Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 38048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 190(@200wpm)___ 152(@250wpm)___ 127(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 190(@200wpm)___ 152(@250wpm)___ 127(@300wpm)
“I made a Sacred Vow,” Klaus cut him off. “After my wife died ten years ago.” He shook his head. “I can’t break it. Not even for Kelli.”
Sylvan nodded thoughtfully.
“I see. A Sacred Vow is serious.”
“It’s fucking unbreakable,” Klaus growled. “So you can see why I need you to reassign Kelli. I can’t…” He shook his head. “Can’t be around her anymore, commander. It’s too fucking painful.”
“I understand.” Sylvan sounded sympathetic. “And I’ll be willing to reassign her—but not until after Christmas. There’s too much happening right now to find her another Protector. But don’t worry, I won’t send her out on another assignment until I find someone new to watch over her,” he added, clearly seeing that Klaus was going to object that she couldn’t go out on her own.
“All right, fine.” Klaus rose from his seat and nodded. “Thank you—as long as you assign someone good. Kelli is…” he cleared his throat. “She’s special. She deserves the best.”
“I’m sure she does.” Sylvan rose as well from behind his desk. He offered his arm and Klaus took it in a warrior’s clasp, gripping the other male’s forearm firmly as Sylvan gripped his. Then he turned to go. But before he left the office, Sylvan called him back.
“Yes, Commander?” he asked, turning his head.
“Might I suggest that you visit the Sacred Grove?” his boss suggested. “You might receive some clarity about the vow you took if you did.”
Klaus shook his head.
“I don’t think so. Once you take a Sacred Vow, you can’t undo it.”
“I thought that too,” Sylvan told him. “I also took a vow,” he added, when Klaus gave him a surprised look. “One I thought was unbreakable. But the Goddess sometimes has different plans for us. Just go to the Sacred Grove. You might learn something new.”
Klaus nodded, but he had no intention of visiting the Sacred Grove—a place he’d been avoiding ever since Miranda died. He had gone there daily to pray for her recovery after she fell ill and then once more after she passed to take his vow.
After that, he had turned his back on the Goddess and everything she stood for. She had taken his wife and his mate from him—clearly she didn’t care for him. But he still stubbornly kept the vow. Even if the Goddess wasn’t faithful, he was, he told himself.
So he avoided the Sacred Grove…until one night about a week after coming back from the Christmas Village. He had come down to the center of the ship to walk in the parklands that served as a recreation area for the Mother Ship. They surrounded the Sacred Grove, which was a miniature forest filled with green and purple trees that were dedicated to the service of the Goddess.
It was twilight. The green artificial sun that powered the ship was dimming overhead and there were couples walking hand-in-hand. This time of year, the temperature in the parklands was lowered to simulate winter and there were even a few snowflakes blowing past from a snow generator that had been set up to help add authenticity to the season.
Christmas decorations of red and green and gold were everywhere and Klaus thought that he had never felt more lonely—not even on that first Christmas after Miranda had died. He looked down at his boots, wandering aimlessly through the inch of snow that had settled on the green and purple grass, until suddenly he saw a pair of bare feet right in front of him.
Klaus looked up in surprise and saw a priestess standing there. With her green-within-green eyes and her long blonde hair, streaked with green, blowing in the wind, she looked otherworldly. She was wearing full white robes and despite her bare feet, she didn’t seem bothered by the cold at all.
“Warrior,” she said. “Come—there is one who would speak with you.”
Klaus opened his mouth to protest…and found he couldn’t. There was something stopping him from speaking…or from disobeying the priestess. Though he had promised himself never to enter the Sacred Grove again, he found that he was following her into it.
They only paused once, at the very first fringes of the green and purple trees.
“Remove your boots, warrior. We are treading on holy ground,” the priestess said to him.
Wordlessly, Klaus bent and removed his boots. He left them in the snow and followed her into the shadows of the trees.
Onward she walked, down a path that wound through the tall trees with their purple bark and green and purple leaves. Klaus didn’t know where they were going until they came to a clearing and he saw a tall statue looming over them…the statue of the Goddess.
At last the priestess spoke.
“I will leave you here, Warrior. Be still and wait for that which will come.”
She glided silently into the trees, leaving him to stand before the statue, wondering what in the Seven Hells he was supposed to do. The grass was cold under his feet and the statue’s face was beautiful but remote. The last time he’d been here was ten years ago, when he’d made his vow. A vow so filled with bitterness and anger that it grew like a hedge of thorns around his heart, thicker and stronger every year until it seemed impossible to ever break it…