Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 84072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“Luna,” Mother snapped. “Stop staring after him. He’ll be back, and I hope he’s right. I hope the Matchmaker doesn’t punish you two.”
I rolled my eyes. “Our families are destined; you knew as much when I was born. What could possibly go wrong?”
“What indeed?” A small smile played on her lips. “Don’t forget to spend some time with your sister today. She was complaining about not seeing you and Ben.”
“I will.” I hugged her again. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too.” She hugged me back with a chuckle.
I jerked awake, sobbing, the clock back to normal, and my hands trembling. I’d just touched her; she was alive, she was the same, and she was real.
She’d smelled the same.
Like Christmas and cinnamon.
I was wearing my bedclothes, but something about the interactions felt right. My arm was throbbing, and I felt so weak it was hard to walk as I stumbled toward the bathroom and popped another pill.
The last thing I remembered before slumping to the tile floor was the look in Benjamin’s eyes.
And the word—Fae.
Chapter Nineteen
Benjamin
The clock said eight a.m.
And yet it felt like I had been up all night.
Probably because I had been.
Only instead of entering the dream with her—it was like I’d traveled back to a time where I had zero cares and expectations.
It was just us.
A child.
Soon to be family.
And I was happy.
Gods, I could still feel my chest burst with pride when she smiled at me as if it were yesterday. I rubbed the spot with my hand, annoyed that it had felt so real that for the first time in centuries, I felt content, exactly where I was supposed to be.
“Coffee?” Aengus swung into the room, looking like he’d had the best night’s sleep in his life. He made his way over to the coffee maker, grabbed a mug, and pulled out a barstool, his amber eyes flickering with amusement.
“Spit it out,” I growled.
“Whatever do you mean, dear brother?” He took one long hard sip of his coffee. “Ah, tastes good.”
“I mildly tolerate you on my best day…” I pointed out.
He nodded. “True, true…” He drummed his fingertips against the marble countertop. “Let’s just say I find it intriguing that in your dream, you became your old self, and I was curious. Did you feel the power lingering in your fingertips, did the flames of Spring fan beneath your skin—did you feel everything you no longer feel now—and do you now realize how important it is for you to get your head out of your ass and fix this?”
“Are you under the impression I’ve just been hiding out in my house, rocking in the corner and reading this entire time?” I ground my teeth. “I don’t remember the in-between, only the beginning when the curse starts again and when it ends. You know this, so if you’ll excuse me, I’ll just go over to the library and continue searching the texts for a way to fix one of the most powerful curses a Matchmaker can wield. Oh, and while I’m at it, I’ll try to discover what’s haunting Luna and how to not kill her during sex!” My chest was heaving when I finished.
Aengus’s brown brow arched. “So, you haven’t had sex yet?”
“That’s what you choose to focus on? My sex life?”
He shrugged. “I’ve never visited you—I’ve never been able to until your Luna broke that part of the curse and welcomed the very fire that killed her the first time.”
I sucked in a breath and looked away. Just thinking about it had me ready to scream in outrage.
“With that being said,” Aengus said as he stared into his coffee cup thoughtfully. “I wonder if she had sex with someone else…”
“Try it, and I’ll kill you,” I said through gritted teeth. “Cheerfully.”
“Oh wow, a cheerful death. Where do I sign up?” He grinned. “Have you asked the orcas?”
“Wonderful idea… which is why they were the first ones I visited, and they talk in riddles more than you do.”
“They taught me everything I know.” He seemed proud of that fact. “This place is crawling with the supernatural. There must be someone who can help you.”
I looked away. “There is one person who would do anything for me, but being in her vicinity makes me want to murder her a second time.”
His eyes lit up. “Ooo, are you talking about Luna’s sister?”
I glared. “If not for her, I wouldn’t have been in this situation in the first place. She counteracted the soul mate spell, confusing the Matchmaker’s decision and causing the fire to ignore Luna and the only way she could have done that was if she took some of Luna’s blood and ingested it.”
Aengus shuddered. “I always was terrified of Morana.”
“Well, you’re about to have your mind blown because she’s here.”
He tilted his head. “Here in this house or just here in this town?”