Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 34989 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34989 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
“How many vampire brothers are there?” Sky inquired.
“Four. Winter is the youngest. Rafe and Bel are twins and the middle children. Aiden is their stepfather and sire. But the clan is much bigger than that. It even includes non-vampires like me,” Fox explained.
“We’ve even got two wolves,” Ethan announced as he joined them at the foot of the stairs. The bright young man with blond hair and eager grin turned his attention to Fox, punching him lightly in the shoulder. “You told me that male witches were rare.” He waved both of his hands at Sky and Moon. “Bam! We got two right here.”
Fox made a disgusted noise and gave Ethan a shove. “Whatever.” Some quick introductions were made all around, but Fox didn’t bother to give his or Moon’s magical specialty, which was appreciated. Sky might have glanced at Winter from the corner of his eye to find the vampire with a secret smirk on his lips. It fit that the youngest of the brothers was the biggest pot stirrer as well.
“Are Rafe and Bel coming?” Winter asked as Marcus led them up to the second floor.
“Bel, River, and Wyatt are already here,” Marcus replied.
Ethan tossed over his shoulder, “That’s a perk of having a wolf boyfriend who can drive during those thin daylight hours.”
“Rafe, Philippe, and Ryder are monitoring the Sandor clan. They won’t be joining us unless it appears there’s going to be a problem,” Marcus continued.
“Oh, I can guarantee you there’s going to be a problem. A big fucking problem if Christoph Sandor thinks he’s going to keep Nolan. He kidnapped him from his home!” Sky didn’t realize that he was nearly shouting at Marcus’s back until Moon placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. Sky bit on the inside of his mouth to keep from shouting more. Yes, it wasn’t helping, but it had been hours since he’d last seen Nolan. God only knew what had happened to him during that time.
“Christoph Sandor won’t be permitted to get away with this. He’s already on Father’s shit list for allowing his clan to sell humans as pets to other vampires,” Marcus said.
Sky almost laughed. Somehow that had slipped his mind. The whole encounter with Owen felt like a lifetime ago, but it had been barely a week ago.
When they reached the second floor, Marcus led them to a room with double doors. Sky’s heart skipped and sped up. His mouth grew dry, and his hands wanted to tremble. This was it. He was meeting the leader of all the vampires of North America. If shit went badly today, he’d not only worsen the animosity between himself and the Sandor clan, but it was likely that he’d make himself the enemy of all vampires.
So be it. The one thing that mattered was getting Nolan home safe.
He could do this.
Except the room stole away all his angry energy itself. It was supposed to be an opulent throne room. What he got was a cozy library with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and big leather couches for lounging. He wanted to live in this room. If someone could bring him the occasional scone and tea, he’d be happy.
Nolan would love this room. The image of Nolan stretched out on the sofa with a book instantly sprung to mind and a lump grew in Sky’s throat. He shook off the thought. Later. After he dealt with the vampires.
Only, he couldn’t guess which one was the king.
A group of five men sat together, talking in low voices. Three were on a sofa, while another with brown hair sat in a high-backed chair. The last man perched on the arm of the chair, an affable grin balanced on his lips.
After a few steps into the room, their conversation ended and all the men stood to greet them. The one with the light-brown hair and warm eyes stepped forward.
“Skylar Wallace, this is King Aiden Varik and his consort, Ronan,” Marcus introduced, including the dark-haired vampire who hovered at Aiden’s elbow.
“I’m sorry we’re not meeting under better circumstances,” Aiden greeted. “Gideon has told me about the wonderful service you did for him. Thank you for your help.”
Sky opened his mouth to say how Gideon was a delight to meet and he was happy to help, but the words didn’t come out because of Moon.
“Holy shit, you’re old,” the blood witch blurted out.
Sometimes Sky wanted to put a zipper on Moon’s mouth. No filter existed between his brain and his tongue. None.
Moon bumped him and Sky looked over his shoulder to see Moon’s amber eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. “Seriously, just…old. Insane.” He ripped his eyes away from Ronan and Aiden to stare at Sky. “Check. Do it. We’re talking once in a lifetime. You don’t want to miss this.”
“You’re both necromancers?” Aiden inquired.
“Sky is the necromancer. I’m a blood witch,” Moon stated, and Sky tensed, his breath frozen in his lungs.