Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 121008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 403(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 403(@300wpm)
I nod, seeing the trap he’s laid. I’ll have to be careful with my words for a few days.
He laughs. “Smart girl. Now go get dressed. You’re entirely too tempting like that. We have work to do.”
“Thank you,” I say softly. I lean over and press my lips to his.
Cian’s smile is rueful. “I’m glad I have your gratitude, wife, because my dick is cursing me.”
I laugh with him, and then we get up, dress, and get ready to face the day.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Liadan
I watch as that idiot Cian runs from the barn toward the cottage. He’s naked, and there’s no doubt he is a man on a mission. Earlier I’d seen the human walk toward the cottage. I have no idea why they spent the night in the barn, but it looks like they’re moving their lovefest inside.
I hate to admit it, but he’s a lovely man. It’s merely the luck of his birth. He looks exactly like his better half. If Cian Finn was anything like his brother, my job would have been infinitely easier. I could have seduced Cian and put a blade through his heart. I have one I made especially for him. It’s cold iron and easy for my small hands to use. I cursed the blade myself and tested it on that moron I was forced to call husband for years. A husband was required to get me into the village. It took a long while to find the right plane, and once I was here, I needed to get close to the princes. My husband came in handy. When he accidently discovered my true nature, I tested my weapon. It proved thoroughly effective. Life as a widow has given me the freedom I need.
I don’t dare try to use the knife on Beck. His instincts are too well-honed when it comes to battle. His hands are quick, and he can disarm me in an instant. He’s the warrior. There is no doubt about it. I shiver slightly when I think about all the times I was forced to smile and welcome him to my bed. He’s a predator. Even though he asks politely, I can feel what he wants, and it disgusts me.
I’ve often thought about the fact that the brothers are protected on many levels by their odd nature. Beck is protected by his fighting ability, but Cian has some strong defenses against me as well. He seems to sense something is wrong whenever I’m close. Once I caught Cian watching me as though trying to figure out what I am. At first, I worried Cian might give me away, but he never called me out. By the time I began my relationship with Beck, Cian had started his descent into madness and likely hadn’t trusted himself enough to accuse me.
He didn’t join his brother in my bed. I was glad that Beck hadn’t figured out I attempted to seduce Cian first. I still hated him with a vengeance for turning me down.
Even without direct access to the intellectual half of the king, I almost managed it. My magic is strong. Though Cian was protected at night—by Beck when he was around and that nosy little brownie when Beck was not—I managed to enter his dreams as a mist. It’s a particular talent of mine. My sisters have always been jealous of the ability. I simply poured my will into a spell and wrap it in the mist that always surrounds the pond. It finds its way to Cian. It whispers to him. It brings out all his fears.
In the end, it was simple. Cian is weak. He chose to fade rather than live in a world where he has no hope of bonding. He’d been close to complete chaos. I was mere days away from convincing the idiot to kill himself once and for all, and then Beckett Finn would have been easy prey. Beck would have quickly dissolved into a death machine, and there would be no choice but to put the king out of his misery.
But of course, nothing is easy. That human bitch shows up and I’m back at square one.
I stand in the far field watching the cottage, trying to come up with a way to deal with the new problem I have. The queen—I can’t believe those idiots are calling the human queen—presents a uniquely troublesome problem.
If the legend is correct, there’s a possibility the twins’ power might be greatly increased by bonding with a strong mind. While I doubt the human is a truly strong mate, I don’t want to take the chance. Beck is powerful enough as he is, and the thought of Cian with a Green Man’s abilities scares me. If word gets back to Tír na nÒg that the twins are alive and have ascended into their power, another civil war will follow. I have to stop that because I’m not at all sure my side will win.