Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 77730 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77730 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
My bones felt as brittle as old wood, but I managed to stay upright out of the dining hall, down the hallway, and up the first set of steps.
When a soft cry escaped me as I started to fall, Jet was right there to sweep me into his arms.
There was no hesitation in hiding my face in his neck, breathing in his spicy scent, warming myself with his body heat.
“Almost there,” he promised as Nira ran ahead to unlock the door and get me a glass of my lake water.
Jet sat down on the bed with me still on his lap, cradling me with one arm and holding the glass to my lips with the other.
I gulped until it was gone, feeling it immediately start to soothe my aching muscles.
“Next time, we’ll remember to bring a flask,” Nira said. “We can discreetly hand you two drinks and keep Serin from crumbling.”
“This seemed fast,” Vishen observed.
“It was the stress,” Jet answered for me. “She’s from a lake.”
“That soup was different,” I said, getting a chuckle out of Jet.
“It was a stew.”
“What is stew?”
“It’s soup, but thicker, heartier.”
“I liked it.” I felt better, but I didn’t move from my position. “I didn’t like Tove.”
“Can’t fucking believe he pinched you.”
“He pinched you?” Nira yelled, getting shushed by Vishen, who looked out into the hall.
“He wasn’t sure I was really mute,” I explained. “And he was curious if I was simple too. Or if I was Grimwood’s spy.”
“Shit,” Vishen said with a sigh.
“And he is very much aware that Grimwood wants the crown. He seems mixed on me. But I don’t know if he would talk about his suspicions to your father.”
“Knowing him, he probably will,” Jet said, shaking his head, rubbing the top of my head in the process.
“It’s not something we don’t already know,” Vishen reasoned. “We just need to be extra careful with Serin and her cover story now.”
“We can do that. We aren’t going to let anything happen to you.”
I knew he believed that.
But war was coming.
And whether we liked it or not, I was a piece to move around the board.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Jet
Serin was asleep on my chest.
And I was seconds away from rolling her onto her back, moving over her, and showing her some other things she hadn’t experienced yet.
The fantasy was shattered, though, when my bedroom door burst open hard enough for the wood to slap against the wall. Serin yelped and jolted awake as my arm tightened around her while I glared at Vishen.
“The fuck?”
But my anger quickly evaporated at his heavy breathing and flushed cheeks.
I knew my guard.
He’d never unlock my door with me inside it without good reason—let alone throw open the door.
“What is it?” I asked, sitting up straight.
“Your sister.”
My sister?
“What about Celestine? Is she hurt?”
I barely knew the woman. I’d only met her briefly. The same time I’d made her burn the fuck out of my neck so she could escape. But some part of me did seem to care about her. Especially now that she was settled in the Seelie Court and was no threat to my throne.
“She’s… on her way here.”
“She’s what?” I barked, flying out of bed.
That was a death sentence.
It would jump-start the war.
Why would she do it?
“I got word from a friend. She is coming under white flags but escorted by an entire flock of draca.”
Draca.
Dragon fae.
Thought for many generations to be all but extinct. I’d always imagined they’d simply disappeared to avoid being forced into my father’s army.
But now they were back.
Working for the Light Court.
Cass was going to blow a fucking gasket.
“What the hell is she thinking?” I asked, rushing toward my wardrobe.
“Don’t white flags mean peace?” Serin asked, voice still sleepy.
Nira came stumbling in the room, still pushing her shirt into her waistband.
“Cass and Cece have a really complicated past,” Vishen explained. “She’s a daughter of both Courts.”
“How is that possible?”
“Cece’s mother was young and foolish,” I explained. “She thought she’d fallen in love with Cass, who was a new king at the time. But Cass was always good at putting on a mask. She didn’t know who the real Cass was until it was too late.”
“What happened?”
“She took off with Cece when she learned that my father was finding the most powerful fae and draining them of their blood to try to take their powers.”
Serin blanched. “Did he succeed?”
“He is more powerful than I’d like to admit, yes. But those powers are hindered by his slipping control on his sanity.”
“He was really going to drain his own child?”
“Not until she was grown, when her powers were fully manifested.”
“But she got away.”
“With a little help,” Vishen said, nodding toward me.
“You helped her?”
“This scar,” I said, lifting my head to show her my neck, “that was Cece.”
“She burned you?”
“I told her to.”
“So your father didn’t know you helped her.”