Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 125077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
I glanced over to where my young wolf king was scratching behind his ear and grinning like the weirdo, barely twenty-something, supernatural kid he was. “I think Fen’s fine.”
He wasn’t. No one could go through what he’d been through and be fine, but he was doing all right. I could let go of that piece of guilt. My son was whole and healthy and had good guidance.
“Do you think he’ll be afraid of me?” I was going to have to talk to the gnomes eventually, and Elrin in particular since he had close contact with the deceased.
She seemed to consider the question for a moment. “I’m not sure. You don’t have a particularly wolfish look, and I believe it was male wolves who harmed Elrin. He might worry about you being the Nex Apparatus, but I’ll have the primals talk to him. Would you like me to set up an interview with him tomorrow?”
“That would be good.” I would prefer to simply show up and not give anyone time to think about what they would say to me, but I had to honor what the primals would want. “If I could talk to him tomorrow afternoon, I would appreciate it. I take it he’s like other gnomes and he’s awake during the daylight hours.”
“Yes, even here in the Under, they follow their own internal clocks. Rather like my daughter,” Rose said with a nod. “I’m going to check on her. Please let me know if there’s anything else I can help you with. You should know that Christopher believes you saved him and Fenrir. He believes you’re the only reason he still has a connection to Fenrir, and while his heart aches sometimes, he’s so happy Fen had you.”
Wow. There was the guilt I’d tried to shove away. “He didn’t have me.”
“But he did.” Rose smiled, and when she did she glowed a bit like one of Alvis’s paintings. “I know this, Kelsey. I was a child when the vampires took me. I spent years without my mum, but she was there. You imprinted on him at an important time. When the rest of the world was hunting him, you reached out a hand and gave him a family. Do not doubt Fenrir’s love for you or his deep belief that you will accept him as he is.”
“How did you manage to get over it? I ask because I met another companion, one who let what happened destroy her.” She’d been the reason we’d almost died in Wyoming. When I think about it, she was the reason Liv and I were on opposite sides of this war. Meredith had been through the same thing Rose and the queen had gone through, but she’d reacted so differently. Rose had gotten out. She’d built her life, and it had been wrecked again by supernatural forces. “How did you manage to fall in love with another vampire?”
“Oh, I never loved the first at all,” Rose replied. “Well, that might be a lie. At first, Louis was somewhat kind to me. I suppose I saw a beautiful face and tried to adapt. It’s what we do as humans. We adapt to our surroundings. I was so young then. My view of life, my personality, my sexuality were all molded by that abuse, but I had the grounding of my mum’s love, and I know that’s what saved me. Being able to be with her again…well, it gave me the fuel to survive this time. I don’t think I would have given Christopher a chance if he’d been beautiful like Louis. I know they look frightening, but I understand more than many that beauty can hide evil, and what seems like a ruined body can house the sweetest of souls. You never truly get over the kind of crime that was done to me, but at some point you must decide if you’re going to live or not. I thought about the not option. I thought about joining my mum and Robert, wherever they went. But something whispered to me. Something pushed me to come here, to see if I could help. I thought a lot about the fact that Zoey could have ignored me. She was in a bad place, and she chose to be kind. I had ignored the supernatural world for over a decade, and it was getting bad again. Women and girls like me would be hurt. I had knowledge and experience. I had a degree in nursing. I could make it easy on myself or I could perhaps make it easier on someone like me, someone who desperately needed me. So I chose to live, and I was rewarded with the family I never thought I would have. I opened my heart because I wanted more than to merely survive. I might get that chance now that you’re back. I don’t have incredible powers, but I will fight this time. I will stand and hold the line. I will die if I have to because oddly enough, I’ve figured out that this life is worth it.”