AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The time passed quickly, and before Nora knew it, they went to the parlor and River explained how to play.
Even if she usually wasn't a gambler, she rather liked watching River and how he egged on Leo the entire evening.
She even laughed more than she had in a long, long while.
For the first time ever, she wished she could maybe have a chance at keeping her fated lord.
But then she remembered the bedding, what males wanted, and she quickly dismissed the foolish thought.
She refused to suffer that amount of pain willingly ever again.
Which meant she needed to think of ways to keep away from River. Since he was mostly healed—at least physically—it should be easy enough.
Nora needed distance until he was well enough to go through the claiming. And thanks to all her side projects, she knew exactly how to go about it.
ChapterNine
River had enjoyed the dinner and cards with Nora, Leo, and Yesenia three nights before.
However, the next three days had been a whirlwind of fae witch doctor visits, Yesenia tutoring him in what to expect in this time, and a delivery of books from the fae witch Dark Lord, William Khan, along with a note telling him to study it and be prepared for a meeting at the end of the week.
The one person he never saw was Nora.
Which was fucking annoying. He was sure they'd gotten along well at dinner and during cards. Every time she laughed, it had become another highlight of the night, sparking a desire to make her do it over and over again.
Beating his brother-in-law's ass at poker had been a distant second.
However, any time he asked about her, people merely said Nora was busy.
And with Yesenia still working on her training so she could help their sister, and Leo doing his Dark Lord stuff, River had too much free time on his hands.
Which meant falling asleep despite his best efforts to stay alert and then waking up in a cold sweat or even screaming.
Because the tight lid his mind had kept on his recent captivity was opening, at least in his dreams.
He'd never truly understood how his magic had kept him sane through his months of captivity or torture—a fae witch's magic often went to extremes when it came to self-preservation—but most days he'd woken up to pain but no memory of how he'd gotten it.
Only since arriving in London had fuzzy memories started to creep out. But not until after Nora was no longer sitting by his bedside. Because for reasons he didn't fucking understand, Nora's presence seemed to keep that shit locked up even when he was asleep.
Running his hands across his sweaty face from his most recent nightmare he couldn't remember—glad he hadn't screamed this time around—River lay in bed and decided today was the day he was going to get his ass up and do whatever it took to start moving about on his own again.
Because if Nora was avoiding him, he'd find her. And since she hadn't brought up the fated lord shit, he would. It was high time to stop dancing around that fact.
He reached over and pulled the cord that would chime a bell below stairs, alerting Bates to come help him dress.
Sitting up, he managed to swing his legs over the side of the bed. He gingerly tried to push himself up, but after a few inches, his arms shook, and he landed back on his ass.
The weakness was one of the hardest things about his recovery. River had spent his six years in New Jersey doing his best to become strong, both mentally and physically. Mentally had been for his healing job, but physically had been because it was something he could control, unlike all the years his father had controlled him and his siblings.
But he was fucking determined to get back to where he'd been.
Bates arrived and helped him wash and dress into yet another goddamn suit that stifled his neck with its tie and even his shoulders with the form-fitting jacket.
What he wouldn't give for some old jeans and a T-shirt.
When the valet finally went to get the wheelchair, River shook his head. "No, I want the crutches today."
Bates lifted a dark eyebrow but did as asked. Once River had them, he said, "Thanks," and used them to heft himself up.
