Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 28782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 144(@200wpm)___ 115(@250wpm)___ 96(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 144(@200wpm)___ 115(@250wpm)___ 96(@300wpm)
A smile full of boyish mischief and fraternal affection transformed Liam’s face. “Right away, my lord, right away.”
Kael glared and Liam straightened his face as he sprinted from the room, but he moved with so much enthusiasm Kael couldn’t resist the buoyancy of good humor that inflated his chest.
It constricted just as quickly. He needed to know she was safe. He needed to look into that mystical gaze. Anxiety tossed his stomach as he anticipated seeing her again. He couldn’t imagine what she must think of him, how she must be feeling. Christ, she wasn’t even down from the high of her orgasm when he threw her out.
Kael braced himself. Every likelihood existed she wouldn’t want to return. And though that decision would level him, he wouldn’t blame her one bit.
Chapter 5
If Shayla never saw a blindfold again, it would be too soon.
With her eyes covered to keep secret the rural location of the vampires’ compound, she reclined against the leather of the luxury sedan’s backseat. Having asked her trainer for some space, she rode alone. It was the middle of the night, just hours into the twentieth anniversary of her birth.
Happy freaking birthday to me.
She shifted and pulled her legs up under her on the seat. Unthinkingly, she rubbed her left hand, massaged her palm. At some point it had started aching, but she couldn’t remember hurting herself. The gentle hum of road noise was soothing, at least. Anything to distract her from her thoughts.
The previous evening, the trip from Belfast had taken a little over an hour, so she knew it wouldn’t be long until she was back at her hotel near the airport. She’d be returning to London tomorrow, and she could definitely get into the idea of losing an afternoon browsing the shelves of the Waterstone’s at Piccadilly Circus.
Anything normal would be nice right about now.
The car slowed and veered to the left, and gravel crunched beneath the tires. Then they were still, only the soft purr of the idling engine filling her ears. The driver was separated from her by a privacy screen.
Shayla threw her hands out to brace herself as the car eased into what had to be a U-turn.
“Um, hello?” She reached forward until her hands found the facing seat and then shifted her body to reach the dividing window. She knocked. Nothing. “Oh, come on. Hello?” she called louder. She flopped back against the seat.
What is going on?
Maybe her trainer, a man she called Master Simon, needed a ride back with her after all. That must be it.
In the quiet lull of the resumed ride, all she could think about was how different the night had gone from what she’d expected. Yesterday, she’d been so excited, nearly giddy, as she imagined what the evening might hold for her. How meeting the king could very well be the answer to a variety of prayers.
Now, she was just depressed…and, frankly, a little annoyed.
Kael might be gorgeous and fascinating and sexy, able to make her come by kissing her alone, but he was just a…a guy. For God’s sake.
Oh, who am I kidding?
Kael was everything she’d ever fantasized, and so much more. Powerful and magnificent in his otherworldliness. Gentle and kind, at least when he wanted to be. So damn hot her novice body and mind could barely process it.
He was also her best shot at getting justice for Dana and vengeance against the Soul Eaters.
Well, not anymore. Her years-long grief made her throat go tight. I’m sorry, Dana. I’ll find another way. I promise.
Shayla hugged herself and laid her head back against the seat. She would find another way. Somehow. Some time.
As for Kael, well, the Proffered never had more than a few hours with him, did they?
Her rational mind knew that, expected it. Any hopes she held out otherwise were just the last hangings-on of teenage fantasies. Now she could put her daydreaming aside and focus on a realistic path to fighting the evil in her world.
If nothing else, there was her future role on the Electorate Council. Maybe she should talk to her parents to see if there was a way for her to participate sooner. Yeah, that was a starting place, at least. Surely there were also other contributions she could make she didn’t yet know enough to conceive. That thought eased the tension from her neck and shoulders.
The car stopped again, pulling her out of her thoughts. She’d been so distracted she couldn’t tell how much time had passed. Her door clicked open. From somewhere outside, voices bit back and forth at one another. She slid her blindfold off and set it on the seat beside her.
Shayla’s eyes blinked and stung as they adjusted to the fluorescent lights of the cavernous garage—she’d guessed right, then, they’d returned. Through a squint, she was finally able to make out the shape of her trainer, a tall, thin man in his mid-forties, and—she was certain from his size and long braid—a vampire warrior. Chills raised the hair on her arms as she stepped out of the car.