Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 165618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 662(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 165618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 662(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
And here I was, in a position to support (or other) an important decision he’d made as king, and I was not yet queen, but I sensed this would be my life if, in the end, we worked.
“Catla?” he called.
Yes.
He expected me to support…or other.
“If this is what you feel you need to do,” I said lamely.
“You know Gayle. I don’t. Do you have words to speak against this plan?”
Gods.
He actually wanted to know my feelings.
And what I was feeling was: that felt great.
“I’m assuming Cormac made it clear he wasn’t budging,” I said. “No wiggle room?”
“He made that very clear.”
I thought of Gayle as she was last night, torn, and not in a good way.
I thought of how I felt when my freedom was taken from me, and it wasn’t as bad as what Gayle was going through.
“We need to get her home, Tanyn,” I decided.
His eyes went red. “Then it will be done.”
Shit.
And.
Good.
He took some time to get a lock on it, the red receded, his beautiful blue came back, and he asked, “Nayden was all right with you?”
Oh yes.
He’d spoken to him.
“Yes. Very professional.”
Tanyn didn’t hide he wasn’t fond of that.
“Professional?”
“Honey, he’s going to take your back in everything. The end. And I’m very okay with that. The end. I’m not one of those females who has to have everyone like her. I’ll prove myself to him, or grow on him, or I won’t do either. It will be what it’ll be. You can’t make him like me. But he’s being polite. He’s serious about his job. I feel safe. Let it go.”
“As you wish,” he murmured.
“When is this thing with Gayle going to happen?”
“They have to plan it, but they’re looking at Wednesday.”
So she’d be home when I was going to him.
“We can skip the extra night this week,” he offered.
“No,” I replied before I could think it through.
I should be here for Gayle.
But I couldn’t bear waiting until Friday to see Tanyn again.
I was a little worried I was falling so fast, but I couldn’t deny I was, and since there not only was nothing I could do about it, I also didn’t want to do anything about it, therefore, I wasn’t going to worry too much about it.
“Aleksei’s keeping her at Spikeback with him and Laura until the threat from Tatra is neutralized, or Cormac agrees to back off. She’ll be covered until you get home on Thursday.”
She would.
Laura, Monique, and it seemed Aleksei would be all over that.
“I could ask them to delay until Thursday,” he offered. “But the team won’t be ready until Wednesday, and that’s asking her to spend another day down there.”
“I didn’t want to rub it in, you know, what’s growing between us,” I shared. “But I’ll have no choice but to do that on Thursday so she’ll understand why I wasn’t here. Don’t delay it. Let’s get her out of there.”
“Right.”
“Speaking of Tatra. Any news?”
“Not yet.”
Damn.
“Okay, I need to work and you have king things to do, I’m sure.”
That got a smile out of him.
Excellent.
“So I’ll let you go,” I continued. “Chat later this evening?”
“Absolutely.”
And the quickness of his reply made me smile.
Mm-hmm.
He was going to be one of those males who communicated.
And no.
I was not going to worry (too much) about falling so fast for him.
“Okay, honey. Speak soon,” I said.
“We will, sweetheart. Have a good day.”
“You too.”
We ended the comm, and I had to give it time to process that I bitched about what was going on with my friend, and in less than twenty-four hours, my male arranged it so warriors from three realms were going to solve her problems (or, at least, alleviate them).
I was worried about Gayle.
I was worried about how difficult it was proving to find Tatra.
But above all this.
I was happy.
That was scary.
And absolutely mega.
Chapter 14
Goner
Sitting in the soni-jet on the way up to Sky’s Edge, I looked up from my tablet when Nayden left the cockpit to do another search of the cabin, like a being could dissipate on a cellular level somewhere else and reanimate inside the jet.
Which was ridiculous.
Usually, after he did this, he went back to the cockpit.
This time, he sat down in a seat across the cabin from me.
I was on my tablet, adding to the saved items I wanted to show Tanyn for the refurb of Sigil.
I’d asked Zyr to go through, uncover and send pics of what was already there to see if there was anything I wanted, and if it could be salvaged.
Most of it had been ruined by the damp and cold.
I even had to request she stop sending pics of the paintings on the walls, because most of them were watermarked, or the paint had chipped or faded, and the loss of these historical pieces was such a waste, I couldn’t bear looking at them.