Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 121324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
“I already hold some rights to your soul. Would it make much of a difference if your soul was wholly mine?”
She shot him a look of pure disbelief. “Uh, yeah.”
“I can keep it safer than you can. I can give you immortality in exchange for it. You’d be stronger, faster, more resilient. More importantly, you’d be tied to me. It makes perfect sense for you to agree. I told you, I need you to meet me in the middle.”
“You oh so casually call this ‘the middle’ like it’s no biggie. Cain, you’re requesting that I give up not only my soul but my mortality.”
“The latter is really such a problem? Have you been ignoring the fact that you’ll age while I remain frozen like this forever on a cellular level?”
Wynter spluttered. “Kind of.” She truly hadn’t thought about it. Or maybe her mind had pointedly avoided confronting the issue. Mumbling a curse, she thrust a hand through her hair.
“I didn’t give any other woman a chance to mean anything to me,” he said, his dark eyes boring into hers. “You left me no choice. You made yourself important to me. Do you think I won’t take whatever measures necessary to ensure I don’t lose you? Even if it means asking things of you that I know you’ll struggle to consent to?”
She swiped a hand down her face. “When you put it like that, no—”
“Then you should have seen this coming. I’ve lived a long time, Wynter. I don’t plan on dying any time soon. That means I’ve got many more years ahead of me. If you think I’m prepared to spend a single one of them without you, you are very much mistaken.”
His words were firm. Final. Nonnegotiable. And although Wynter was no fan of his “I will get my way in this” attitude toward the situation, she also couldn’t help be moved by his utter refusal to ever lose her.
She stared at him for a long moment, sensing . . . “You’ve been considering this for a while.”
“Since the very moment I decided I was keeping you.” He tilted his head. “Would it really be so bad to put your soul in my hands, Wynter? Do you think it would come to any harm while in my possession?”
“No. But taking into account how you once said that to own a person’s soul makes them your puppet, it’s not the most attractive idea.” So many things were already out of her hands, due to Kali’s “purpose” for her. A deity had set her on a path, and there was little she could do about it. Wynter didn’t resent that, didn’t wish that Kali had instead let her die all those years ago, but it didn’t change that her choices weren’t always her own.
And now here was Cain requesting that she give him the kind of power over her that even Kali didn’t have. That might limit even more of Wynter’s choices. Also, she had no clue what it would mean for her soul if he owned it.
“Do you think I’d ever force you to do anything against your will?” he asked, managing to sound offended that she might.
Wynter snorted. “I think you’d totally force me to stay in Devil’s Cradle if it became necessary, so yeah.” She wasn’t blind to his nature. She knew how merciless he could be. And he was out of his mind if he thought she’d let herself overlook it to seek the bliss of ignorance. No, we don’t do that shit here.
He looked as if he’d protest in affront, but then he inclined his head. “Yes, I would do that if you ever wanted to leave me—denying that would only insult us both. But I wouldn’t succeed in holding you here. Kali wouldn’t stand for me keeping you anywhere against your will. She’d free you somehow.” He let out a long breath. “I know I’m asking a lot—”
“No, I really don’t think you do. You often have people selling you their soul. It’s pretty much the norm for you. A mundane part of your life, even. You can’t truly grasp how much of a big deal this is. Unless of course the rumors are true that you sold your own soul to the devil in exchange for power.”
“My soul is mine, and mine alone.” He looked at her curiously. “You thought I might be soulless, that I might have traded mine for power, and yet you let me touch you?”
Wynter lifted her shoulders. “I’d be in no position to judge, would I? When a deity made me an offer, I jumped on it. I stupidly and naïvely didn’t consider what the fine print might be, and that bit me on the ass. So forgive me if I’m a little leery of making yet another life-changing deal. You might not be a deity, but you’re something way out of the norm. Something powerful enough to grant a person all manner of things in exchange for their soul. It’s kind of daunting, you know. And it makes your request just as daunting.”