Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 108517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
I took a long shuddering breath.
The sky above me was studded with stars, their light cold and soothing. I let myself fall on my back. The water picked me up and cradled me, soft and gentle. I floated as the last traces of heat and anger washed away, dissolving. The wounds on my legs burned.
“How did you know?” I whispered.
“Linus told me. He said that if you ever get out of control when your wings turn black, salt water would help.”
“I hate him.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“He didn’t even have the guts to tell me in person. He left a recording on a USB.”
I pulled the USB out of my pocket and showed it to him.
“That probably shouldn’t be in the water.” He plucked it from my fingers and placed it on the coping.
“He’s my grandfather and I hate him. You knew he was my grandfather and I hate you too.”
“You don’t mean that either.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It wasn’t my place to tell.”
The stars winked at us.
“You can’t kill Konstantin, Catalina. You would bring the entire weight of the Russian Imperium down on our House.”
“My mother almost died.”
“I know. You still can’t kill him. If you do, everything that happened today will be a pleasant memory compared to what follows. The Imperium trained Arkan. They taught him everything he knows before they turned him loose. They have others like him.”
Alessandro . . . The source of my fear and worry. Now he was trying to keep me from killing the man who hurt us. I had to nip this in the bud. I let my legs sink, swung myself upright, and turned to him.
He was in the water up to his chest. His skin glistened. His wet brown hair clung to his head in short locks, and his eyes were molten honey.
Oh . . .
Oh wow.
Mine.
We looked at each other across the water. I smiled at him. He blinked, his eyes stunned.
I sank a little. My hair swirled around me. I tilted my head and turned slowly. He reached for me, but I kicked away, floating just out of his grasp.
Come away from the wall, Alessandro. Swim through the water to me. We can stay here together forever, just us, the water, and the stars. You will be mine, all mine. Only mine.
He shook his head. “Now I know why so many sailors drowned.”
I laughed softly.
Alessandro studied my face. His gaze slid over my eyes, my mouth . . . I had to lure him in.
I submerged, letting the water float my hair, brushed it back, and resurfaced. He reached for me again, but I slid away. Little amber lights swirled in his eyes.
“How are you feeling?” he asked. “Still full of homicidal rage?”
“I’m going to kill Konstantin,” I told him. “And then I will kill Arkan. You will help me kill Konstantin, won’t you?”
“No.”
“Alessandro . . . You know you want to.”
“No. We are not killing Konstantin.”
“Why do you have to be so unreasonable?”
“I’m the only reasonable person in this pool. This isn’t you. Not the real you.”
I leaned back and looked at the moon. “You keep saying that. ‘It’s not like you, Catalina. You don’t mean that, Catalina. This isn’t you, Catalina.’ This is me. The real me. The one who loves you. I would do anything for you, Alessandro. Stay here with me.”
He lunged across the water. His warm hand locked on my right wrist, and he pulled me to him and spun me around, trapping me between the pool wall and his body.
He’d caught me. I looked up at him and smiled.
“There are stars in your eyes,” he whispered.
“We don’t have to leave,” I told him. “We can just stay here forever.”
He grabbed me and kissed me. It wasn’t just a kiss, it was almost an assault, a mad crazy claiming, born from lust, need, worry, and most of all love. I wrapped my legs around him and sank my hands into his wet hair. He was hard like a rock, and he was gripping me to him with those strong arms. My whole body sang.
He kissed me again, his tongue thrusting into my mouth. Delicious shivers ran through me. I closed my eyes. I wanted him so much . . .
We were moving. Water was draining from me, and my magic drained down with it.
He was carrying me out of the pool.
“Traitor!” I hissed.
His voice was almost a growl. “We can’t stay in the pool. I’m only human.”
We were halfway up the pool stairs.
My magic thrust a fantasy in front of me: the dark pool, the moon above, the silver light reflecting on the placid surface, and Alessandro’s body floating next to me, his final expression frozen on his face. I was smiling. He was all mine. He would never leave.
No! I ripped the vision apart in my mind. I would never hurt him.