Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 132625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Then he steps back, and I go cold.
“I can’t,” he whispers. “This isn’t what I want.”
My stomach plummets to the floor, but I won’t let myself follow. No matter how much I might want to. “I understand.”
He takes another step back and searches my face. “I don’t think you do.”
“I know you don’t hate me, but I betrayed you and you can’t forgive me. I’m not so bold as to think the last few days are enough to overcome that.”
His mouth opens and then closes again before he looks away from me.
I can’t stay here and look at him after he’s rejected me. I’m too confused about what just happened and too afraid I might beg for affection I’ll never get. “I’ll see you in the morning,” I say, then turn and stride into the room.
“Felicity.”
I freeze. I will never tire of my name rolling off his tongue. But I’m not strong enough to look at his face as he douses me with pity. “You don’t need to explain.”
“I have no desire to kiss Jasalyn’s lips,” he tells my back. “Or have Jasalyn’s scent in my nose or Jasalyn’s body under my hands.”
Everything inside me winds tight. Hopeful.
“I dream of you as you truly are. I’ve dreamed of you since before you arrived at Castle Craige and fooled me into thinking I was falling for the shadow princess.” I feel him come closer. Feel the hairs on the back of my neck shift when he draws in a shaky breath. “I want you. I crave you. And rather than settle for a substitute, I’ll wait until I can have you. The real you.” He trails two fingers from my nape and between my shoulder blades, and over the thin material of my gown all the way down to my waist. I shiver.
Then his touch disappears, and when I turn to make sure this isn’t a dream, he’s gone.
I pluck a thread on my goblin bracelet, then settle onto the floor with my playing cards as I wait for Squird to appear.
“Oh goody!” Squird says, his voice registering before he’s become fully corporeal. “I’ve been learning to play. I was hoping I’d get to show you.”
Folding my legs under me, I pat the floor beside me, then begin to lay out the cards. “You know the rules, then?”
“Yes. My brother taught me.” Squird drops onto the floor and mimics my posture, his bony knee poking into my thigh. “I’m not very good yet.”
I complete the game’s starting spread and hand the rest of the deck to him. “That’s the thing about solitaire. You don’t have an opponent so you can’t lose.”
He frowns, sticking his tongue out of the corner of his mouth as he studies the cards. “That’s not what my brother said. He told me I lost over and over again.”
I shrug. “When I play cards with my brother, high score wins. When I play alone, I always have the high score.”
He flashes me a wide grin that shows all the gaps between his pointed teeth. “I like the way you think.” He plays a card from his hand and studies the next.
“Tomorrow I’m going to the Eloran Palace,” I say.
Squird snaps his head to the side to look at me. “Why would you do that?”
“Erith and Mordeus are working together, and the fate of Elora and the shadow court are both at stake. We need more information.” I feel guilty for exploiting his youth and naïveté, but it’s necessary. If Erith discovers I’m there, he will kill me. I take a breath and go for it. “And this is my best chance to get it since Erith isn’t at the palace.”
He wags a finger at me. “That’s smart. Several days yet before he’ll return.”
I exhale slowly as his attention turns back to his game. I made the mistake of asking too many questions last time and I scared him off. When I decided to call for him tonight, I knew I’d need to approach the conversation carefully. “We don’t know where he is. Only that he guards Mordeus’s body.”
Squird nods and plays another card. “But your friend has been there—the princess.”
“Did you know she plunged a blade into Erith’s chest and he didn’t even bleed?” I shake my head, as if I’m just passing on some juicy gossip and not hunting for answers.
“That’s because she used the wrong blade,” he says, a grin spreading across his face when he plays another card.
“True. But she didn’t know.” I bite my bottom lip and decide to go for it. “I wonder if even I could kill him without the Sword of Fire—you know, given the prophecy and everything.”
He plays another card, then shakes his head before looking at me. “You already know you could. No part of the deal he made said his female descendants had to use the Sword of Fire to kill him. Just that they could.”