Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 144404 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144404 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Casey’s eyes rolled. He wore the academic uniform of slacks and a button down. When had he started to look like his mentors? When we’d been together he’d been a jeans and T-shirt guy, and he’d still been skateboarding. Unlike most vampires I knew, Casey was a baby. He’d died when he was in his early twenties, and in human terms he would roughly be thirty-two. I’m older than he is in so many ways.
And I suppose if I hate his new armor, then he likely loathes mine, too.
“Myrddin isn’t planning on saving the Earth plane. He’s going to hand it over to the demons,” Casey said, parroting what every rebel in the world wants us to believe.
Myrddin is evil. Myrddin hates all non-witches. Myrddin is power hungry.
The last one is probably true, but then the man has been the real authority behind the throne for thousands of years. And for thousands of years the supernatural world has been ruled by vampires. Wasn’t it time my people got a chance to lead?
“Keep it up with the propaganda, but you know the truth,” I replied. “The academics have been weaving a nice fiction in order to keep the other supernaturals from joining with us.”
Casey’s head shook, his arms crossing over what I happened to know was a pretty nice chest.
Sometimes I don’t fall into that terrible dream. Sometimes it’s worse and I dream that he’s still with me. I feel his arms around me and for a moment I am content. I wake up and reach for him.
“I don’t know whether to laugh or cry, Liv. If you really believe that, then there might be hope,” he said, his eyes going grave. “But the more likely scenario is that you know what he’s doing and you simply don’t care.”
“There might be hope if you would pull your head out of your ass and talk to your king,” I explained with a patience I didn’t really feel. I was sick of going over this, sick of being made to feel like I’m the bad guy. “I’m not the person who followed his queen and left his kingdom behind for twelve years. Donovan made the choice to leave us without a leader, and Myrddin picked up the pieces. I’m not the one who had everything working on the knife’s edge. It fell apart without him. So talk to him and let him know that when he’s ready, my king will be happy to talk to him.”
“I bet he would.” Casey stepped back as I moved slightly toward him.
Like I’m something untouchable. “He stands ready. Giving me back would be an excellent move politically.”
His hand went to the door. “That won’t be happening. I came to tell you that Kelsey’s decided we’re going to the Hell plane for a couple of days. They’re setting up a space where you’ll be kept.”
“In Hell?”
“Yes, you should feel at home there,” he replied, opening the door. “It’s where Myrddin wants all of us. And Liv, I know you’re not the one who set up the trap that kept Donovan away all those years. You’re just the woman who sleeps with him.”
The door closed between us, and I felt every word like a knife to my gut.
Because I hadn’t. Never once. I’d allowed Myrddin to carve a piece of my soul out, but I never gave him my body. Nor my heart.
They still fucking belonged to the man who was walking away from me.
But I’d fix that, too.
One day. Maybe I’d find a way in Hell.
* * * *
Kelsey
“Are you sure the wards are working?” Daniel Donovan sat at the head of the large table. Back when the kids were, well, actual kids, he would have had a plate of food in front of him, despite the fact that he didn’t eat and hadn’t for a long time. Donovan liked to feel normal. Nothing was normal here. Now he sat at one end of the table and Sasha Federov sat at the other, two big-ass, no-real-food kind of vamps.
I, on the other hand, was pregnant and something of a werewolf, so I had all the food in front of me.
“Your chicken wings, mistress.”
My butler sat the platter of perfectly cooked Buffalo wings in front of me, not bothering to mention that it was barely ten a.m. and I was downing what seemed like a group sampler platter from Chili’s. Eddie just kept it coming.
Donovan’s brows rose as I dipped one of those suckers in the bleu cheese dressing and pretty much sucked the meat off the bone.
I shrugged. “I’m carrying a future Hell lord. He likes things spicy.” I wasn’t sure I was pregnant enough to have cravings. Although when you really thought about it, I’d been pregnant for twelve years. Huh. That meant I should get all the hot wings I wanted. “As for the wards, pretty sure they’re working since Liv hasn’t busted out yet, and I know she’s tried.”