Total pages in book: 179
Estimated words: 169943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 850(@200wpm)___ 680(@250wpm)___ 566(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 169943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 850(@200wpm)___ 680(@250wpm)___ 566(@300wpm)
It’s not the right answer, but it’s one I understand. It’s hard to think about the future when the present is an absolute gods-fucked mess. “It’s fine. Go.”
She disappears out into the hall and I flop onto my back, staring up at the ceiling.
I had to ask. I had to.
Still feels like I fucked up, though. Like I broke something fragile with my questions.
THIRTY
ASPETH
To my credit, I don’t give in to the tears threatening to spill out of my eyes. I manage to keep it together, composed, even though my pussy is so sensitive I can feel my folds sliding against each other as I walk and sending tingling little waves of sensation through my body. My spectacles are smeary and I’m sure I’m a mess, but I don’t care. I just need to get away from Hawk for a while.
His words hurt me. Painfully so. More than the words, the timing of it. To be so vulnerable to him and for him to look up at me with those intense eyes and demand to know if I’m a spy? I’ve never felt so angry and exposed…and used.
I hadn’t had an ulterior motive in touching him, other than simply wanting to touch him. In being relieved that my secret was out. It felt like one less thing to worry about, and instead, it’s going to be thrown in my face.
I can’t even blame him. I’d probably be suspicious of me, too. I have lied. It’s just…I wouldn’t bring it up when my fingers were deep inside another person’s private parts. That feels like a violation of an unspoken rule.
Sniffing back tears, I head for the kitchen. Squeaker will have finished eating, and if nothing else, I can hug my cat and feel sorry for myself for a while before heading back to bed. Hopefully when I return, Hawk will be asleep and I won’t have to talk to him.
When I get to the kitchen, I’m surprised to see Gwenna. There’s a candle on the far end of the table, providing a flickering light. Squeaker is sprawled on the near end, purring and content, while Gwenna rubs her fingers through the soft white fur on her abdomen. The cat’s so fat she looks like a loaf of bread with legs, but I find that charming. “She’s letting you pet her belly?” I ask, trying to keep my voice light. “She never lets me do that.”
“I never go below the rib cage,” Gwenna replies. “She doesn’t mind that. Any lower and I’ll get a claw dug into my arm.” She continues to rub the cat and looks over at me. “What are you doing up?”
“What are you doing up?”
“Can’t sleep.”
That’s an easy excuse. “Me, either.”
“Yes, but you look like absolute hell,” Gwenna points out. “I see you’re wearing your spectacles again, too. And you’ve got something on them.”
I do? I pull them off and to my horror, there’s a splash of semen on the edge of one lens. Hastily, I rub it off with a corner of my blouse and move to sit next to my friend. “I have a headache and thought I’d wear them. It’s been a long day.”
“I’ll fucking say.” She watches me as I tidy my spectacles and then hook them over my nose. Once I do, she gives me a worried look. “I did something bad, Aspeth.”
Oh no, what now? “What is it? What’s wrong?”
Wordless, she takes something from her pocket and slides it across the table to me.
It’s a ring. Encrusted with dirt and grime from centuries, but obviously a ring. There’s a huge ruby cabochon in the center of an ornate setting, and around the setting are Prellian glyphs. Automatically, I lift it to my eyes and start to translate despite the low light.
For my wife. Proof that we are stronger together.
Sweet, but as I turn the ring over, I see etching on the inside of the thick band. I move closer to the candle, reading.
Your half of the power is the word. Say “tlanntra” when you wish to activate.
“It’s an artifact,” I whisper. “With a word of power.”
“What’s it do?”
“It doesn’t say. I could research, but I don’t have my tomes and I doubt they’d let me use the library openly.” I turn the ring over in my hand and then look over at her. “Did you put this on?”
“Fuck no! I know better than that.” She shakes her head violently. “I don’t think you should, either.”
“I’m not going to.” I turn it over in my hands and note that all the writing is on one side, and the other side is perfectly smooth and flat…as if it was joined with something else.
Your half of the power…
After a moment, I realize just what it is, and a giddy flare of excitement surges through me. “It’s a link-ring. Prellian couples would have them made to show the strength of an alliance. Each ring doesn’t work properly on its own but together they’re very powerful.”