Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 132582 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132582 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
“Blackfruit?” I blink twice at it before meeting her eyes and forcing a smile. “Thanks?” I raise it in the air. That’s the most she’ll get because I won’t be eating this random black fruit.
“Mr. Harlow is in his office.” Della points toward the foyer we came from when I first walked into the castle. “Go straight down and you’ll see it on the left. If you’ll excuse me, I must go to the village to pick up tonight’s dinner.”
Della pats my shoulder with a smile before walking out of the kitchen. She turns a corner and disappears, and I have a feeling I won’t be seeing Della again—well, I hope I don’t. Hopefully by the time she returns, I’ll be home again, in my bed.
Sighing, I clutch the mysterious blackfruit in hand and make my way through the foyer. As I do, I drop my gaze to my feet, at the pointed shoes with silver tips that remind me of the tip of a sword. The shoes are odd and a little too snug on my feet. There’s no way I’ll be able to walk in them for long. I’m better off going barefoot. “These are most certainly popular right now,” Della had said as she handed them to me. They most certainly shouldn’t be.
Papers rustle as I move closer to the office. As I step around the corner, I spot a bush of black and gasp. I leap backwards as the black bush wags and realize it’s that wolf again. It stands on all fours when I walk closer, eyes locked on me like I’m prey.
“He won’t bite unless I command him to,” a deep voice says. I shuffle to the right, and the man—this Harlow person—is sitting behind a desk, going through sheets of tan paper.
“He almost attacked me in the forest,” I counter.
“I intervened before he could.”
“Yeah, at the last second,” I mutter.
He drops the papers to snap his fingers. “Here. Now, Cerberus.” The wolf immediately walks around the desk, sitting on its hind legs beside his owner. He doesn’t take his eyes off me.
“Take a seat.” He gestures to the metal chairs on the opposite side of the desk. I swallow hard as I move forward carefully, pulling one of the chairs back and sitting.
“You should eat that,” he says. “Blackfruit is extremely rare and good for you.”
“I’ve never had one.”
He stares at me, carefully assessing me, then goes back to fingering through some of the papers.
“What do I call you?” I inquire.
His eyes flicker up to mine briefly before dropping again. “Caz.” He finally stops fiddling with the papers, giving me his full attention. “You said in the forest that you fell here.” His hands fold on top of the desk. “What did you mean by that exactly?”
“I mean that I literally fell into that forest. I don’t know where I am, or how I got there, but it’s not my fault I ended up there.”
“What is the last thing you remember before falling?”
“Um…well, I was smoking on my bed.”
“Smoking?”
“Yes, weed.” I eye him, and he appears confused. “It gets you high.”
“High? Like quish does?”
“Quish?”
He shakes his head. “Never mind. Continue with the last thing you remember.”
“I was on my bed, then I saw a purple light on my ceiling. I touched it, and it’s like I was brought closer to the light. I remember looking down at my bed, trying to get back to it, but then everything went black. The next thing I know, I’m on the ground, surrounded by trees, and my leg is bleeding.”
He doesn’t react. Just stares at me, and it makes me uncomfortable, so I sit up straighter in my chair. Cerberus growls, and a yelp forms in the heart of my throat.
“He doesn’t like sudden movements,” Caz informs me.
“Oh…um…my apologies, wolf.”
“Is there anything else you remember?”
“Uh…well, before I saw the light, I heard a voice.” My eyes lock on his as I debate whether I should tell him whose voice it was. I decide to bite the bullet. “I’m pretty sure it was yours.”
He’s quiet a moment, his gaze lowering. “I heard you in the forest when Cerberus was chasing you. Not your actual voice. The one in my head. I knew exactly where you were without any kind of lead.”
“How?” I ask.
“I don’t know.”
Why didn’t you stop your damn wolf sooner then?
Caz tips his chin. “You should watch your thoughts. I can hear them.”
I frown. “Then stop listening.”
“Kind of hard to do when it seems I’m meant to hear them.”
I press my lips. “Why can’t I hear all of yours?”
“Because I’m not allowing you to.”
“What? How can you do that? Do you know about this—whatever this thing is we can do?”
“To me, it seems like a form of telepathy. I don’t know how it works, or why we share it, but I know someone who may have an idea. She should be on her way to me soon. She’ll be able to figure out where you came from and, hopefully, how to get you back.”