Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 126(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 126(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
“No more so than any other daywalker couple.” Lifting our hands, he brushed a kiss across my knuckles. “We’re raised with a healthy appreciation of the importance of our consort and the place they’ll hold in our lives. Just about every fated pairing results in an all-consuming love. The few that don’t are still utterly devoted to each other.”
“That’s so foreign to me.” Tugging my hand from his hold, I padded over to the fireplace and stared into the flames. “Love doesn’t factor into witch marriages, only power. I don’t think a single couple in my coven truly care for each other, except for what their partner can do for them.”
Ren moved closer, his bright blue eyes filled with concern as he frowned. “I hate that you grew up in a loveless environment.”
“The irony would be funny if my life wasn’t so messed up.” I shook my head with a sigh.
“Irony?” he echoed, his brows drawing together.
“In the fictional stories mundanes tell about vampires, you’re supposed to be ice cold.” Sweeping my hand toward the fireplace, I cast a simple spell that had the flames leaping higher. “But you’ve shown me more warmth in the short time since we met than my own mother has done in I don’t even know how long.”
Lifting my hand, he pressed my palm against his chest. “Be prepared for a fuck of a lot more heat in your life because that’s what you’ll get from me every single damn day.”
Ren was so different from any other man I knew…and not just because he was a daywalker. I’d been taught that all vampires were evil—whether they’d been born or bitten. But I didn’t sense even the tiniest smidge of maliciousness from him. “You’ll need to give me a little time to wrap my head around all this. I’m not sure what to think about being a daywalker’s destined consort.”
“Not just any daywalker. Mine,” he growled, a muscle jumping in his jaw as his hold on my hand tightened.
I was surprised by my reaction to his possessiveness. Whenever my fiancé acted jealous, it made me so angry. Yet here I was, melting over the fact that Ren insisted I was his.
“I know, but—” My words were cut off by the ringing of my doorbell. Heaving a deep sigh, I stomped through my living room and muttered, “I should’ve cast a refilling spell on my bowl of candy. I bet some greedy person took everything in there, and some poor trick-or-treater found the empty bowl they left behind.”
I flung open the door, and my irritation quickly turned to anger. I really needed to stop conjuring up people I didn’t want to see just by thinking of them. If I didn’t know better, I’d think I had developed a new power. One that I would quite happily give back, just like the man on my doorstep, if only it were that simple.
“What are you doing here?”
Arthur quirked a brow as he smirked at me. “Visiting my fiancée. It seemed like the thing to do since I haven’t seen you all week, and tonight is a big holiday.”
“Shouldn’t you be getting everything ready for the Samhain Eve bonfire?” I asked, shifting in the doorway so he couldn’t see past me. The last thing I needed was for him to spot Ren and ask questions I didn’t want to answer. Not when I hadn’t figured it all out myself yet.
“My mother has it under control.” His eyes narrowed as his gaze swept down my body, taking in the casual clothes I’d been wearing beneath my cape while handing out candy. The black leggings and long-sleeved, V-neck T-shirt with ‘You say witch like it’s a bad thing’ written in orange on the front would earn me a lot of dirty looks from my fellow coven members if they ever saw me dressed like this. “Shouldn’t you be getting ready to head out? I can drive you to the bonfire if you’d like.”
His offer would’ve been polite if it had come from anyone else, but I knew he had to be playing dumb since he was the first person my parents would’ve run to about me skipping the coven’s Samhain Eve celebration this year. “Thank you, but that’s not necessary.”
“Don’t be silly, Celeste.”
Arthur reached for my arm, but before he could wrap his hand around me, Ren appeared in the doorway to square off against my former fiancé. “You heard the lady. She said no, clear as can be. Walk the fuck away while you still can.”
I’d never really had anyone speak up for me, not unless they had an ulterior motive. One that benefited them. But Ren hadn’t hesitated to come to my defense, and I had no doubt he’d follow through on his threat if Arthur didn’t leave.
Unfortunately, I knew my unwanted fiancé well enough to be certain that wasn’t something he’d do. Not when there was another man in my home. And a daywalker at that.