Total pages in book: 194
Estimated words: 187021 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 935(@200wpm)___ 748(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 187021 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 935(@200wpm)___ 748(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)
Thankfully, Kierse had perfect cover. Every attendee had the option of meeting with the queen publicly. She would be in the throne room receiving guests until midnight, when the ball officially began. It was one of the new customs she had instituted when she’d reclaimed her ancestral land. These woods had been home to the dryads long before humans had built on the property. The queen was so beloved that she’d had other monsters rally to her side to reclaim the forest and place her on the throne of Versailles.
And honestly, good for her. Kierse could appreciate a woman who could take back what was rightfully hers. It was a process that Kierse was still working on for herself. Especially considering how her life had been turned upside down last winter.
Five months ago, she had learned she had magic, stolen a spear straight out of Celtic myth, and discovered she was part of a race of ancient Fae—a will-o’-the-wisp. The last wisp in existence. All while falling for the dark warlock who had upended her life—Graves.
The same person who had lied to her, withheld her history, and broken her trust.
So she’d left New York to find answers that didn’t come with strings attached. While she missed the city, her family…and even Graves, she wasn’t ready for that reunion.
She didn’t have time to think about Graves. He was a problem for another day. Right now came step three, the tricky part: sneak into the queen’s rooms.
Kierse extricated herself from the flow of people heading toward the receiving room. When she came upon the next enormous staircase, she waited until the pair of goblin guards were distracted by a group of werewolves to slip past and up the stairs. Her feet were feather light as she crept along the deserted upper level, toward the private quarters. Her heart beat a staccato rhythm against her chest, and an old, familiar smile graced her features.
It wasn’t a natural smile. It was her wrong smile. The one that said she liked the thieving. The danger, the suspense, the act of doing something she wasn’t supposed to do.
It sure helped that she was damn good at it. She wouldn’t go as far as to say the best in the business, but her old mentor, Jason—may he rot in hell—had been the best in New York, and she’d ended up better than him.
Now to get that bracelet and get out of there. Then she could happily return to Dublin, where Gen was safely tucked away, working on their next fruitless mission into the Irish countryside.
Kierse blew out an exasperated breath as she hurried down the crisscrossed hardwood floors. The hallway was white and narrow with arched windows looking out across the grounds to the left opposite a series of closed wooden doorways. The rooms she glimpsed weren’t decorated to the same picturesque standard she’d seen on the tour earlier that week. Instead, she found peeling antique wallpaper, furniture covered with white sheets, and even empty rooms with exposed wires. They were in sharp contrast to the magnificent Hall of Mirrors, the carefully restored display of original bedrooms, and thousands of priceless works of art.
It made the palace feel more real than myth. Much like everything else in her life.
Following the blueprint in her mind, she turned down an empty servant hallway. Thankfully, most of the workers were busy with the rest of the party. Then her enhanced Fae hearing picked up the sound of voices up ahead.
Kierse cursed, backtracked a few steps, and slid behind a large, floor-length curtain. She held her breath as two female voices approached and then passed her, speaking in hushed French. She’d learned a few passing words before she’d made the trip, but they certainly weren’t sufficient to follow this conversation.
When the coast was clear, Kierse eased back out and hastened down the rest of the hallway, nearly to her destination. She peered around the corner and found two guards standing in front of the queen’s chambers. Same as when she’d slipped away from her group on the tour—they’d taken the queen’s bedchamber off the official route now that the palace was occupied once more. Lucky for her, she wasn’t going in through the front door.
Kierse retrieved her tools, delved into her wisp magic, and manipulated time. From one breath to the next, the world slid into slow motion. The gold of her magic floated around her as she darted to the door adjacent to the queen’s rooms and got to work with her lockpicks. An easy click of the lock later, she pushed into the room and closed the door firmly behind her. She released her magic, letting everything come back into focus.
Her wisp magic was something she was still getting used to, but her slow motion had always been part of her. The little edge that she used to get herself in and out of bad situations. It was the newer magic that she was still wrangling. Like wards.