildflowers at the old fairgrounds. The oaks on either side of the heart-shaped boulder still stood.
The slow-growing trees weren’t much taller, would never reach each other. Which was fitting.
As Ren investigated the area with her new conjured bag over her shoulder, Munro had stayed by her side, his gaze ever watchful for more demons. He’d been opposed to coming here until she’d explained that she needed this closure. He’d finally relented, running with her in his arms the entire way.
They’d found no signs of the caravan or circus equipment, which led Ren to believe her hunters had cleaned up the site and decamped—yet more evidence that they’d defeated the newlings.
In the center of the wildflower field, she told Munro, “This is where the battle would’ve taken place.” Though this land had once been marked by violence, it’d also known laughter and unity. “It doesn’t feel like a battleground. Time healed those wounds.” Leaving only blooms, breezes, and birdsong.
“Aye, because the earth is immortal.”
“I never thought of it that way.” Not everything undying was evil.
He gestured to a spot nearby. “And that was where Jacob surrendered you to me. His actions struck me as brave and selfless then. Now that I know you better, they strike me as bloody miraculous.” The possessiveness in his gaze punctuated his statement.
“Jake was a good man. Always looking out for me, always supportive.”
“I owed him my thanks. No’ my contempt.”
“I don’t think this is a past-tense situation.”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
“The warlocks could have gone back in time for someone over and over, right? So the past is alive. It might be unchangeable, but it lives. Our loved ones still live back then. Think about it—we are in the past right now.” She bent to pick a bloom, placing it in her hair. “And then the people we love live on in the afterlife too. Munro, they’re alive all around us.” She gazed over the field and murmured in Romanian, “Mi-e dor de tine, dar nu te pot plânge, pentru că trăiești mai departe.”
“What did you say?”
“I miss you, but I cannot grieve you because you live on.”
Munro fell silent. Was his mind tumbling back over his long life, remembering everyone he’d loved?
When he returned his attention to her, she asked, “What does your Instinct tell you about this place?”
His expression grew stark. “I sense that no humans perished here—apart from you. Kereny, you . . . remain.”
So the hunters had buried her body here. “I see. I wonder if my spirit made it to the afterlife.”
“I think it did but was brought back to be embodied when you passed through the gateway.”
She had seen a flash of light. Maybe she was more than a replica. She certainly was more than moldering remains.
Because of Munro.
He’d journeyed back in time and had taken her from this place, carrying her into the future. He’d kissed her for the first time here, and together they’d been touched by the hands of gods. She might have died in this field, but she could also embark on a new life here. “Can I have a moment to myself?”
He straightened. “A short moment. Keep your head on a swivel.” He crossed the field, his gaze combing the woods for threats. The sun was setting, and the waxing moon rose in the sky. Night neared. The time of the immortals.
Alone, she walked to the heart-shaped boulder, then reached into her bag. She retrieved her ring from the envelope within. Pressing a kiss to it, she laid it on the cool stone. If another found it, she wished it would bring them fortune.
She whispered, “My heart is with you, Jake. With all of you.” Not a good-bye. Because they lived on.
Then she turned toward Munro. Toward the future.
She had a feeling her life was only about to get more interesting. A new adventure was beginning: a hunt for a secret kingdom of super vampires, with a werewolf companion, under the countdown clock of the full moon. . . .
When she rejoined Munro, the last of the day’s sun stole through the pines to light his eyes. Beautiful male. Comprehension struck her like a stallion’s kick to the chest: He was right—I am going to fall for him.