Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 62637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 313(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 313(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
Horus licks up my neck as if he knows that foxes love to be licked and comforted, and then he pulls me tighter against him. “You’ll see; it’s all going to be okay.”
I’m with him.
I’m now half of him. Of course, it’s going to be okay. How could it not be? I cuddle next to him and finally allow myself to let go and sleep.
I don’t know if it’s hours later or minutes, but I wake up to voices. I think it’s Horus and maybe Timber? I have no clue, but I go downstairs to grab some water and smile to myself at the fact that all the immortals argue as if they’ve been living together since the dawn of time.
They’re truly a family.
And I love them even more for it.
Because I finally have a family of my own in them.
I feel it inside my chest, ready to burst free. I have a place to belong. Maybe the forest wasn’t my home after all, maybe it too was a test, and now I get to be free with a werewolf I would have tried to kill or run from, a vampire who breathes terror, fallen ones, sirens, gods.
I smile even harder. I knew this world existed, but it was never a part of mine, and now that it finally is, I find I’m not afraid of the moon anymore. I’m not afraid of anything except for losing the one I’ve been waiting for.
Him.
I tiptoe over to the sink and reach up to grab a glass. My hand hesitates when I hear Timber.
“You know…”
I believe it’s Horus who sighs. “No, I don’t know, what?”
“You could take it.”
“Take what?”
“Her bead,” Timber says simply. “Your power would be restored completely in this timeline. You’d be close to as powerful as Cassius, could probably save a lot of people, help the balance between the immortals and the humans.”
Horus is quiet. Why isn’t he saying anything? Finally, he speaks after what feels like an eternity. “I’m here to help her know who she is, not to take the one last thing that gives her immortality and her power. She’s without her tails. She can’t be without both. It would turn her into a human, and we have no idea how long she would have.”
“She could give it willingly.” Timber suggests. “Save the masses, kill the few.”
“What’s wrong with you?” Horus shouts. “I actually care for her!”
“It’s one tiny fox, Horus.”
“Don’t make me regret saving you.”
Timber laughs. “Sometimes it’s too easy, brother, relax. All I’m saying is—” I don’t hear the rest of what he does say. I’m too pissed off. I trusted Timber, but of course, that was a stupid move. I really am a stupid fox. How can you trust the god of the underworld in the first place?
Livid, I stomp up the stairs and slam the door to the room I was just in, sitting on the mattress stewing, ready to punch a god in the face.
Of course, my fox bead would give him power. Isn’t that why it’s forbidden for a god to seduce a fox now? It would give them too much access to what I have, the purity of the earth and the sky.
I’m a fox of darkness, after all, of night. If I gave the god of the skies my bead, he’d have both.
I gasp awake.
“Wha…?”
Had I been having a nightmare that entire time?
Horus is leaning over me, concern etched in his bright blue eyes. I could almost imagine he looks like my very own star, watching over me, keeping me safe. “I thought you no longer had nightmares in the presence of a god?”
I touch my mouth with my fingertips. “Did we just kiss, or was I dreaming?”
His eyes are full of mischief; they flicker like Christmas lights. “Yes. I leaned down and kissed you gently… I hope you don’t mind I—”
“It’s a full moon.” I interrupt, probably rudely. “Right? It’s still a full moon?”
“I think so.” He frowns and looks out the window. “It appears we’re on our last night of it. You have no reason to be afraid anymore.” His frown deepens. “You look really pale. Do you need water or—” His eyes roll to the back of his head, but he regains focus and presses his palms against his temples. “Sorry, I think I’m just tired.”
“Gods get tired?” I ask, trying to lighten the mood.
“Apparently, now they do.” He leans down next to me and pulls me against his chest. Why does it feel like things are about to get more difficult? “At least I’m here.”
I’m afraid to ask, but I do anyway. “And if I close my eyes when I open them… you’ll still be here. You won’t leave me?”
Horus scoffs and waves me away with a hand that suddenly falls against the down comforter like he’s so exhausted he can barely keep it up. “Where else would I go?”