Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
“Who told you this?”
“My—” I’d been married to him for less than a day when I was taken away, but I was already used to calling him that. This time apart caused a pain in my heart, not just because I was scared, not just because I feared I would never see him again, but because I missed him. “The Runes told me.”
“And how would they know?”
“Because their queen and her two sons survived the attack…and were forced to start new lives down here.”
He didn’t speak.
“She said…Father raped her…and made her eldest watch.”
His eyes were empty. “She lies.”
“I didn’t believe it either—”
“He would never do that, and you dishonor our family by even entertaining the accusation. They’re just trying to get inside your head—and you let them.”
Ryker was in a sour mood for days. His carefree attitude and his quick wit had evaporated with our conversation. He didn’t even talk to Effie. It made our cold journey to the tunnel more unbearable because we didn’t have each other’s company to pass the time.
Effie walked beside me in the rear. “What happened with you guys?”
“I told him something about our father that he didn’t like.”
“Oh.”
“In his defense, I didn’t believe it either. It wasn’t until I saw solid proof that I could even begin to process it.”
“What kind of proof are you talking about?”
“A person.”
She wore a look of confusion but didn’t press her curiosity. “I’d thought you told him about your husband.”
“I was going to but…chickened out.”
“He’d be that upset?”
“Oh, you have no idea.” I was eternally bound to the enemy. The enemy in his eyes, at least. “I’ll tell him when we get back to Delacroix, because I’ll be leaving shortly afterward.”
“And going where?”
“Back down here.”
Her eyebrows were high up her face. “You’re coming back here…alone?”
“I need to get back to Huntley.”
“But you’re going to do that alone? Ryker will never let you go.”
“He’s not the boss of me, so that doesn’t matter.”
“No offense, girl. But you’ll die out here.”
“I know the way.”
She gave a shake of her head. “But still…”
“What are your plans when we get back to Delacroix?”
She breathed a drawn-out sigh. “Find my family, I guess.”
“And you and Ryker?”
She looked up ahead to see him leading the way in the distance. “I don’t know…”
“He’s a good guy.”
“I know. It’s just complicated.”
My life had been simple until Huntley kidnapped me and brought me down here. Then my perfect world became complicated. Really complicated.
“You miss him?”
Our arrangement was purely political, but now that he wasn’t at my side, it was like a piece of me was missing. We used to be together nearly every waking moment, and now I struggled to tolerate his absence. “Yes.”
Her eyes softened. “I bet he’s looking for you.”
“I don’t think he is. Not by choice, but by force.” His mother knocked him out cold without further thought, so she’d probably locked him up somewhere so he couldn’t come after me. The only way we would be reunited was if I went to him with everything I promised to deliver. I was a prisoner with the Teeth, but he was also a prisoner at HeartHolme.
The mild temperatures dropped to an icy cold, and the lush landscape turned into snow. The wind picked up, like daggers in the eyes, and the freezing cold made our bodies numb. “I think I recognize where we are…”
Ryker turned around, ankle-deep in snow. “I think I do too. I remember that mountain over there. Looks like an eagle.” He pointed to the snow-covered mountains, an eagle’s head carved out of the rock.
I recognized it because of the cluster of trees to the right. “Once we get past this ridge, we’re going to want to turn right. There’s a cave with supplies on the way. We should stop there and recuperate.”
“How far is it?” Ryker asked.
“I know the cave you’re talking about,” Effie said. “Two days at this speed. One if we hustle.”
Ryker stopped and turned around. “We aren’t going to survive another night out here.”
We found a decent place under a stand of trees, the branches catching most of the snowfall. We cleared it with branches and lit a fire so we wouldn’t fall asleep and never wake up again. It was a risk, but if we didn’t take it, we would die anyway. “I agree.”
“So, we hustle?” Effie asked. “We’ll sweat—and we don’t have many berries left.”
“There’s water in the cave,” I said. “I say we haul ass and get there before dark.”
Ryker nodded. “Then you guys need to keep my pace.” He took off and headed straight. “Come on, I know you can do it.”
We made it to the cave at dark and ended up spending a few days holed up inside. We replenished our fluids, caught up on rest, filled our stomachs with as much food we could handle. Too tired to have conversations, we spent those days in silence.