Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 112416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Shey smirked. “Have you made this pitch to all the other prisoners?” He was starting to appreciate this guy’s sensibility, even if he was a little crazy about coffee. Still didn’t trust him, though.
“Nope.”
Shey scoffed. “Yeah, I believe that.”
The stranger’s voice didn’t waver but remained calm and even, full of confidence. “I haven’t. Scarella made a serious mistake when she grabbed you.”
“Why is that?”
“You’re not some poor slob from the street. You’re educated. I think you might have even spent some time in the military. I can hear it in your voice. Plus, she’s cautious with you. She does that brief visit with everyone to feel them out. But with you, she had twice the normal number of guards with her. Also, it didn’t take you long at all to pull yourself together after you learned of her fear trick. You’re getting out of here, and you’re taking me with you.”
For several minutes, Shey said nothing. He didn’t trust the other man, but he wasn’t looking for trust. There was a deep truth in what he was saying—they needed each other to escape this place and survive more than five feet from the building. Sure, Shey could blast through the building with all the magic he had in him, but it would reveal the secrets he’d tucked away and put his kingdom in danger.
Yet, while he might have found a potential comrade-in-arms to help him fight his way through, Shey was smart enough to know that he couldn’t underestimate this person. There was wisdom in his words. A calmness that came with age and experience, even though he sounded young to Shey’s ears.
“What’s your name?” Shey inquired, breaking the silence.
“You can call me Ty. Get some rest, Shawn. You’re going to need it if we’re going to get out of here. I’m done drinking the shit they call coffee.”
Shey smirked at the plain gray floor. Ty drew out the name he’d given to Scarella, giving it a playful lilt. He knew it was a fake. But then, Ty was likely a fake name, too. It didn’t matter. They would be comrades-in-arms as long as they needed to be.
And if Ty tried to stab him in the back, Shey would kill him.
CHAPTER 4
Adrian Westergren
Haru leaned in and whispered into Adrian’s ear, “Are we in the same country?”
Adrian had to admit, the exact thought had crossed his mind after he’d stepped off the train platform in Voxmore. At least he would have admitted it if he hadn’t been busy fighting back the shivers that had threatened to consume his entire body after Haru’s warm breath danced across the shell of his ear.
The dragon had no goddamn sense of personal space. At every opportunity, he leaned close and spoke into Adrian’s ear, crowding him so that their bodies were close enough that he could feel the heat radiating off him. With anyone else, he would have said the person was trying to dominate or intimidate him, but not Haru. Adrian suspected this was about seduction, and he refused to cave to him.
After he shoved all the shivers and tingles aside, Adrian focused on where they were going. They’d taken a night express from Bellcairn to Voxmore and had woken up more or less refreshed in the small town. Adrian’s brain skittered away from the fact that he’d woken with his head resting on Haru’s chest and an arm thrown possessively across the dragon’s waist while Haru had slept with his arm wrapped around Adrian’s shoulders.
He also wasn’t thinking about how the soft smell of jasmine had tickled his nose, drawing him in and making him rub his face into that same chest.
“I think Voxmore might not have seen the same type of New Rosanthe ‘upgrades’ that Bellcairn got after it became one of New Rosanthe’s territories,” Adrian murmured, leading the way down the cobblestone street. Quaint red-brick buildings and neat, slender wooden buildings painted bright, cheerful colors lined either side of the road. It was like stepping into another time. There were none of the sleek, modern buildings that he commonly saw in Stormbreak or even in the capital of the Isle of Stone. There were also fewer cars on the road. It seemed as if everyone was taking the adorable yellow-and-white tram that followed narrow rails in the road.
Everywhere he looked, the streets were tidy. There wasn’t a scrap of trash to be seen. People walked on the sidewalks, carrying paper bags or neatly designed reusable bags filled with their shopping. They even met his gaze and smiled.
“They appear happier here. Not as suspicious,” Haru whispered.
The shiver got away from Adrian that time, and he shoved Haru, putting some distance between them as they continued. “The capital city is also the seat of power for the country. It’s natural for New Rosanthe’s influence and control to be tightest there. Voxmore is a very tiny town. Most people wouldn’t give it a second glance.”