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)
The entire room is a soft blue—from the walls to the ceiling, bedding, canopy, round rug, and smaller furniture pieces. I chose the color after learning that it is actually her favorite and not gold, as her uncle decided it should be for her image. I chose a soft tone because, while the world might have forced Aurelia to expose her harder, thornier side, I know she is gentle and vulnerable at heart, and only with those who matter.
It’s all secondhand with the exception of the bed, mattress, and sheets. All those trips for supplies I volunteered to make had been to secretly procure all of this.
For her.
I watch as she stops in the center of the room and silently notices it all, taking in every detail. After a full minute, Aurelia finally drifts over to the bed, and I watch her bend to get a better view of the headboard. She gently—almost reverently—runs her fingers over the carvings, but I still can’t see her face to get a clue at what she’s thinking.
Aurelia’s shoulders tremble, and then she makes a sound for the first time. It sounds like shock and pain.
Shit, did she get a splinter? I was so careful making sure all the wood had been smoothed after I was done carving.
Shit. Fuck. Shit.
“Are you okay?” I ask as I step forward, my hands already reaching for her arms. “It’s okay if you don’t like it. Maybe we can—”
Aurelia allows me to turn her, and her brown eyes aren’t only wide and brimming with unshed tears, her cheeks, jaw, and lips are soaked with all the ones she’s already shed. “I love it.” Surging onto the tips of her toes, she throws her arms around my neck and kisses me while I squeeze and pull her closer. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she chants cheerfully between kisses.
Something settles inside me, and I allow myself to smile. “You’re welcome, Goldilocks.”
“Hey, what the fuck?” Thorin sputters. “I know Khal did all the work, but we helped. Where’s our gratitude?”
Aurelia giggles, and I reluctantly release her when she pulls away to hug and kiss Thorin. When she gets to Zeke, he offers her a closed-lip smile that doesn’t match the burning look in his eyes, and she rises onto the tips of her toes to kiss his cheek. “Thank you for giving up your bedroom for me.”
“You’re welcome, princess.”
EZEKIEL
I crest the steep hill at a jog, focused on the path in front of me and putting one foot in front of the other when Aurelia, who is running alongside me, drops to the ground suddenly. I stop and turn in time to see her roll over onto her back. “Go on…” Her breath is a rattle as she draws in as much of the warm summer air as she can. “Go on without me. Save yourself.”
Rolling my eyes at her dramatics, I walk over to her and cross my arms as I stare down at her. She’s staring up at the canopy, but her eyes slide my way when my shadow casts over her. “So close. You almost made it to the finish line this time.”
Aurelia groans and rolls her head away from me, exposing the lovely slope of her neck. “You’re just as bad as he is.”
He being Khalil. “He’s also waiting for you to continue your training.”
She makes a sound that’s a cross between a cough and a burp. “Why? So that I can protect myself?” She doesn’t say it mockingly, but it does feel like she’s reaching for a reason why she’s letting us push her so hard.
“So that you can kill your uncle,” I remind her.
“Ah, yes. That.”
My gaze snags on the handheld tranq gun strapped to her hip. Carrying it with her always was Thor and Khal’s only condition on letting her run alone with me. I offer my hand, and when she accepts it, I pull her to her feet. “Changed your mind?”
“Not a chance.”
Tipping my chin back the way we came, I meet her gaze that seems more focused now. “Then let’s get going.”
Aurelia groans but then starts running. Neither of us speak again until we reach our stopping point. The lake.
“I still don’t think all of this is necessary,” Aurelia complains.
It’s been our routine for weeks now. Aurelia and I run every morning at the crack of dawn, and then we meet Khalil by the lake for some hand-to-hand combat before she goes to Thorin for weapons training.
“What?” I ask with a raised brow.
“The training. The fighting. It’s not my uncle’s way. He’ll never meet me head-on. He’ll try to stab me in the back instead. I have to beat him at his own game.”
“Do you?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve been living by his rules for half your life. Maybe it’s time you start writing your own. Make him meet you head-on.”