Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 147891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 739(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 739(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
“I’m sorry,” I murmur. “I overreacted.”
“It’s okay. We’re fine for now, Caz,” she says, smiling. “We’re safe.”
“I suppose I’m having a hard time believing that. No one is ever really safe, no matter how much they wish to be.”
“For now, we are. And it’s funny you say that. It’s almost exactly what you said the night before I got sucked into Vakeeli.” I meet her eyes, and the brown of her irises shimmer in the rising sunlight. Look at her, so damn beautiful. What would I have done if I did lose her?
“You can’t just leave like that,” I say. “I don’t want to sound like a desperate jackoff, but you just can’t, okay? I would prefer to have eyes on you at all times.”
“Okay, okay. I’m sorry.” She pulls away, her forehead wrinkling. “You were just sleeping so peacefully. I didn’t want to wake you.”
“I don’t care about sleep. Take me with you next time if you have to. Please, Willow. I don’t beg, but this matters to me. You matter to me. I cannot lose you.”
“Okay, I will.” She leans back, avoiding my eyes, but I catch her before she can walk away and collect her face in my hands.
“I’m sorry to get upset,” I murmur. “Don’t be angry with me. I just…I’m terrified at the idea of losing you.”
“I know. That same idea terrifies me too.” She presses one side of her cheek deeper into my palm. “I understand, and I won’t do it again.”
“Do you really? Because I feel like I’m coming off as an overbearing ass and you’re getting sick of my shit,” I laugh.
She laughs too, pressing her chest to mine. “You are an overbearing ass. Lucky for you, I understand why.”
I press a kiss to her lips, then peer over her shoulder at the brown paper bag on the table. “Is that another burger?”
“No.” She grins, pulling away. “It’s a breakfast bagel from one of my favorite restaurants. You’ll like it just as much as the burger.”
She unloads everything, setting it up on the table as I sit. When she bites into her so-called bagel, I do the same. The flavors burst in my mouth—spicy, savory, eggy.
“Mmm. What’s in this?” I ask.
“Eggs, sausage, and cheese,” she answers.
“Mmm.” I finish off the bagel, then pick up my drink to sip. “Sweet tea?”
She nods and puts on a coy smile.
“Thank you, Willow. It’s delicious.”
“Of course.” She takes another bite, chews, and assesses me with her eyes. “So, I was thinking you could check in with your family through Cerberus.”
My mind has been so preoccupied that I hadn’t thought of my wolf Cerberus. “That’s a good idea. How do I do that?”
She places her bagel down. “Just think of him. Try to imagine being him…doing what he does. That’s how I got through to Silvera. Maybe you can get a message to your family through him to let them know you’re safe for now.”
“Okay, sure.” I finish off the bagel. “I can give it a try. Would be nice to see how they’re holding up.”
Just as I pick up my tea to sip, there’s a knock at the door. I cut my eyes to the door a fleeting moment before focusing on Willow again.
“Don’t worry. It’s Faye. She sent me a text thirty minutes ago saying she was on the way.” She dusts off her hands. “Apparently she found something so important it couldn’t wait.”
Willow checks the peephole to confirm, then swings the door open. Faye enters the apartment wearing a tan trench coat and green boots with white polka dots. Never in all my years of living have I seen boots like them—all bright and plastic-looking. How the hell are those things even comfortable?
Faye removes the strap of the leather purse from her shoulder, placing it on the nearest surface before sauntering to the middle of the room with her hands midair.
“You will not believe what I discovered,” she announces.
I refrain from rolling my eyes. I haven’t known her long, but I can tell she loves the dramatics.
“Well tell us. What is it? What’d you find?” Willow asks.
“So last night I was doing some digging about bonds and everything. It got frustrating because there’s really not much out there on Tethers, universal bonds, or what have you, so I thought, why not expand the search? Instead of looking up information on this rare bond you two have, why not search for things like universal traveling or portal hopping, like you two have done. Well, let me tell you, there were way more results. I went down a rabbit hole about it. Deep, deep, deep down,” she says, eyes rounding. “Eventually, I found a blog created by this guy who swears his fiancée was sucked into a portal and taken to another dimension right in front of him. Apparently, they were hiking, and he says he saw her get sucked into something and disappear.”