Total pages in book: 193
Estimated words: 184001 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 920(@200wpm)___ 736(@250wpm)___ 613(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 184001 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 920(@200wpm)___ 736(@250wpm)___ 613(@300wpm)
I’m back in the cave again, and it’s still storming.
It feels like déjà vu when I sit up, but this time, I’m not alone. I can’t see him, but I can feel his dark influence like a band around my neck telling me to stay. I don’t move from the slab—mostly because my feet are throbbing like they’ve been scraped with a cheese grater and slapped on a hot grill. The cave is cold, and I think about starting a fire when my thoughts should be on how to escape. When I shiver for the fourth time, I give in and start a fire. I have a hell of a time finding dry kindling and a stick and flint to start it with though.
Once the first of the flames burst to life, I stay crouched and wrap my arms around myself as I look around the now-lit cave to ensure myself I’m alone.
I’m not.
There’s a thump of panic against my chest when I spot a shadow larger than the others hovering near the back of the cave. I keep my gaze on it and wait for him to step out into the light, but he doesn’t. He continues to hover there as if I’m the one needing hiding from.
“I know you’re there,” I call out hoarsely. My throat feels raw from thirst. “Show yourself.”
Finally, the shadow moves and parts from the others against the corner of the cave where the faint light of the fire doesn’t quite reach, but I don’t need it to know it’s him.
Bane.
There’s no question of that now, and I feel foolish for not recognizing that he wasn’t Zeke or Seth earlier. Except he looks at me like they do—like I’m already his.
I almost forget to be afraid because the weight of his stare feels so very familiar, but from Bane, the feeling is more like a freefall than an anchor.
Zeke’s vengeful alter. His sword.
I used to think that was what Seth was until I saw for myself how eager he is to share his heart and affection and to be loved and accepted in return. He’s dangerous, but only makes me feel like I’m wrapped in a warm blanket and protected.
But that isn’t Bane. I have no idea what he dreams of or what he wants. And I realize it’s the unknown that makes him so terrifying. I hop up when he gets too close and back away despite my ravaged feet.
“Juuu-sss-ttt stay right there. D-d-don’t come any closer.” I hold up a hand that ends up pressed against his scalding-hot chest when he ignores me.
“Mine.”
“No. No. I’m not y-yours. I won’t let you hurt me.”
“Hurt you,” he repeats as if tasting the idea on his tongue. He frowns a moment later like he finds it distasteful. “No.”
A bolt of confusion spears through me, and then my mind shifts when I realize… “You can speak.” He spoke to me in the dell when he woke briefly, but I was so freaked out about what almost happened that I didn’t pay much notice to what shouldn’t have happened.
Bane pauses and then he answers as if he’s reluctant to admit it. “Yes.”
“How? Thorin and Khalil said you couldn’t.”
Hearing their names draws forth that malevolence again that makes the green in his eyes seem like they’re bleeding obsidian. I make a terrified sound, and that darkness retreats as if he’s calling it back.
Okay, note to self. Don’t bring Khalil and Thorin up in front of Bane. Ever.
“Zeke speaks. I speak, Au-re-li-a.” He says it matter-of-factly like it should have been obvious. I guess it never occurred to Thorin and Khalil that Bane didn’t speak to them simply because he didn’t want to. He speaks to me though, and the light, warm feeling it causes in my stomach makes me think I need my head examined.
Seth is naive in a lot of ways, but I wasn’t prepared for Bane’s regression.
How much pain? How much pain did Isaac have to cause for Zeke to go to these lengths just to cope and feel safe? It haunts me when I wonder about it for too long. What about Bane—besides the obvious murderous rage—makes Zeke feel safe when Seth can’t?
It breaks my heart.
Right now, it’s just frustrating because I’m lost in the wilds again, and this time, it’s with someone who may or may not want to kill me. Other than scare the shit out of me, he hasn’t tried yet, but rather than put me at ease, it fills me with anxiety. It’s knowing the knife in your back is coming but having no clue when.
“But you only speak to me. Why?” I’m almost afraid to know the answer.
“Mine.”
I whine my frustration and rub my brows to stave off the impending migraine. “Not this again.”
“Au-re-li-a.”
“Yes, Bane. That’s my name, not Mine, so use it,” I snap before I can decide whether it’s wise. Bane stares at me and then walks away and the last thing I expect to do is follow him. I should be running from him in terror, not stalking him across the cave. As crazy as it sounds, it really doesn’t seem like he’ll hurt me. Or maybe I’m just a gullible fool. “Where are we? Where did you take me?”