Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 53433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
“I’m waiting.” To my knowledge, Ansin never did anything without a reason. So why was he here? He hadn’t been around for weeks. A blessing and a curse. I didn’t want such an evil man around Draco, but Ansin was just the sort of wolf that kept the other wolves at bay.
“Your time is up,” he said.
“Time for what? Sorry. Drawing a blank here.”
“I am expecting you to make good on your promise. Personally, I thought I was being generous—allowing you time to heal after giving birth to another man’s child—but, unfortunately, my generosity has run out.”
My stomach turned to granite. Was he serious? He was here to call in my debt? “I’m not marrying you, Ansin. And I’m not having any more children.”
I was about to go for the sugar when the golden rings around his irises flickered to black.
Fuck. That can’t be good. I wanted to step back, but the counter and gurgling coffee maker were behind me.
“I saved your precious King. Now you owe me,” he said, his voice low and menacing.
Technically, he was right. King had been captured, drugged, and used like a human parts store by some crazy bitch named Sage, who’d pickled his organs. She believed they gave her powers. Maybe they did. I’d seen things in her house that defied logic, including a tattoo she’d given King to ensure he wouldn’t die—some black, tribal collar. Little did she know it was overkill. King was already cursed by the Seers, his soul bound to me in this world so he’d be unable to join his original family in the afterlife.
In any case, Sage had hollowed King out—heart, liver, kidneys, and all—and then waited for him to heal so she could play Operation all over again.
No living being, evil or otherwise, deserved that kind of fate. So I made a deal with Ansin: King’s freedom in exchange for me. What was the fine print? Ansin wanted to restart his family’s bloodline, which had been wiped out during the Age of the Roman Empire. Yes, Ansin was just that old, which was how he knew every trick in the book. My only leverage was being the last living Seer in the world. He needed my powerful bloodline to revive his.
“Well, I’m sorry to inform you, Ansin, but our deal is void. You killed King with your fun little dagger.”
“As I told him I eventually would.”
“And I disagreed.” I slammed my fist on the counter. “You fucking killed the father of my baby.”
“And I’ll remind you that it was what he wanted.”
“His wants weren’t part of our deal!” I yelled. “And if you want to play the ‘oh well, you should have been more specific’ game, then I’ll play the same: You should have been more specific with our deal. I never said when I would marry you. I never said when I would have your children. So as far as I’m concerned, you can wait until I’m ready.” Never.
He narrowed his dark eyes. I could tell that he didn’t like being beaten at his own game. Well, too damned bad.
He drew a slow breath and exhaled with a grumble. “I know you loved him, Jeni, but he did not want you. In fact, he was about to kill you.”
“Stop. Don’t say another word.” I balled my fists. I couldn’t listen to this. Mostly because it was true. King never wanted me. The baby only happened because King had made himself forget his dead wife. Later, that mindfuckery would be broken, and King would make it perfectly clear I meant nothing to him.
As for King wanting to kill me, that part was also true. Because, apparently, I was the one who killed King’s pregnant wife and baby son in cold blood twenty-something years ago. Only, I had no recollection of it. Probably because I hadn’t even been born yet! This whole thing was based on the assumption that I had been a Seer named Hagne in another life. Ridiculous.
“Jeni.” Ansin lowered his voice. “It is time for you to accept the truth and move on. King is dead and has crossed over to be reunited with his family. It was what he wanted.”
“I know that. So what’s your point?”
He stepped around the counter and stared down at me. He was well over six feet, compared to me at five feet two inches.
The fine hair on my arms stiffened, and my heart accelerated. The air between us hummed with his powerful energy.
Here was the thing about Ansin: he intrigued me. He had from the first moment we met when he strutted into a café and the room of patrons collectively shit themselves. I couldn’t look away. And it wasn’t because of his unusual looks or his ability to make a person do anything he wanted with one simple word. It was his utter lack of fear. He wasn’t afraid of life, death, his enemies, or pain.