Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 81261 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81261 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
It’s an impressive story summed up in only a few words, and I expect Nyssa to ask for deeper explanations about the prophecy, but instead she asks, “Do you miss Zora?”
“No.” It’s the truth. There was a time when I did, but that gave way to contentment for her new happiness. She was a mere blip in time during my immortal life.
Nyssa stares at me before blurting, “I need a favor.”
I blink at the rapid about-face, my lips curling in amusement, for I think that was very well calculated. “Do tell.”
“You said Zora was able to leave and go back to the First Dimension. I want you to release my friend, Will, who you met today.”
Huh. I didn’t expect that. I search my memory as I have no clue who she’s talking about, but then I remember the human in the kitchens earlier. No clue why he’s even in the Underworld as he fell under Kymaris’s rule.
“He was a human sacrifice,” Nyssa says, her tone brittle with anger. “An innocent guy who didn’t deserve to be sent here.”
I scoff, waving my hand. “No one who ends up down here is innocent.”
“He is,” she says, her hands tightening into fists on the table. “His girlfriend performed a ritual and traded him for something. He had no clue that any of this even existed. He’s a nice guy. He should go home to his family.”
Another squeeze of that blackened organ in my chest. I know Nyssa would never ask to go home to her family. I expect conditions here are much better than she ever had above.
“What will you give me in return?” I ask, curious as to just how strongly she feels about this man’s freedom.
“Anything,” she says without hesitation.
“A blow job?” I ask curiously.
Nyssa rolls her eyes. “That’s not a hardship.”
“I don’t know,” I reply darkly, my body tightening at the prospect. “You’ve not had me fuck your face yet.”
She swallows hard, and the thought of her swallowing is very appealing indeed. “Okay… a blow job it is. Let’s do this.”
I wave my hand. “I don’t want that.”
She huffs with exasperation.
“Well, I do want that,” I admit with a grin. “And I will have it soon, and you’ll enjoy it, but I want something else.”
“What?” she asks suspiciously. Gone is the confidence to offer up anything in return for her friend’s freedom.
“I want an honest truth about your life. You’re hiding every bit of it from me, and I want you to give me one honest piece of information about you. And it has to be something you’d rather me not know. You seem to think you deserve the worst for killing a man, but I don’t see it that way.”
Nyssa’s skin leeches of color, and her head bows as she sucks in a quavering breath. I almost retract my words because I can see even thinking about such a request causes her pain.
But I don’t.
I think she needs to talk about these things.
Finally, she lifts her head and I hate the dead look in her eyes. “Fine.”
My heart slams inside my chest at the prospect of her sharing herself with me.
Voice devoid of emotion and her gaze unfocused, she says, “I was a prostitute. I turned tricks to buy drugs and alcohol.”
I don’t say anything. Her revelation isn’t meant to encourage discourse.
Nyssa’s eyes focus and home in on mine. “Is that what you wanted to hear?”
“Is it an honest truth about yourself?” I ask, although I already know it is. I know everything about her.
“Yes.”
“Then I’m satisfied. I’ll release Will back to the First Dimension.”
“Really?” she asks, life back in her eyes and face flushed with excitement. “You’d do that?”
“A deal’s a deal,” I assure her.
I’m about to ask if she wants to go release the human now, but she flies from her chair and barrels into me. I don’t know how to handle it when she flings her arms around my neck and squeezes me in a hug so tight, I can barely breathe.
Then she crushes her mouth on mine for a scorching kiss that makes me ache to be inside her again. I lift and carry her into my bedroom.
The human’s release can wait.
CHAPTER 16
Nyssa
It’s warm and safe waking in the arms and feathered cocoon of Amell. A twinge of guilt plucks at my conscience that we never left the bed after he carried me here last night. We never got around to releasing Will, but it’s the first thing on my mind as soon as I awaken.
I let it take a back seat, though, as I decide to let myself have this experience of being held by a man.
No, not a man. He’s a Dark Fae. The overlord of Hell. Powerful, and per his claim on numerous occasions, evil.
Amell just doesn’t feel evil to me, though. I’m sure he must have done horrid things over his long life. A rebellion against God is pretty bad. I know he was faithful to Kymaris when she ruled, and I’ve learned enough about her to know she was evil through and through.