Total pages in book: 214
Estimated words: 195876 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 979(@200wpm)___ 784(@250wpm)___ 653(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 195876 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 979(@200wpm)___ 784(@250wpm)___ 653(@300wpm)
After a while, Mireen's smile fades and she seems to remember Raith who lays between all of us, still motionless and radiating heat.
"So…" Mireen says. "You saved the terrifying guy who basically runs the first-year fire offerings… because?"
"Malakai and Serena were trying to kill him. It was five on one when I got there, and Raith had already downed a few of them." I resist the urge to get defensive—Raith's life was worth saving, period.
Beck kicks a foot up on the bed, leaning back so the wooden chair beneath him groans like it might snap in two. "Okay. Sure. But if I walked into a forest and saw a bunch of wolves trying to kill each other, I don't know if I'd pick one and try to save it. You know?"
"He has… helped me a few times." The words sound pathetic even to my own ears.
That earns raised brows from everyone.
"Helped you how?" Mireen asks. "I seem to recall him nearly choking you to death your first day here. And other than that, he's always glaring at you like he wants to eat you for dinner."
"Yeah, well, I don't think trust comes easy for him. And I won't pretend I know why, but he has been helping me. He kind of… looks out for me. In his own way." Even I can hear how weak that sounds.
Ambrose gives Mireen a sideways look.
Beck nods knowingly, snapping his fingers. "So you two are fucking? That's all you had to say. It does make sense. I mean, no offense, obviously, but you're gorgeous, Nessa. I never made a pass at you because I assumed you were taken. It was the only explanation for you not hooking up with anyone. But you’ve got it all going on. Face? Check. Body? Double check. And your ass is—"
"Beck," Mireen says, turning his name into a sigh and a curse at the same time.
"What?" Beck says. "Look at her." He gestures. "Of course I wouldn't sleep with you. I mean, I would. But I won't because I respect you. And you guys brought me in, probably saving me from Malakai. Even if being your friend now sort of makes me more of a target…"
When nobody says anything for a few seconds, Beck's eyes narrow to slits. "Or… I will sleep with you? If that's what I'm supposed to say? Fuck, guys. I'm lost here. Uther is no help, either. He's just saying how hungry he is."
"Keep your fucking hands to yourself," Raith groans, surprising all of us. He coughs and sits up slightly, wincing as he probably aggravates his dozens of wounds.
"Hey, easy," I say, thinking twice before I reach out to touch his bare skin. The blanket has fallen down to reveal his ripped and muscular torso. My breath catches despite my best efforts.
And his scars.
There's a collective intake of breath as everyone else sees, too.
The entire left side of his body from his belly button to his pec and all around the side is twisted with more burn scars.
"Hands off," Beck says, holding both palms up toward Raith, who is glaring at him. "You got it, big guy."
Raith might be the only first-year Beck could actually call “big guy,” considering Beck already towers over most students with his size.
"How do you feel?" I ask Raith.
"Fine. Where is Serena? Where's Malakai?"
"I'm not sure. Last I saw them was in the elemental plane on our way out. But I assume they'll be back on campus by now. Unless… maybe Bastian could have killed them. But that doesn’t seem like something he’d do if he could avoid it."
He nods, pulling the blanket back over his body as if he's ashamed of the scars. It's a simple gesture, but it breaks my heart. A tightness seizes my chest that has nothing to do with my own injuries. Scarred or not, there's an unnatural beauty to Raith. And by now, all of us at Confluence bear our own scar tissue on the inside. The fact that he has to wear his for everyone to see isn't fair, and I hate it for him.
"You are soft for him," Typhon notes. "Perhaps you should mate with him. It would relieve some of the emotion I sense clouding your mind."
"Typhon… do me a favor and shut up." I feel heat rush to my face.
"Such a small, angry, insolent human. You are worse than Korthan. He at least respected my power and authority. He knew how highly esteemed I was among the elementals, and he would never dare speak to me so. Unless, of course, I interrupted his meals. Korthan was passionate about meal times."
I bite back a smile. For all Typhon's talk, I can feel something of his real emotions through the tether connecting us. I feel the bottomless well of his gratitude for saving him from the madness that trapped him for so long. Even if both of us are too stubborn to admit it aloud, I know he can feel my gratitude, too. Typhon is the reason Raith is alive. He's the reason I'm alive.