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)
His words were cut off when he suddenly found himself with my hand wrapped around his throat, forcing him to come to an abrupt stop.
“I’m normally a very patient and reasonable man,” I told him in a deceptively casual tone. “I rarely jump to conclusions and always give people a chance to explain their actions.” My fingers tightened, and my nails elongated just enough to prick his skin, causing tiny beads of blood to form.
His hands pried at my fingers, but he couldn’t compete with my strength.
“But,” I continued, “there is nothing you could say that will stop me from squeezing the life out of you.”
“Ren.”
Celeste’s voice drew my attention away from my prey, but I curled my fingers even more, cutting off most of his air while I looked over at her.
“You can’t kill him.”
My eyes narrowed. “Why not? It’s obvious that I won’t be able to convince him to let you go and move on with his pathetic life.”
“Ren.”
I tore my eyes away from my quarry, stunned when I didn’t see any signs that she’d been affected by a spell.
“You came with him willingly?” I asked, completely confused. “You promised you wouldn’t put yourself in danger if I let you take part.”
“Let me?” she scoffed. “I’m not here because you let me be!”
Sighing, I shrugged. “Semantics, love. Now, as I said…patient, reasonable, and all that bullshit. So explain.”
Arthur was gurgling, but I ignored him, not taking my eyes off my stubborn consort.
She gestured toward Arthur and commented, “You might want to let up a little. I don’t think he’ll survive your patience.”
I glanced at the man and conceded that he was nearly out of oxygen already and nearing unconsciousness. If she asked me not to kill him, she must have a good reason, so I eased my grip just enough to keep him alive while I waited for her explanation.
“You said Arthur was yours.”
“I did.”
“And that if we saw an opening, to take him.”
My eyes narrowed, suspicious of where she was going with this. “That wasn’t meant for you,” I argued. “But pretending that it was, go on.”
“And you wanted him alive.”
“So I could be the one to kill him.”
“I figured. But we’ll come back to that. I simply did as you requested—brilliantly, I might add. When I realized he was sneaking up behind me, I knew he’d try to ensnare me. So I decided to ‘let’ him.” She smirked, and my crazy dick found her smugness sexy, making me hard as a rock. “I knew you’d show up shortly. And now, he’s right where you want him.”
“Wrong,” I barked.
Celeste frowned, clearly puzzled by my comment.
“I don’t want this motherfucker anywhere near you.”
“Oh, well. You should have been clearer about that.”
I gaped at her, shocked and turned on by her attitude all at once.
“We can argue about that later,” I finally conceded. “Why can’t I kill him?”
She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest. “For the same reason you wouldn’t have if you’d found him while searching the past couple of months.”
I let out a slow whistle. “You knew about that, huh?” She nodded, and I grinned. “Impressive.”
She sighed and pointed at Arthur. “He’s losing consciousness again.”
Apparently, I’d begun choking him again. With an annoyed growl, I eased up.
Then I countered her reasoning. “I wanted to avoid a war with your coven, love. I’m sure you’ve noticed that ship has sailed. So I fail to see why I can’t rid the world of this piece of trash.”
“You know why,” she scolded.
I did. But I’d been ignoring it in favor of the satisfaction I’d receive from seeing the light in his eyes snuffed out.
“You’re asking me to be reasonable when it comes to you, baby. But you’re the only person who has ever made me act irrationally. All of my rules go out the fucking window.”
“That’s fair,” she conceded, “since you make me lose all sense as well. But for right now, how about you let me be the clear-headed one. Will you trust me?”
There was a hint of vulnerability behind her question, and my face went soft when I immediately answered, “Of course.”
Celeste beamed at me. “Great. So why don’t you let go of his neck?”
“Only if I can put manacles attached to a collar on him.”
“Manacles?” she repeated, her lips quirking with amusement. “Sometimes, I forget how old you are.”
“Hasn’t slowed me down any,” I quipped with a crooked smile as steel shackles with a chain that connected to a thick, metal neck brace appeared on Arthur.
“Touché.”
I sighed and shoved Arthur around, then pushed him again to get him walking. “Let’s get this shit over with.”
We marched him back out into the clearing, and I gazed at the melee all around us. My first instinct was to jump in and help, but the best thing I could do was end all this and avoid a conflict with witches everywhere.