Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 20635 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 103(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20635 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 103(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
I reach out and let my fingers drift over them, and my eyes widen. "They're textured."
"Yes." Pride shines in her eyes, which I'm glad to see are still a normal shade of gray. She holds the cards out towards me. "Now choose."
I randomly pick a card, and she snatches it out of my hand before I can flip it over.
"The one who reads," she censures, "is the one who should reveal."
"Oh, um, sor—-"
She turns the card face up before I can finish apologizing.
"The Priestess," the old woman mutters under her breath.
The image on the card looks hand-painted, the background detailed and ornate, and the woman at the center (the Priestess, I'm guessing?) is holding a scroll labeled Tora.
"Bad or good?" I ask curiously while taking a photo of the card. If anything, it should make an interesting photo on my Instagram Stories at least.
"Neither."
"Oh?" And here I thought tarot cards were only 'yes' or 'no' with nothing in between.
"What you have been waiting for will come to be, but you will be no more."
I'm torn between horror and chagrin. "Not cool!" Did she just predict my death?
"Secrets shall be revealed," she chants, "but beware you must the most of the one who watches."
And now she's saying I'm being stalked, but not without telling me 'who' or 'why'. Isn't that a little too convenient...or is this her way of getting me to pick another card, but this time for a price?
"Ladies and gentlemen, the next train to arrive is bound for Night Bloom."
I jump to my feet as soon as I hear the announcement. This train, I definitely can't afford to miss. "Thank you for the..." My voice trails off when I look back at where the old woman is seated, and all I find is empty space.
What the—-
I look around, but it's as if she's disappeared without a trace, and all I can do is keep looking over my shoulder as I join the mad rush of passengers heading for the train doors.
It takes a bit of squeezing and a little bit of shoving, but I manage to get in just as the doors close. The train starts to move, and my gaze sweeps searchingly over the station one last time through the windows.
Still no sign of her, but did I just see...
No, don't go there, Cat.
It really did feel like someone was watching me, but—-
Stop it, Cat. Stop it!
That part of my life is long over, and I just need to act like it, too.
GIANT HOOVES EMBEDDED itself on the damp soil as the dire wolf leapt over a running creek while its kindred excitedly did their best to catch up to their alpha. The hoof prints the wolf left were alarming in their size, and there they remained as a warning to any human unfortunate enough to wander into this part of the forest.
The pack had been running since dawn, and it was only when the sun had fully claimed its place in the skies that their alpha reluctantly called a halt. Playtime was over, and the dire wolf was firm in its decision even as the younger cubs whined and cried in protest.
Kindred retreated into their hidden dens while the dire wolf trekked back to the city. The night patrols had just ended their shifts, and they were about to head home when the scented air heralded the impending arrival of their king. The thunderous sound of its hooves pounding the ground as it leapt over great distances followed next—-
THUD. THUD. THUD.
The preters bowed their heads, and seeing this, their human counterparts were quick to do the same, and just in time, too, with the twelve-foot-long dire wolf soon landing on all fours in front of them.
Its roar reverberated throughout the city, and both preter and human guards couldn't help but shiver at the sound.
The King of Night Bloom might be as civilized and sophisticated as they came when wearing his human skin, but these men had been with him for years, and so they knew.
Michalis Chatzigeorgiou would always be more beast than man, and those who chose not to believe this rarely lived to see another day.
Chapter Two
My heart begins to pound as I watch him walk towards me. There's so much of him to look at, I don't even know where to start.
A beast, he's a beast.
The reality of this is terrifying, but there's something else I'm feeling as I watch him come closer and closer. It's something that's terrible and shameful, and when he's finally standing in front of me, and the entirety of him fills my vision—-
The truth of my feelings nearly tears me apart.
I want him, oh God. I want him like this. I want him as a beast, want him rutting me like an animal in heat.
~ My Beastly Boss
SHIT, SHIT, SHIT.