Total pages in book: 182
Estimated words: 171176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
The next book had the same problem as the last few: no information on Moonfire Lilies. I found it fascinating how elusive the flower was. It was a challenge, protecting its secrets from those that were unworthy. I was determined to unlock its properties.
I gently pushed the book back, my mind drifting to what Vemar had explained to me while Cecil took my measurements.
Apparently, no one knew for certain if there was only one true mate for each person, but it was the common belief this was the case. Just the one. Regardless, they were so rare that most people never found theirs. The four-way bond was supposed to be proof we were true mates. Further proof would be if Weston could claim me twice, one mark on each shoulder, made permanent by magic. No one person would be able to cover a true mate’s scent. The connection was wholly primal.
What I kept getting hung up on was the logic—or lack thereof—of it all. Shouldn’t a bond like that be more than just blind lust? Shouldn’t it be more than touching and fucking? Where was the love I craved? The human connection. I couldn’t deny that I liked Weston for many reasons, but I didn’t know enough about him to call it love. I didn’t even know if we were compatible. We’d spent half the time we knew each other fighting.
If I accepted a claim, I wanted it to be for emotional reasons. Being handed a mate, like it had been assigned, felt like it was robbing me of choice. Robbing us both. After Granny, that idea terrified me. What if I ended up in a worse situation, a permanent one?
My wolf was not pleased about my stubbornness. Her vocabulary could be quite colorful. She’d learned a thing or two from Hadriel.
I grabbed the next book, opening to the back to check the glossary.
My thoughts were interrupted by a strange crawling sensation stealing over my skin and tingling between my shoulder blades. My movements slowed as I focused on it, pricks of unease warning me that danger was near.
I glanced at the bottom floor again, but the scene had not changed. People stood at the stacks or looked through books. None of their bodies had tensed; no one looked around. Whatever was setting off this feeling didn’t disturb them.
Furrowing my brow, I returned to the book in hand, running my finger down the ‘M’s. Finding the flower, I grinned with a surge of joy.
The sense of danger intensified, though, wiping away my smile. It slithered over me, sinking down into my flesh. The warning pulsed now. The weight of eyes pressed between my shoulder blades. Someone was watching me.
“You need to pay attention to this feeling. Take another look around,” my wolf said.
I did, taking a step closer to the railing and peering over. The new people I was able to see, though, weren’t any different than those I’d seen before. No one moved with a sense of urgency; no tension tightened their shoulders. Everything was the same as when I’d walked in.
Unwilling to give up, I flipped the book open to the page I wanted, turning more and getting right near the railing now, at the edge of the balcony. My gaze swept over the entire room.
A gigantic man had been somewhat hidden by a curtain a moment ago, but my change in position now made him totally visible. He was Vemar’s height but much broader, with popping muscles filling out his frame. Scars ran across his face and his neck; they were not terribly pronounced but hinted at a very hard, pain-filled life. His well-cut shirt held the sheen of some sort of fine fabric but did not detract from the sheer viciousness in his golden eyes, in his bearing. His handsome face did not hide or minimize the ruthless power emanating from within him.
He looked at me, his countenance unflinchingly hostile, as though he’d love nothing more than to make me hurt, to peel off my skin and make a doll out of it, or something else as horribly gruesome.
My wolf had wanted to assault Vemar for no real reason. I waited to see if she thought we should attack, but all she said was: “Run.”
Terror gripped me.
“No! Fuck you!” I shouted for reasons unknown, chucking the book at him on impulse and running like fucking mad. I hit the end of the balcony, swung up onto the banister, and slid down to the bottom so fast the wood burned.
I did not fucking care.
There was no way I was facing that behemoth of a man with the crazy eyes. All the confidence in the world would not save me from that creature. My wolf was not arguing.
I sprinted out of the library, much faster now that I had magic. I didn’t hear footsteps behind me, but I hadn’t heard him enter the library, either. I’d just felt him, felt his dangerous aura and then his vicious intent.