Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75457 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75457 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“And you can help,” I say, feeling a rush of excitement that Maddox might get his brother back.
His jaw tightens. “No. I’ve been ordered to oversee the safety of Faere from the breaches that keep appearing in the veil between it and the Underworld.”
“By whom? I haven’t heard of this.”
“Onyx. She says a war is coming.”
“Why are you here, then, looking for a diversion?”
“Because you weren’t at your house. You’re the diversion I prefer.”
Of course, Maddox wouldn’t sit back if there was a book out there that might free Lucien from the Crimson River. I can’t help but think there’s a subplot going on that I’ve been left out of.
It pisses me off that they’re making things so difficult and my sense of righteousness has me rolling away from Maddox.
“Where are you going?” he asks.
“To see the Council and get some answers.”
With a sigh, he rises from the bed. “I guess it’s back to business.”
I’m momentarily sidetracked by the vision he presents with the sunlight coming in from the balcony doors, the blue ocean behind him. His naked form is too beautiful to behold, and I avert my gaze.
“It’s off to Faere I go,” he says, and my head jerks up. “I’ve got to meet with Deandra.”
“No,” I growl. “I forbid it.”
Maddox’s eyebrows rise. “I’ve been ordered by Onyx to help defend Faere. I can’t do that from here.”
“I don’t want you near that woman,” I say, feeling like I have no control over my tongue. Words are coming out that I don’t intend.
Lips curving upward, Maddox’s eyes gleam with understanding as he walks around the bed toward me. His hand moves to my face and forces my head back to look at him. “You can’t seriously be jealous of Deandra?”
I should deny it but I find more truths dripping from my tongue. “I don’t like her touching what’s mine.”
“I’m yours?” he teases.
I’m embarrassed to have admitted that and I’m pissed he finds me amusing. “For now.”
“Hmm,” he murmurs before bending to kiss me. “I like being yours.”
I push him away, trying to regain some control and summon forth an outfit. I’m heading to the Council, so I choose clothing that speaks to my power as the god of Life and Death.
Black leather, metal studs and chains, spiky boots, and dark, dramatic makeup.
“Whoa,” Maddox says, taking a slight step back and running his gaze up and down my body. “You are smoking hot in that. Don’t go. Let’s do some role-play.”
I roll my eyes at him as I conjure forth a key. It’s heavy, old fashioned and tarnished. I hold it out in the palm of my hand.
He takes it and studies the etchings on the metal. “To your house?”
“When have you ever needed a key to my house?” she grumbles. “You always just appear inside.”
“Then what is it?”
“A key to my location, wherever I am. If you need me—for a diversion or otherwise—this will bring you to me.”
The gravity of such a gift dawns on him and his expression darkens with something I cannot identify. It surpasses lust and makes my body tremble.
“Thank you,” he says in a low, rumbling voice, but within those two words are more meaning than mere gratitude. He’s saying he understands that I’m trying to open myself to him, and this is my first step, so he’ll cherish it.
“And you tell Deandra, if she touches you she loses her head.”
Maddox grins but then he fades away as I envision the Council gazebo and transport myself there.
CHAPTER 10
Maddox
Stepping from Faere right on to Carrick and Finley’s front porch, I rub my hand over the back of my aching neck.
I’m a fucking demigod with the strength of a hundred men. A single female shouldn’t frustrate me so much that my body rebels from the tension, but trying to dodge Deandra’s advances is exhausting.
Irritable as hell, I bang on the door rather than ring the bell. I’m at least being polite by not appearing right in their house. While I’ve got an absolute open-door policy from my brother and sister-in-law, it was suggested the last time I appeared in their kitchen that perhaps I could use the front door.
How was I to know they’d be having sex on the counter?
Finley opens the door and smiles brightly. “There’s the second-hottest man in the universe.”
I step across the threshold and kiss her cheek. “I’m first and you know it, but I get you don’t want to admit that. Might hurt Carrick’s feelings.”
She backhands me in the stomach, and I hunch over dramatically, even though she’s like a fly swatting at me. “Ouch.”
“Don’t insult my husband,” she warns.
“Duly noted.” I follow Finley into the kitchen. “Where is said husband?”
“On the deck.” She reaches into the fridge and pulls out two bottles of beer, handing them over. “Need some alone time with him?”