Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 66405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
“Bend your knees! Open your legs!” Ls Prissa was walking around the circle. She had a long stick in one hand and she was using it to rap the girls who weren’t in the right position. “Wider!” she exclaimed, smacking the insides of Addie’s thighs with the stick. “The agents of Sheelash will be here soon!”
Agents of Sheelash? What the hell is she talking about? Addie wondered as she spread her legs wider. She was vaguely aware of a cold breeze tickling the curls on her bare mound. The sensation seemed wrong, but whatever had been in the cup had made her feel so high she could barely move. So she just lay there, looking up at the dark ceiling and the candle flames around her. The flames all seemed to have grown to be a hundred feet tall and were reaching up into the blackness like golden rainbows—it was an awe-inspiring sight.
Her feeling of euphoria and peace was abruptly shattered when something bit her, high on her inner thigh.
“Ouch!” Addie gasped, reaching down reflexively to grab at her wounded thigh. Something bristly that felt like coarse hair brushed against her fingertips and from the corner of her eye she saw a black shape skittering away.
What the hell was that? she wondered woozily. Did that thing bite me?
She didn’t have time to consider it for long because the next thing she knew, Sparki was grabbing her by the arm and hauling her upright.
“Come on,” she whispered fiercely to Addie. “It’s over and we can go but we have to hurry!”
“Why?” Addie asked, but her lady-in-waiting didn’t seem to hear her—or else she just wasn’t in the mood to answer. She got Addie to her feet and rushed her quickly but quietly off the dais and towards the exit.
Before she knew it, Addie was stumbling out of the golden double doors, arm-in-arm with her lady-in-waiting. Apparently the Ceremony of Choosing was over. But who had been chosen?
Addie had no idea.
11
ADDIE
“Oh my goodness—what was that all about?” Addie gasped, as they collapsed at Drago’s feet. The big Drake Kindred had clearly been waiting for her. He had his arms crossed over his broad chest and a frown on his face as he stared down at her.
“Nothing! It’s over now.” Sparki was half laughing/half crying with what appeared to be relief. “It’s over and we never have to go back in the Room of Sighs again unless one of us is crowned the Queen of Night!” she exclaimed.
“But how do we know—” Addie began, trying to stand up. But the world started spinning around her and she sank to the ground again.
“The girl who is chosen will know—she’ll have the signs. And the Council of Aged Ones will confirm it,” Sparki babbled. “Come on—let’s get out of here!”
She dragged at Addie’s arm again, trying to get her up. But suddenly Drago leaned down and brushed the lady-in-waiting aside. He scooped Addie into his arms and lifted her easily, as though she weighed no more than a feather pillow.
“Oh!” she gasped, feeling dizzy all over again as she was swiftly lifted into the air. “Drago? What are you doing?”
“Carrying you back to your room” he growled. “I’d take you home but I don’t think you’re in any fucking shape to fly or to fold space right now.”
“I can’t fold space,” Addie protested, thinking he meant that she personally was supposed to construct the pathway between two different parts of the universe to get them home. “Only the Kindred Mother Ship can do that!”
“Goddess give me strength!” Drago muttered, giving her a fierce look. “How drunk are you anyway?”
“I don’t think I’m drunk anymore—I think I’m high,” Addie confessed. Indeed, she wasn’t slurring her words anymore but the floaty feeling persisted and so did the way anything in motion left rainbow trails in the air behind it.
The rainbow effect made everything beautiful—even the harsh planes of her Protector’s face.
“You have really long eyelashes for a man, do you know that?” she asked dreamily, reaching up to put one hand on Drago’s cheek. She liked the way his coarse whiskers rubbed against her palm—it was like she could feel every separate little hair caressing her skin like a tiny, rough kiss. “And your eyes are so beautiful—golden, like a cat’s.”
“Yeah, right,” he growled as he strode down the corridor.
“No, I’m serious!” Addie protested. “You’re gorgeous in a scary kind of way. I mean, you’re so big and strong. You always look so angry but that just makes you hotter for some reason.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying.” Drago glanced down at her disapprovingly. “You better be quiet—you’re going to regret it later.”
As he spoke, they finally reached the door of her bedchamber. Drago shifted her in his arms so he could reach the door latch and then nudged it open with his hip and carried her inside, being careful not to bump her head.