Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 171450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 857(@200wpm)___ 686(@250wpm)___ 572(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 857(@200wpm)___ 686(@250wpm)___ 572(@300wpm)
She slid back to her seat and reached for a sushi roll. “Only because you did what you said.”
“I didn’t realize the bond was causing you to be…unwell.”
She met his gaze with annoyance. “The bond I didn’t want? You’re shocked that my free will being destroyed causes me discomfort?”
“Yes,” he said sincerely with a wince. “It shouldn’t be anything but a balm.”
“Maybe it would be,” she said, leaning forward dangerously, “if I had wanted it. If you’d given me the time to come around to you. If you’d been the hero you masquerade as. Instead, we’re here.” She gestured between them. “And this is all it will ever be.”
“If he’d stayed out of your head,” he snarled, as if the thought of Graves could bring his anger back to the surface, “we wouldn’t be here right now.”
“Hypocrite.”
“I’m not destroying your mind, Kierse.”
“You’re still entering my mind without my consent.”
He rocked back into the booth and then ran a hand down his face. “Okay.” The cocky persona slipped for a minute. “You’re right. I shouldn’t enter your mind unless you ask.”
She was shocked into silence for a moment. She’d been prepared for him to argue the sanctity of the bond.
“I won’t again,” he said like a promise. “Unless you’re in danger.”
“And you can sense when I’m in danger?”
He paused and then nodded. “Yes. Is that sufficient?”
“Hardly a concession. You should give me my powers back, too.”
He ground his teeth together. “I fear we’re at an impasse about that. You don’t think you need protection. You wouldn’t have seen what I did as to your benefit until you were nearly brain dead.” And his defensive wall came right back up.
“And you refuse to accept that I’d rather take help from your enemy than from you.”
“You’re right. I would never accept that,” he agreed.
Kierse pushed her plate away. “You think that you’re protecting me. Meanwhile, you’re leaving me defenseless.”
“I couldn’t imagine you ever being defenseless. You survived in this world for years without knowing you had magic. And as you said, you were very safe last night behind my enemy’s wards.”
She had a clear vision of her jumping across the table with her chopsticks and digging them into his eyeballs. She let out a slow breath and pushed her hair back from her ears. “And this? I didn’t have these before.”
Lorcan’s eyes flicked to her pointed ears. “No, I suppose you didn’t.”
“And the Fae are dead. You know that personally, don’t you?”
He nodded, his eyes glossy and lost. “Intimately.”
“The Fae Killer is still out there, and you leave me with these?” She pointed to her ears again.
“Fine.” He stood from his seat and came around the table. She leaned way back when he slid into the booth at her side.
“What are you doing?”
“Hiding your ears.” He held his hands up. “May I touch you?”
She was so shocked that she nodded mutely. His hand slid to her ear, and her entire body stilled as if she were frozen into a statue. God, just him touching her. It was dangerous. So dangerous. His hand came to the other ear, and they were so close that they were practically sharing breath. Her dark eyes met his blue ones. The need so evident a pain hit the pit of her stomach at her resistance. For a second she stopped breathing entirely, trying to suppress the raging emotions that hit her at his nearness.
“There.”
Kierse touched her ears, which felt the same as he retreated reluctantly to the other side of the table. She pulled out her cell phone and looked in the camera only to see that her ears looked round and human like they had before. Her heart lurched.
“How?” she asked.
“Power sharing,” he said as he returned to his side of the booth.
She wanted to hate him for not giving her magic back. For not giving her the opportunity to do her own glamours. But she saw on his face that this was more than he’d planned to offer.
“Why are you still doing this?” she asked. “You forced the bond. You got what you wanted. Graves can’t get into my mind. What do you even think is happening here?”
The flash of something like pain crossed his face again. “Because I care about you.”
A bark of a laugh escaped her. “That isn’t good enough. I’m with Graves. I choose Graves.”
“I know that,” he snarled before he could compose himself. He straightened again as if she hadn’t meant to see that he was fraying at the edges. Then he leaned forward, his arms crossed on the table. “I lost everything, Kierse. I lost my wife and my kids, and I survived. I spent a hundred years putting everything I was into the Druids. I remember when Declan first came to the city from Ireland. He was my second-in-command for years and Graves just…”