Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 156210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 781(@200wpm)___ 625(@250wpm)___ 521(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 156210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 781(@200wpm)___ 625(@250wpm)___ 521(@300wpm)
My boots weigh me down, but they feature so many buckles I can't consider trying to take them off now.
“Kyranis!” I call out, even though I left him at the altar and tried to run away. Again.
I thought I’d outsmart my captor this time, but now I see Vinia’s help for what it was—an attempt to get me killed.
She sent me down here to my death. I fell for her sweet voice and big eyes like the biggest dumbass when I should have known a place called the Nocturne Court is like Game of Thrones on steroids.
I’m just a pawn in whatever game the Goldweeds are playing against Kyranis.
If I survive, I won’t make that mistake again.
A green light appears in the form of a spinning ball above me, and in its glow I see him standing on a cliffside at the mouth of the corridor, where the cave opens into the sea.
“Luke! Don’t move,” he cries before leaping into the dark waters with the agility of a shark.
I see the next wave coming toward me against the backdrop of the night sky, and it makes my stomach shrivel. Carrying a huge amount of water, it covers most of the exit, and as it comes near me, I see it curling, turned green by the pulsing illumination above. I inhale, but this time I can’t keep myself upright and tumble in the water, away from the surface. The little bat thrashes against me in panic, but we’re both terrified as I hit the bottom and open my eyes to see the strange blob spreading its many arms as it nears me.
I thrash back with my last meal in my throat when I realize that what I thought were short arms are actually human fingers randomly growing out of the critter’s body.
What.
The.
Fuck.
My fear is so primal, a screech tears out of my mouth, letting salty water choke me.
I kick the strange animal. It’s pure instinct muddled by lack of air, but I just know I need it away from me.
In a flash, a black shape cuts between us, and the strange monster’s appendages fall off, releasing clouds of blood into the ferocious water. I spin out of its reach, thrashing as if I were trapped in a giant washing machine. When the creature reaches for me again, Kyranis appears from the dark and pierces the monster with a sword, then cuts it in half, and as the now-dead body floats away in two pieces, his pale face turns toward me, with lush hair surrounding it like tentacles.
The way he zeroes in on me makes my heart stop. Even though terrible punishment might await me after this, I still hold my hand out and he grabs it.
His hold is like ground under my feet, and he must realize I'm struggling to swim in the boots because he pulls me close and lifts me so I can get some air.
I can sense his fingers on my legs, and I look back to spot a dagger in his hand, but moments later, the beautiful traps fall off my feet, cut open. He pulls me to my back until I float on the surface, my head in the cradle of his arm. I fear he might slap me for disobeying and embarrassing him in front of his court, but he says nothing and as soon as the next wave passes, he starts hauling me out of the cave.
To safety.
It’s as if the push and pull of waves is nothing to him. He’s like a titan made of stone. The elegant black and silver outfit he must have donned for the wedding doesn’t affect his movements in the slightest. Shadowy tentacles, like the one with which he grabbed me last night, are stuck to his limbs and I wonder if they are what helps him move with such ease. I still remember the strength with which just one of them held me in place.
The green light ball follows us like a tiny star, and I check on the bat strapped to my chest. It coughs and whines, but it's alive.
I could cry. I feel so safe in Kyranis’s hold. As if all responsibility has dropped from my shoulders because I know he will carry it for us both. He is that kind of man, and I already know I will beg for his forgiveness very, very soon. For now, I try to keep quiet even when tears of relief flood my eyes, even when regret chokes me. I’ve already made his life harder than it needs to be, so I swallow down the guilt and let him take me to safety, no matter how much I don’t deserve saving.
The rocky vault of the cave soon becomes a bad memory, and I breathe a sigh of relief when the massive white face of the moon stares down at us.