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)
Josie sighs. “Tell me again why you haven’t hopped into bed with him? He’s so hot, and unlike his brother, he seems ready to settle down.”
I do not need to have this conversation right now. “Are you sure you don’t want to walk into the light?”
There are so many reasons I haven’t jumped all over that man. He’s a prince of two realms. He’s the son of the King of All Vampire—though right now his father doesn’t wear the crown. And he’s the son of the High Priest of Faery. Both the Seelie and the Unseelie recognize his father and Rhys as fertility gods.
I’m an orphan who’s one skill in the world is to see and talk to the dead. I don’t think that will help us much in the war that is coming. Although sometimes the dead are bitter and willing to give up some secrets. I tried to convince Sasha to let me hang around the Council building and see who talks to me, but Rhys lost his shit.
Josie’s head shakes. “I don’t know what’s in that light. You don’t know. Sure they say it’s all warmth and sunshine, but I’m more of a shadows girl. I want to hang around until I figure out if that vampire is going to get his fangs in Lily. He’s trying hard.”
I look to Rhys. “She’s literally risking her eternal soul because she likes gossip.”
“We do pretty good gossip here,” he says, his hand coming up to cup my other cheek. “Did you hear that Benedict has been leaving Lily flowers? Night blooms, of course, since he’s dead during the day. I’ve also heard there’s a small war going on with the gnomes. Colin hid Fergus’s hat, and now they are pranking each other like mad. No one pranks like a gnome.”
“See, all good reasons to not risk that light.” Josie takes a seat on the bench in the pretty gazebo Rhys and Lee built for us a few years back.
“She’s hopeless,” I tell Rhys and my eyes stray back to that horrifying slash of water that disturbs the peace of my space.
Rhys’s hand tilts my head up, gently bringing my focus back on him. “Do you think you’ll get a break in Faery? Can souls follow you off plane? What if we get to Faery and it’s all quiet. Wouldn’t that be nice?”
“Somehow I doubt it.” I wish I didn’t feel so warm when I’m with him, so deeply connected to a man I cannot have. “You know I see dead of all kinds, and I bet there are many on the Faery plane.”
A brow rises. “Yes, I suppose so. Was it easier when it was all humans? At least you might have understood humans.”
I have to laugh at the thought. Everyone thinks they know what it would be like to see the dead. It’s scary until you get used to it. Except you never get used to it. “It was never all human. I was in a foster home and there was a dead dog who haunted the backyard. He was still tied up in the heat. His body was gone but his soul never stopped being tortured. That dog terrified me. Then I went to the hospital, and let me tell you, you don’t get more haunted than a psych ward. I was in the hospital until Harry taught me how to manipulate the system. You know adulting is a lot easier with an old Irish guy in your head.”
Rhys groans and then pulls me close, his arms going around me as the rose shrinks back to its place. “You’re missing my grandfather. I do, too. Even though he spoke through you the last couple of years, it was like we had him around. So are supernatural dead creatures worse?”
I breathe him in. I love the way this man smells, how warm I am with his arms around me. “I wouldn’t say worse. Though there aren’t many. A lot of them are immortal or hard to kill, or they simply walk into the light with more ease than some humans. There’s a small troll who strolls the streets here from time to time. No idea why. He’s never approached me. I saw a witch in the bookstore in Reykjavík a few months ago. She’s waiting for her sister so they can go through together. Her sister’s ninety-two but still going strong, so she hangs in the bookstore and judges people’s purchases. She is very judgey about crystals. Told me the amethyst I was about to buy was a piece of crap.”
He smiles, an expression that can light up the darkest night. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Because I don’t like to talk about the things I see with him. I talk to his sister, Evan. She’s become my closest friend. I talk to Lily and some of the witches. I’ve talked about it with Sasha and Trent, but only when I’ve learned something that could possibly help in the war effort.