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)
“Unless she’s not family and she’s merely a possession.” The queen is staring at her son.
“Zoey,” His Grace says again, her name an admonition.
But Rhys slowly lets go of my hand. “She is everything to me. I do not mean to make her less than she is.”
The look he sends me threatens to bring me to my knees. He looks at me like I’m the sun in the sky and I’m going to leave him in darkness.
But what he doesn’t understand yet is that I am darkness.
“She is a warrior, Rhys,” Sasha says quietly. “I made sure of it. She is perfectly capable of defending herself. Like your sister is. She is part of our army and she has a job to do, one you cannot help with because your magic might give away our position and put everyone in Frelsi in danger. Do you understand?”
Rhys’s eyes close and when they open, he looks grim. “Of course, General. I forgot myself.”
I feel for him. He’s trying, but Sasha is right. I do have a job to do, and if Josie feels the magic, maybe I can, too.
Suddenly the Drowning Woman is close. She stands right next to Zoey Donovan-Quinn, so close I worry for her, but I hold back the warning. I have to be stronger than this. She cannot harm the living. Is she trying to scare me? Well, I’m done being scared. If she’s working with whoever is out there, then she’ll find out how badass a warrior that big Russian made me.
I close my eyes and try to access my power the way Harry taught me. It’s a space inside me, he explained. When I breathe deep and listen to my body, I can feel it.
And I can feel what Josie is feeling.
The magic is weak here, but then it’s coming across hundreds of miles and all our wards. I can still feel its pull.
I thought it would feel like some of the magic I’ve had worked around me. Some of it soft, like the slightest caress. Some of it scratches and claws at me.
This one calls to me. This one tells me I could master it if I tried.
This magic feels familiar. Like some song that plays in the back of my head all the time. It feels like it’s mine, but I don’t have magic beyond my abilities.
I open my eyes and look to Sasha first. It’s a habit. Since I came to Frelsi, Sasha has been the authority figure in my life. Well, the one who didn’t live inside me. Sasha trained me in combat and strategic thinking. Sasha taught me to trust my instincts in the field. When I’ve been allowed in the field. Rhys tends to find a way to get me to stay out of the line of fire. “It’s death magic. I can feel it. It’s powerful, but I don’t think it’s here to hurt us. I know that sounds weird, but it’s almost like an invitation. It’s definitely not an eye. I know how that feels.”
“All right,” Sasha says. “Then you will go into the city with the king and perhaps Neil while I talk to our witches about how this affects our plans to leave. Please talk to your friends and try to get a better feel for whatever is out there and what they might be inviting us to.”
“And me.” The queen steps beside me.
“Zoey,” His Grace begins.
“Don’t,” the king says with a sigh. “Devinshea, do not push her. Settle our son down and then perhaps the two of you could have one of the witches teleport you to Nimue to see if she’s got legs yet. We need to leave soon, and the last time I saw her she was barely a head and some shoulders.”
“I would rather…” Rhys began and then stopped as though thinking better of it. “Yes, sir.” He looks my way, the saddest expression on his face. “Shy, I’m sorry.”
I’m sorry I put him in the position. The queen is wrong. It is my fault, but I’m starting to change my mind about the whys. While Harry was with me, I knew there could be nothing physical between me and Rhys. In the weeks since he’s been gone, grief consumed me at first, but something about the queen’s words sink in and give me strength. Sasha did teach me how to fight.
The queen might teach me how to fight for myself.
But that’s no reason to be angry at Rhys. He’s scared. I move in close. I crave this man. It is something like obsession, but it’s also love. “I’ll be fine.”
The truth is I’m scared to have sex with him. I’m scared I won’t be enough. Everything I know about sex is creepy assholes at the psychiatric hospital who tried to touch me. I swear even though Harry had no body, he would work some kind of magic. When anyone would try something on me, the walls would seem to shake and a cold would skim over my skin and the men would back away, utterly terrified. So I avoided what happens to lots of women in places like that, but I still know nothing. He’s a sex god.