Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 84072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
I checked my cell and had only one call from the sheriff stating that they still had no leads but to stay close if they needed to interview me again in the next few days. I don’t know why, but I kept it to myself that my mom had left all that money, almost like she knew what she was doing the whole time, but she would never abandon me, so what had she been thinking? When my thoughts went morose, I often wondered if she dropped me off there because she’d finally lost it, knew her days were limited and wanted a familiar place that made me happy? I still had the house back home, but for now, I couldn’t do anything with it until I knew where mom was or what was going on.
Sighing, I read more of the book and was so immersed in all the different spells that, as silly as it sounded, I wanted to try some. There was a protection spell, one that created ice out of thin air, and a love spell that involved someone’s hair which kind of freaked me out. Then again, everything that was happening around me was freaky, including my new tattoos that clearly weren’t part of some big prank. I kept telling myself if I ignored it, it didn’t exist, but they were hard not to stare at. I hadn’t had a nervous breakdown yet, and I wasn’t about to. I was finally getting answers to all my questions growing up. So even though I was petrified, I was going to learn about the darkness that followed me and the reason my mom went crazy, only to disappear and leave me here, like this, in a strange town that felt like home, yet not.
My eyes were heavy by the time I got ready for bed, and this time instead of setting my alarm clock, I set my cell alarm and stared at the clock, wondering if I should try to touch it again as a semi-experiment or just get some sleep.
Hath said it wasn’t broken.
And my dreams had been… interesting.
Two times I’d been with him, once with Aengus.
And my body burned.
My fingers shook with longing to touch Benjamin.
“Screw it.” I touched the alarm, expecting… well, I don’t know, some freakiness, for the numbers to start going crazy, for the room to spin, but nothing happened. I tapped it again with my fingertips. “Come on, do your thing!”
Shit, I really was going crazy, wasn’t I?
I frowned. “Alarm clock?” Great, I’m talking to alarm clocks now. “Pstt…”
With a sigh, I flopped back on my bed, then turned and narrowed my eyes at the stupid broken old alarm clock.
“Abracadabra!” I waved my fingers over it, and still nothing.
Eventually, sleep’s oblivion must have caught up with me. I opened my eyes, oddly not surprised that the clock was right in my line of vision, 2:59 on its readout.
The alarm clock seemed to glow when three a.m. hit, and for some reason, I touched it.
My hand froze against it as the numbers started counting backward like time itself was running backward, and then the entire room went black.
I sucked in a breath and jolted awake.
I was wearing another corset, this one tighter than hell. My hair was loose around my shoulders, my lips felt bruised, and my body ached in all the right places.
The room I found myself in was small. When I looked to the left, I noticed hay. A horse neighed from a nearby stall, and a chicken strolled right past my feet.
I was in a cot close to the ground.
No alarm clock in sight.
And an amazing smelling man lay next to me.
Was this a dream?
I licked my lips and peered over at my bed partner just as he cracked his gorgeous amber eyes open. His hair was pulled in long braids down his back; its emerald color should look strange.
On him, it was devastating.
A silver rose earring was cuffed to his right ear. His eyes blazed. “Good night?”
“Why are we in the stables?” I asked with a yawn, noticing how much he looked like Benjamin, almost identical if you took away the long green hair. Maybe I was just dreaming about him because of that kiss?
“Because…” He leaned in and pressed a warm kiss to my neck. “…we couldn’t wait last night.” He moved to the other side of my neck. “And because I didn’t want your mother to throw a dagger at me for bringing you home looking like you’ve just fucked your way through Spring.”
I grinned. “And did I?”
“Did you what?”
“Fuck my way through Spring?”
“Well…” He pushed me down, his massive body hovering over me. “Spring definitely fucked you back to Winter.”
I stopped laughing as I gripped the necklace that dangled from his chest and drew him closer until his mouth found mine.