Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 125077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
One of the repercussions of the king being gone for twelve years and Myrddin taking over his throne had been him throwing out all the rules Daniel had put in place when it came to vampires taking companions. Daniel had stopped the enslavement of the class of supernatural creatures known as companions. As superpowers go, the companions got the short end of the stick. Oh, sure once they’d been known as the warrior women Amazons and their DNA shared angelic properties, but the vampires mostly used them as convenient, pretty blood banks. Companion blood makes a vampire stronger and faster than a vampire drinking regular old human blood. It also turns the vamp into an addict who gets awfully sick if he can’t get his fix, but those vamps keep coming back for more.
And many of them didn’t give a crap about consent.
I was curious about how the companions were being treated in that nest. I wanted to make sure they weren’t being forced to trade their bodies and blood for protection.
“How many did you kill?” I asked my son, who happened to be in love with a companion.
Fen shrugged. “My fair share.”
“How many, Fenrir?” I needed him to understand he didn’t have to hide from me. “And I know you kept count. Your father would have taught you that.”
Trent understood the need for revenge and for marking the occasion. I was sure beers had been handed out long before any human law would have allowed. But then we didn’t live by those.
“Fourteen, though I think I should count the one who ran from me right onto Lee’s stake. I was going to rip his throat out. Lee got lucky.” Fen’s eyes went dark.
I put a hand on his arm. “Good. I don’t care if they’re using persuasion and the companions seem happy. If the companion didn’t agree to the relationship, it’s rape, and the vampire deserves to die.”
“There she is.” Casey looked to Fen. “I told you. She won’t judge you for anything. She’ll always be on your side, and when you fuck up, she’ll help you with that, too. Also, I know Trent’s given you this rosy picture of how delicate your mom is, but she can and will cuss up a storm.”
“Trent did what?” No one knew better how not delicate I was than my werewolf husband. While Gray always tried to treat me like I was breakable, Trent would toss me onto the front lines with him because he wouldn’t want anyone else watching his back.
Of the two approaches to marriage with me, there was definitely one I preferred, though Gray had been coming around to my way of thinking.
I was worried I’d taken one step forward and twelve years back with my demon husband.
Fen’s lips curled up. “Dad said I might want to watch my language around my mother. Out of respect.”
“Huh. I should think about that. I’m worried about this one’s first words.” I put a hand on my belly and then realized it might be weird for Fen.
“Dad’s going to be so excited.” Fen got down on one knee, his face lit with joy. “Hey, little bro. We’re all waiting for you. Stop making Mom sick. We need her to kick some ass.”
Or it wouldn’t be weird at all.
“I’m hoping I don’t have to kick ass for a while.” In my defense, when I’d gotten pregnant the world had seemed pretty sweet to me. The Council had been rock solid, and we’d made some real inroads to get the king to meet with the demons and renew our contracts. The day I’d married my superhot guys and asked Dev Quinn to perform a fertility ritual on our wedding night, I’d deemed it as perfect a time as I would get.
Now I had to face the fact that the world had changed, was infinitely more dangerous, and I couldn’t sit this one out because I was pregnant.
I was the Nex Apparatus, the Council’s death machine, and it was my job to find a way to put the world to rights, and it started with that book.
There was a brief knock and then Eddie was walking through the door. Our demon butler still wore a suit even in the wilds of Iceland. He carried a small tray with a mug and a Danish on it.
“My mistress, I’ve brought you some ginger tea. I was hoping you were feeling better,” Eddie said, looking me over. “Perhaps we should put this trip off. I can go to Atlanta and bring Master Trent back here for you. Frelsi is safe, and there is a midwife. His Grace is also here.”
I was sure having a fertility god around who could put a hand on me and tell me if my baby was okay would be comforting to all of us, but like I said, I had a job to do. Skipping breakfast this morning because I had my head in the toilet had obviously worried Eddie. He wasn’t used to me passing on food. Luckily my gut was calmer now, and though I didn’t deeply want a pastry, I could eat one.