Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 139662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 698(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 698(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
I want to scream, but I bite my tongue. I don’t know what Finn’s playing at here, and if I say too much, it could fall apart. As much as I don’t trust him, I believe we have the same goals.
“Simply dissolve the bond between you so she can bond with me. She’d certainly enjoy that more.”
“You’ve lost your gods-damned mind,” I mutter.
Finn winks at me. Winks.
Sebastian searches my face. “You want this? You—no, it doesn’t matter,” he says, his voice cold as he turns back to Finn. “Brie is mine. She bonded with me, not you. You can’t have her.”
“I don’t want to be bonded to either of you!” My shadows swirl at my feet and wrap themselves around my arms, and I don’t bother to pull them back in.
Finn’s gaze sweeps over me hungrily, and his smile suggests that I’ve just handed him a gift.
Sebastian, on the other hand, looks like I’ve slapped him. “I won’t let you go. Not until we’ve had a chance. I love you.”
“Is that what you said to the human girls at the Golden Palace who were clamoring to be your bride?” Finn asks. “Did you pledge your love before they bonded with you so you could have more power?”
I frown and look back and forth between Finn and Sebastian. “What is he talking about?” I say.
“Oh,” Finn says, shaking his head. “Sorry. I forgot you told her that you ‘sent them home.’ Oops.”
Images of those girls faces flash in my mind, and my stomach cramps. I was so jealous of them. So jealous of the chance I thought they had to be Sebastian’s bride, when all along they were being duped as badly as I was. “How could you?” I ask, thinking of all the times he used magic just to impress me, just to show me he could. Those girls. Those innocent lives fueled each needless magical act.
“I was just trying to survive.” Swallowing, Sebastian holds my gaze. “All I want is to take care of you.”
Finn wrinkles his nose. “That crown on your head suggests otherwise.”
“This crown is useless without the power!” he shouts.
“Indeed.” Finn rocks back on his heels. “If only you’d known this would happen.”
“Even if I’d suspected,” Sebastian says, nostrils flaring, “I would’ve given her that potion.”
My heart squeezes. Is that true? Would he have saved me at the cost of ruling the shadow court—or is that his pride talking?
Sebastian’s chest heaves, and when he closes his eyes, I can see him reining his temper back in. After several long, deliberate breaths, he tells Finn, “As you know, ending our bond is not so simple. Even if . . .” Swallowing, he finds my gaze and holds it. “Even if we both wanted that. And I certainly do not. You’ll need to come up with something else.”
“You have nothing else to offer me,” Finn says.
“Think of something,” Sebastian growls. “Since Abriella’s uninterested in sharing the bond with you anyway,” he says, with no small amount of satisfaction in his voice, “asking for her bond is moot.”
I swallow. I might not know what game Finn’s playing, but that doesn’t mean I can’t play my own. “What if Sebastian just dissolved the bond between us,” I ask Finn. “Wouldn’t that be enough?”
“No,” Sebastian barks. He closes his eyes for a beat, then shakes his head, and when he speaks to me again, his voice is softer. “I know you think that’s what you want, but it’s off the table.”
Finn taps a finger to his mouth, considering. “There’s a ritual—an old one that my maternal grandparents used in the war—that allowed a member of a bonded pair to shift the bond to someone else for a time. You see, when couples were divided during wartime and one was left at home while the other went to fight, the idea was to protect the individual at home from the pain and anguish of the front lines. Transferring the bond could also protect the bonded partner should the warrior become a captive —as those connections were often used against the Raiders to get them to reveal proprietary information. So some priestesses came together to create this ritual that would enable the bond to be temporarily shifted from one individual to another.”
“I’m . . . familiar with the concept,” Sebastian says cautiously.
“Then you know it’s possible, and that there’s no way for me to use it to permanently steal your bond with Abriella.”
Sebastian folds his arms. “Why?”
Finn shrugs. “The people outside your gates aren’t the only problem. As I mentioned, I worked to ensure that my people would have the protection of a fully functional army should I never recover the crown. Now those forces wait at the ready under the command of General Hargova.”
“The Cursed Horde,” Sebastian whispers, something like awe in his voice. “They’re real?”