Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 115860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
“What the—Caden!”
With a grunt, he keeps going.
“Give him what he needs for as long as you can,” Duke calls out. “And shut the door behind you.”
Since I can’t outpower or outmaneuver Caden, I agree. But how long will he need me? And do I have everything necessary to heal him?
Duke
“So what happens now?”
I whirl to face Olivia. I’m so flustered, I didn’t hear her come through the door. “That was locked.”
She shrugs. “I’ve been working on my simple magic. Locks are a breeze for me now.”
Despite the rather dire situation, I smile. “Marrok always says you’re mischievous. I see why. Is Sabelle coming for you?”
A thud reverberates through the room, like something—or someone—hit the wall. Moments later, a murmur, a rip, then a sigh. Clearly, Caden and Sydney aren’t wasting any time. I wince.
“Soon,” Olivia answers, flushing a pretty shade of pink. “She’s helping Bram elsewhere now. Marrok asked me to wait with you for a bit.”
With a nod, I sit on the sofa. Olivia follows suit.
On the other side of the wall, sighs turn to moans.
“Well, this isn’t awkward at all.” She rolls her eyes.
It bloody well is.
I wince. “I don’t suppose you’ll settle for the short version of upcoming events.”
Olivia snorts. “You know better.”
I settle my elbows on my knees and peer over at the violet-eyed beauty. She’s striking, and she’ll become an immensely powerful witch…once she goes through Caden’s current plight.
“He’s transitioning. I suspect he’s been fighting the urge for some weeks, so he’ll need a tremendous amount of energy. The process will be long and difficult. And dangerous. It’s made worse because he’s fighting the urge to Call to her.”
“A human reporter? Has he lost his ever-loving mind?”
Her American expressions often amuse me, but now isn’t the time. “I warned him. I also placed a secret repelling spell over her mouth. It’s not foolproof and won’t hold for more than a few days, but it’s all I can do now. My biggest concern is whether she’ll be strong enough to pull him through this transition.”
Olivia eyes me like I’m mental. “It doesn’t take a lot of physical strength for a female to have sex. It’s not like Sydney has to bench-press him.”
“Quite. Perhaps stamina is a better word.”
“Oh.” Olivia frowns. “How long will they, um…?”
A loud feminine moan penetrates the walls, followed by a male voice muttering in encouraging tones.
“The average is two days.”
“But they’ll sleep, right?”
“No.”
“Are you telling me they’ll be…”
“Shagging all that time? Most of it, I’m afraid.”
Olivia winces. “I see what you mean about stamina. Can this…process last longer?”
“Indeed.” I scrub a hand over my face. Frightening the witchling who has yet to undergo her own transition is something I’d rather avoid, but being dishonest benefits no one. “My transition came two years early. In my ignorance, I fought it. My parents knew little about magic, since mine came from my grandmother, who had long since disappeared. So when I transitioned, it was harsh, as I suspect Caden’s will be.”
“And yours took longer?”
Before I can answer, a thumping against the wall echoes through Sydney’s little living room once, twice, again, then settles into a rhythmic pace.
Bloody hell.
I nod grimly. “Three days.”
It was one of the few times my body and magic completely overrode the decorum that was drummed into me my entire life. For those few days, no amount of sex was enough, no act too wicked or depraved. I rejected food, water, family—anything but pleasure.
“The poor woman must have been exhausted. No wonder you’re worried for Sydney.”
When I transitioned, my emotions weren’t engaged with any particular woman, as Caden’s are. I started with a woman I was dating casually. When she fell into an exhausted sleep, I didn’t think twice about opening my bedroom door to growl for another.
But I say nothing. No reason to alarm her.
Still, my discomfort must show on my face.
“More than one woman?” Olivia chokes.
I close my eyes and sigh. “Four.”
And the last had nearly had to be replaced.
A good thing, I think in retrospect. At the end of every transition, each witch’s or wizard’s special power, unique to them, emerges—without any warning when or what will manifest. When my special power presented itself, if the woman I was with hadn’t been mostly unconscious, she would have screamed in utter terror.
“What happens if Sydney isn’t strong enough to pull him through?”
“Let’s just hope for the best, shall we?”
Olivia peers at me, clearly upset. “Are you trying to avoid telling me that he could die?”
I pat her hand to reassure her. “You will be better prepared. Bram will tell Marrok well in advance what’s to come and how to behave. My family was not so lucky. Fear not; your transition will come off splendidly.”
“I’m not worried about me. Marrok will do everything in his power to get me through. But I’m worried about Caden. What if Sydney can’t? Who will?”