Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 151630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 758(@200wpm)___ 607(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 758(@200wpm)___ 607(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
His Grace’s hands come up in obvious concession. “No problem.”
“Oh, we have a problem,” Sasha argues. “Apparently we need to go to the portal and figure out what’s out there. It’s big enough to set off our alarms. Even if it isn’t Myrddin right now, that kind of magic will attract attention. I will gather some people to go into town with me and figure out what’s happening.”
“I’ll go,” Donovan says, and his eyes narrow when Sasha starts to argue. “I have a magic dampener on. I’m not foolish, General, and I won’t put the community at risk, but I can’t have Rhys go, and he’ll feel better if I’m protecting Shy.”
What? I was prepared to fight to go. I can talk to some of the dead. I hope the living haven’t seen anything or we have a real problem. That means our witnesses will be the supes of the city or the dead. I’m the only one who can talk to both.
“Why the hell would Shy go?” Rhys asks, his hand tightening around mine. “I’m not putting her in danger. Dad, you can handle it. If you need backup, I’ll go, but I’m not risking Shy.”
“Shy is the reason we’re not panicking and locking down the mountain,” the king points out. “She’s the only one with any idea what is happening, and I believe she’ll be invaluable figuring out what’s going on. Shahidi, I’m making a request as your king. Will you aid Frelsi?”
I don’t hesitate. A spark of…I don’t know what to call it…pride, eagerness…hits me hard. “Of course, Your Highness. I was going to suggest I take… Well, normally I would ask for Fen and Evan or Lee if I couldn’t go with Rhys. I was going to offer to talk to some people I know. Dead people. Like I said, they can be sensitive to certain magics.”
“It’s strong,” Josie says, and I notice her eyes close as she seems to sigh. “It feels…good. Not like I think whoever is working the magic is good. I mean, it’s nice. It’s kind of vibrating along my system. But then I felt some of that from King Hot Stuff before he started wearing the amulet thing Lily gave him.”
The King of All Vampire gives off a lot of death magic. I can sense it when I open myself to it. Which means others can as well. So Lily found a way to dampen it.
“They don’t need you,” Rhys insists. “You can’t fight whatever’s out there. I won’t let you get hurt.”
I turn to the man I love. The man who sometimes smothers me. “Babe, I need my hand.”
His grip tightens. “You are not leaving the town. I forbid it.”
Yeah, he’s started using that word, and I don’t like it one bit.
“Rhys, she is not a possession,” the queen says in a firm, slightly pissed-off tone. “She is an adult woman who has been through things you cannot imagine, and you will lose her if you continue to treat her like a doll you own. This is not love. This is obsession, and if that’s all it is, then I assure you, son, I will make it my life’s work to get her somewhere safe, somewhere she can be herself.”
Whoa. I did not expect that. I kind of expected everyone to tell me how I need to be gentle with Rhys and understanding. Like Harry had. Harry always told me Rhys loves me and he doesn’t mean some of the toxic shit he can fall into. So I expected the same from the queen.
I didn’t expect her to understand me.
“Zoey, I just got him calm,” His Grace complains.
The queen’s head shakes. “I will not force another woman to put up with this possessive shit. I do believe Rhys loves her, but he’ll drive her away or break her if he refuses to see her as a whole human being who can make her own damn decisions. Who has a whole life beyond being his goddess. If she’s your goddess, son, then you should trust her to know what she can and can’t do.”
I kind of love the queen. All this time I was intimidated at the idea of Rhys’s mom. Not that I haven’t heard the stories about her, but I expected she would side with her son no matter what.
“Rhys, your mother is right,” the king says in a calm voice. “Do you think I don’t know what you’re feeling? My instincts are to protect your mother at all costs. Even her own autonomy. I have to check myself all the time because that kind of obsession can break a soul, and you don’t want that for Shy. I will watch over her. I won’t let anything happen to her, but you need to let her use her gifts to help her family.”