Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 153795 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 769(@200wpm)___ 615(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 153795 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 769(@200wpm)___ 615(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
Many people go missing or are attacked and eaten on the odd night, which makes being in this old building with no locks a bit distressing. Who knows what’s lurking out there right now, sniffing us out.
“The fire won’t burn all night.” Thane’s voice sucks me out of my thoughts. He’s been quiet for so long, I almost forgot he was there. “I don’t want anyone noticing the light.”
“Yeah. I understand. Thanks for warming us up a bit.” I close my eyes, reminding myself that if anything does try and attack us, Thane will handle it. He’s here to protect me…
Or rob me, kill me, and leave me in this building to rot.
I guess I’ll find out.
Chapter 12
“Make a peep and I’ll kill you.”
My heartbeat thunders rapidly in my ears as a man crouches above me. One of his hands is clapped over my mouth while the edge of a blade is pressed into my throat with his other hand. He pushes it deeper to shush me when I whimper.
Without my spectacles on and the room being half bathed in morning light, his features are a blur—that is until he leans in closer and reveals warm ochre skin behind a slightly turned-up nose, dark-brown eyes, bushy eyebrows, and hair styled in individual plaits.
“Do you understand?” he asks.
I nod behind his hand as my eyes burn with tears. So many thoughts run through my head: Who is this man? Where is Thane? Oh gods. Is this a setup? I knew I shouldn’t have trusted him!
“I’m just gonna rummage through that cute little rucksack and lady bag you have over there,” he says, gesturing with the hand holding the knife to my bags in the corner. “Well, actually, I’m not gonna do it. Zephra is.”
My brows dip with confusion. Who?
As the thought erupts, a creature appears on the man’s shoulder with the body and wings of a miniature dragon. Its pink fur looks as soft as a bunny’s with the pattern of dragon scales. Its nose resembles a bunny’s as well, while pointed ears sprout from either side of its head. Its amber eyes are too big for its face…but in an adorable way.
“Zephra, girl, check her bags for me, will ya? See what you can find.” The man gestures to my bags, and his little creature hops off his shoulder to skitter toward them.
With her little paws, Zephra opens my rucksack, then buries her head inside. When Zephra whips out one of the half-eaten loaves of bread I got from Ellanoch, she joyously chitters.
“No—no, Zephra. You already ate!” the man scolds with exasperation. “You devoured a whole roasted turkey and didn’t bother saving a bit of it for me. Let’s not be greedy. Come on, I need you to remember your job. Coins, jewelry, yeah? Are there any in there?”
Zephra chitters again, buries her head inside, then comes back out with the strings of a pouch in her mouth.
“That’s it! Good girl!” the man praises as she hurries to him, dropping the pouch into his palm. She crawls to his shoulder again and stares at me briefly before swiping the backs of her paws over her snout.
“Don’t move. Got it?” the man advises.
I bob my head. Like I’ll dare move. I can’t even see clearly enough to know where to run.
He removes his hand from my mouth to open the pouch and dump the coins into his palm.
“Ah, look at that, Zephra. We’ll be eating good for at least a week with this.”
I reach for my spectacles, and the man points his blade at me.
“You can take it all,” I tell him, throwing my hands up. “I don’t care. Just take it.”
His brows pucker. “Interesting. I expected more of a fight from you.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not a fighter.”
“That’s strange coming from a person camping out near Ruvain.” He dumps the coins back into the pouch. “You know what you’re doing is dangerous, don’t you? I mean, I literally walked right up the stairs and saw you sleeping like a sweet little princess. Almost didn’t want to startle you because you looked so precious but, well…the coin calls.” He shakes the pouch, giving the coins a light clink clink with a mischievous smile. “Someone like you, out here all alone, is not smart, I gotta tell ya. If I were anyone else, I’d have done—”
The man’s words come to an abrupt stop as the door of the room flies open and Thane appears. With his sword in hand, Thane rushes the man, who scrambles to get up, and slams him into the wall, pressing the edge of the blade to his throat. Zephra flies off and blows a small gust of fire at Thane, who deflects it with an invisible shield before wrapping her in a gold bubble.
“Hold on!” the stranger yells, tossing his hands in the air.