AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It happened soon after Neeka lost her hearing. According to Mother Dearest, little Neeks had become an embarrassment. Too weak to prevent a soldier from harming her, then too feeble to heal.
To be honest, the rejection had hurt more than the injuries. But now wasn’t the time for childhood regrets.Focus up. She had a doomed future to circumvent and all.
“A plan of action is more important than a nap.” A jaw-cracking yawn followed her words. “Rathbone is preparing for the arrival of his dead wife. He’s determined. Brilliant me promised him results in twenty-four hours. But I gotta snag the elixir as well. A necessary tool to free him from Skeletoria’s clutches.” With a sigh, she capped the polish. Leaning forward, she blew on her toenails. “That’s why I’m consulting you, my preferred semi-expert in matters of everything and nothing.”
“Okay. Here’s your plan, each step fully vetted. First, stop lusting for the king. Second, don’t attempt to seduce him. Third, forget the elixir. Finally, find a way to give the bag of bones to the Astra. If they know about the shadow monsters, they’ll take precautions.”
And risk ending up on Rathbone’s dinner table, served to demons as a delicious appetizer? No, thank you. “Blame him for the lusting, not me. He’s the trifecta of masculine carnality. Tall, broad-shouldered, and stacked with muscle. And he smells good. And his skin is warm. Plus, you’ve seen the way he smolders when he looks at me, right? How’s a girl supposed to ignore that? And get this. He recently twined his fingers with mine.”
For centuries, she’d witnessed couples holding hands with linked fingers, and she’d envied them greatly. This marked her first personal experience with such a phenomenon. How right the world had felt. As if the past, present, and future had aligned to reveal the true meaning of perfection. As if the worst of her struggles had been worth it to get her to that special moment.
But it wasn’t a special moment to Rathbone. He preferred a twenty-minute boner garage. No doubt he hoped to use her for an occasional bang now that his stable was closed for maintenance. And that was his loss. Neeka had a lot of pent-up affection to give, if ever she decided to jeopardize her heart. And she just might, now that she’d experienced the joy of hand holding. To belong to her man...
Pay the higher price or prove you place no value on your request.
A sentiment that applied to every avenue of life. How much was a forever relationship worth to her?
“Find a way to heed me, I’m begging you,” her companion pleaded. “Aligning with the red one isn’t smart. He’s a bad bet. Trust me on this. Have I ever steered you wrong?”
“I honestly don’t remember.” This wasn’t one of her smarter days. Different visions of the past, present, and future were knocking on her mental door, seeking entrance. A cluster too plentiful to deal with without passing out. Holding them at bay as they seeped out one by one required a distraction. Hence Miss Reflection. “Have you?”
She shrugged. “Maybe? I’m drawing a blank, too.”
Yeah. That tracked. “Well, I agree he’s a bad bet.” Forget his infatuation with Momma Shadow. If they dated, he would treat Neeka the same way he’d treated his concubines. A convenience to dispose of the moment he got his nut. “Good thing I’m not seeking a future with him. Only a future, period. Which brings me back to the elixir. How do I find it while earning my keep? There’s gotta be a way to accomplish both simultaneously.”
Rathbone—wait. Her foresight tingled at the exact moment her reflection froze. Someone had just encroached upon her territory. Except, as she straightened and scanned, she found no evidence of an intruder.
Hmm.Something’s different. Searching, searching... There. The stuffed teddy bear on the mantle. She didn’t recall seeing it as she’d hauled her pilfered goods into the room. Had she forgotten it, or had the king materialized it the same way he’d materialized the robe, eager to observe her on some kind of nanny cam?
Nanny cam. Definitely. A hint of exotic spices and juniper berries laced the air.
Well, how dare he spy on her while she plotted to betray him!
This required swift action. Neeka stood and stretched, acting totally normal. Whistling, she skipped to the mantel—and swiped up the bear.
“Ah-ha! Do not monitor me again, Wrath Boned,” she growled in the animal’s face. Then she tossed the toy into the crackling hearth and watched with glee as it burned beyond recognition.
But. Hmm. It wasn’t satisfaction that flooded her. Her brows drew together. Whatwasthat? Regret? Had shelikedbeing observed by Rathbone?
No, no, absolutely not. But maybe a little? Not that it mattered. She shook her head—the answer to both her problems smacked her, as if it had fallen from a top shelf in her mind. Neeka jumped up and down, excited. Of course! Nova, the Astra home world, harbored the mythical Hall of Secrets. From what she’d gathered by eavesdropping on the warlords, the solution to every problem floated there, ready to be plucked from thin air.
There would be lots and lots of guards. Probably boobytraps, too. No doubt the reason she’d sensed danger whenever she’d considered the elixir. But no matter. A girl did what a girl had to do.
One unbreakable bond, coming up.
8
As the morning sun rose, Rathbone shed his last patch of charred flesh. He’d spent the night recovering from his tangle with Neeka’s hearth. His mood was...not great. The oracle had detected him faster than Azar. Swift enough to catch Rathbone off guard. A world-rocking first, and something he should’ve anticipated.
She was a seer. Though he doubted she’d realized the truth. That he was the bear, and the bear was him. Why attempt to murder the male responsible for your “payday”?
Next time, he would be more discreet. And there would be a next time. She’d mumbled words in a language foreign to him, and he wished to know to whom she’d spoken. He hadn’t seen anyone, but the lack meant nothing. Astra could speak telepathically.
If she communicated with the warlords...with Azar...
Frothing with fury, Rathbone rose from bed, showered, and selected a pair of leathers but no shirt. Better to watch her every move.
He halfway expected the flighty beauty to barge into his bedroom before he finished buttoning the pants. That she didn’t, even though he paused repeatedly, only worsened his mood. Twelve hours remained on her twenty-four-hour clock. If she failed to find a bone and he must remove one of hers to prove a point, so be it. What he refused to do, no matter how much she provoked him? Allow her strange appeal to affect his body.
