Total pages in book: 163
Estimated words: 152616 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 763(@200wpm)___ 610(@250wpm)___ 509(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 152616 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 763(@200wpm)___ 610(@250wpm)___ 509(@300wpm)
“I’m relieved to hear that.” His mouth touched my temple again. “I’d hate to have to end you when I’ve been quite . . . enthralled by you.”
He sounded like that surprised him, as it did me. I wasn’t sure I liked the idea of enthralling anyone, let alone a Hyhborn who’d threatened my life. “I think you’ve confused being enthralled with amusing yourself by irritating me.”
“Possibly,” he remarked. “I do find pleasure in that.” He paused. “Na’laa.”
I sighed.
Lord Thorne then released me, and the sudden freedom caused me to stumble. His hands curved briefly around my upper arms, steadying me. When he let go this time, I was expecting it, but I could still feel the . . . the heat of him standing behind me as the wall sconces flickered to life, the two framing the doorway and one near the bathing chamber.
He’d done that without moving, instead using the very air we breathed to flip a switch on a wall several feet away.
I sucked in a shallow breath. Even though I knew he was a Hyhborn lord and I’d seen what he was capable of, his power was still as shocking as Claude expecting me to gain information— to manipulate it out of such a powerful being.
Panic threatened to take root and spread, but I couldn’t allow it. I needed to pull myself together. It wasn’t just my life riding on it.
Taking a moment to calm my heart and mind, I fixed a smile on my face. “It’s a good thing I cannot turn lights on without touching them,” I said, turning around. “I would never rise from a . . .”
Words failed me as my gaze crawled up long legs and strong hips encased in supple dark brown leather, the loose dark tunic and the leather of his baldric crossing the broad chest I had already known he had. A dagger I hadn’t felt was sheathed and strapped flat. Seeing him now in the light of the chamber, where I could get a better look at him, left me unsteady.
“You’re staring.” One side of those full lips rose as he walked toward a narrow table by the entry to the bedchamber.
Feeling my cheeks warm, I ordered myself to pull it together. “You’re . . . nice to stare at, as I’m sure you’re well aware.”
“I am,” he said without an ounce of arrogance. It was just a statement of truth. He withdrew a dagger from the baldric and then another from a sheath above his hip. There were dual flashes of milky-white blade before he placed them on the table. Lunea blades.
“That wasn’t the only reason I was staring,” I admitted after a moment. “I was . . . I was worried about you.”
An eyebrow rose as his hands halted along the other side of his waist. “For what reason?”
“I heard there was a violent battle in the gardens the night I last saw you. The ni’meres.” I watched him slide another blade from his other hip. “A few of the guards were killed.”
“Their loss was unfortunate. A damn shame that shouldn’t have happened,” he said, and he sounded genuine. “But I was not harmed.” A pause. “And I would not call that a battle, na’laa.”
“Then what would you call it?”
“An inconvenience.”
I blinked, thinking that something which resulted in scattered body pieces could not be considered just an inconvenience. But what I thought didn’t matter. I focused on him, opening my senses. I pictured that string connecting us as I asked, “Why . . . why did they come? Was it because of the other two Hyhborn?”
Nothing.
Nothing but the hum of the white wall.
He eyed me for a moment. “What do you know about the ni’meres, na’laa?”
His nickname severed the connection. The only knowledge that I gained was that he seemed unaware of what I’d been trying to do. “Not much. To be honest, I didn’t know there were any in Primvera. I only knew that they tend to leave people alone as long as we don’t go near where they are nesting.”
“That’s true, but they can also serve as guards of Hyhborn, even become loyal to some, which appears to have been the case for either Nathaniel or Muriel.”
“Did the ni’meres travel with them or . . .”
“Both were from Primvera,” he answered, brows knitting.
My stomach tumbled a bit. Lord Thorne had killed two Hyhborn and likely many ni’meres from the Court that could be seen from some parts of the property. “I imagine Prince Rainer will be displeased.”
“Actually, I imagine he’ll be quite the opposite.” He continued before I could ask why that would be. “So, your baron didn’t advise you of whose chamber you’d be entering?”
His change of subject not only failed to pass me by, but also frustrated me as my senses were currently proving to be of no help. “No.” I was momentarily distracted as he pulled free another dagger that had been strapped along his waist. My lips parted as he reached back, sliding a . . . a silver-hilted steel sword, the kind with the slight curve to the blade and often carried by the lawmen who patrolled the Bone Road that traveled all five territories.