Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
“I was wrong to say what I did to you, Dante. You’re my boy, and I would never kick you out,” my father says, emotion choking him. “You’ll always be my boy.”
Now the emotion that flows over me turns bittersweet as I realize I’m leaving something behind. I might live in this mansion forever, but I’m changed, and my childhood is irrevocably over. I was Donald Dellacourt’s boy for thirty years.
But now I’m Kaja’s husband.
“I love you, too, Dad.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Kaja
I come awake slowly, my consciousness opening in layers. I slept so deeply that no dreams jarred me. Just sweet sleep. Each time I awakened, my eyes would open and I would see Dante’s face hovering over me, protecting me, and I knew I could sink back into sleep.
This time, however, he is not there. I open my eyes, and Dante is not holding me or standing watch.
I sit up in bed, feeling stronger, but there is still a delicious weakness to my system. I saved him. Dante is alive because my blood sustained him.
All of my life, I allowed things to happen because I knew no other way. Until I was kicked out of the pack, I did not understand that I can change things. I saved Dante. I am strong.
I push back at the blankets that cover me. They are rich and soft, made of some material I never felt before. I touch the gown covering my body. I vaguely remember Dante slipping it over my head and calling me a princess as he tucked me in.
Where has he gone?
I look around the room, memories surfacing. Dante’s room. It seems larger than my pack’s long house. Dante’s memories of this room are strong. I see it when he feeds. I can see it as it was when he was a child. He loved hovercars and bikes. He followed racing circuits, and was past disappointed when his father wouldn’t let him enter something called the BMX Sky Racers. I find the desk where he sat and worked on homework when absolutely forced to. He prefers to play with his tablet. It still sits on the desk.
I touch it and am startled when a woman pops up. She is small but lifelike. How does she fit inside the thin tablet? Why is she half-naked? If I learned one thing about Dante’s people, it is that they prefer to be fully clothed. Not this woman.
“Hello, Master. What can I search for tonight? I’ve found some amateur pornography guaranteed to shock and arouse you.”
I take a step back. “I do not think I wish to be shocked.”
I am already shocked by the small woman who hovers above the tablet wearing what appears to be strips of leather that do not cover her incredibly large breasts. And the minute I speak, the woman changes, morphing into a much older woman in a business suit.
“Apologies, ma’am. I’ll go into mom mode. Now, would you like a rundown of stock quotes?”
I turn away, a bit frightened by the magic that is here on Dante’s plane. There must be a doorway out. I find double doors with filmy curtains covering them. I stride over and throw them open and gasp. I am no longer in a building, but outside and so close to the sky. Lights twinkle all around me, like fireflies in odd colors. Yellows, pinks, blues, and purples light up the sky in the distance.
I hold on to the doorframe. There is floor beneath me, but I can tell I am up high. Very high.
“Kaja, you’re awake.”
I turn my head, and Dante stands at the edge of the railing. Balcony. This is a balcony.
Dante turns toward me, his handsome face soft in the moonlight. The moon is so big. It is almost as though I can touch it.
“Come here, sweetheart,” he says, holding a hand out. “I want to show you something.”
I bite my bottom lip and force myself to be brave. I step fully onto the balcony. It is solid under my feet. I walk toward Dante. He is dressed in a suit, the tie loosened and jacket discarded. His hair is back to perfection, and I miss the messiness of before. He looks unattainable again, like a man who never fought with claws and fangs. But he is still so beautiful to me.
“Look at it, Kaj.” He pulls me to the railing when I place my hand in his.
The breath threatens to blow out of my body. It is stunning. Dante’s arms wrap around my waist, anchoring me. “It’s so high. Should we be so high?”
He chuckles, his breath warm against my head. “It’s the only way to avoid the pollution. You can’t see it at night, but there’s a cloud of bad air that hangs over the surface. Instead of solving the problem, we built higher. Don’t worry, you’ll never go to the surface in the city. We have walkways and hovercars to take you from building to building.”