Total pages in book: 401
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
“Listen…to me.” She leaned forward onto one hand, gasping as a wave of silvery-gold and midnight rolled over her upper chest. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, but… You…you know what you have to do.”
Kieran staggered.
He staggered.
And that terrified me. Eather swelled within me, charging the air as I shouted, “What did you promise her?”
Kieran’s eyes slammed shut again.
I stepped toward him, feeling the stone tile vibrate beneath my feet. “I swear to the gods, if you don’t answer me…”
“To stop her,” he uttered. “I promised to stop her if she ever lost control.”
My entire realm seemed to grind to a halt as I stared at him. “How?”
Kieran’s eyes opened, and his head turned to mine. Streaks of gold and silver churned in his vivid-blue eyes. “By putting her in the ground.”
“Oh, fuck,” Reaver muttered.
I knew what that meant as I staggered back a step, my knees feeling like they’d buckle under the weight of the betrayal.
He was talking about putting her into a deep stasis. The kind that would require Poppy to be weakened to the point where her mind retreated into itself, and her body gave up. The kind the gods had just woken from. A stasis that didn’t last days or even months.
But years.
Centuries.
Six words.
That was all it took for me to no longer see the man who had been at my side since birth. Who knew everything there was to know about me. Who was there for me when I couldn’t even be there for myself. Who I not only trusted with my life but also with hers.
Six words was all it took for me to do what I never thought I would.
I attacked Kieran.
CHAPTER 4
CASTEEL
I launched myself at Kieran.
And he didn’t do a damn thing as I came at him. I was fast, but with his wolven senses and the newly developed Primal ones, he saw me. He could’ve lifted his hands. Could’ve stepped out of the way. He could’ve done anything.
But he didn’t.
Icy-hot eather pulsed in my veins as I slammed my fist into his jaw, driving him back several feet and down to one knee.
“Fuck,” he gasped, leaning onto his hand as he spat out a mouthful of blood.
My brain had clicked off. I was nothing but violent reaction as I stalked forward and grabbed him by the tunic collar before he could find his footing. Lifting him off the floor, I slammed him into the closed door, cracking the wood. He grunted, his head snapping back. His eyes locked onto mine.
“How?” I ground out, all other voices fading into the background. My chest felt like it had been ripped open. “How could you?” I shouted, lifting him away from the door and slamming him back. “Answer me!”
The eather in Kieran’s eyes brightened in a flash of silvery-gold as he grasped my forearm. “Do you think I wanted to make that promise? I didn’t, but I—”
“Had to?” I shot back, and his eyes widened slightly, either at the sound of my voice or the laugh that crawled its way out of me. He likely didn’t recognize the darkness in it. The aching coldness and the shadowy undertones. Neither did I. I didn’t give a fuck, though. “Don’t give me that bullshit. You don’t have to do shit you don’t want to do.”
“Really?” Letting go of my arm, Kieran slammed both hands into my chest. I didn’t budge an inch. “Really? I don’t have to do shit I don’t want to do? Better than anyone else, you know that isn’t true. So, you want to rethink that statement?”
“Fuck you,” I spat, the rage inside me taking hold as I stepped back and yanked Kieran from the door. Twisting sharply at the waist, I threw him across the chamber.
“What the—?” Reaver moved out of the way as six feet and some inches came barreling at him.
Kieran twisted in midair and landed in a crouch. His flesh thinned as he rose, a shadow of fawn-colored fur sprouting on his hands and arms.
“I trusted you.” The words tore their way out of me as I prowled toward him. The corners of my vision turned a shadowy crimson, but I was too far gone for that to give me pause. “I trusted you!” The words were like a crack of thunder. “I trusted you, above all others, with her!”
“And she trusted me!” Kieran thundered.
That was the absolute last thing he should’ve said.
The temperature of the chamber dropped as I lunged at him.
A heavy weight crashed into me before I could reach Kieran. I hit the floor on my stomach, hard, the impact knocking the air from my lungs.
“You idiotic fucks,” Reaver snarled. “Do either of you think this is the time for your little bitch fight? And you?” He drove his knee into my back. “You need to control yourself.”
My nostrils flared as I slid my hands under me.