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“I know every language,” he rumbles another purr.
Well, add that to his long list of impressive characteristics.
“Um…” I chew on my lower lip, hesitant to ask, “Are you taking me to the exit?”
“No.”
Fair enough. I’d swear there’s a hint of a smirk on those stony lips. Up close, he’s even more awe-striking. So powerful and beautiful, he could stop my heart with the seismic shock of one smoldering stare…and then promptly jump-start it.
Pain throbs in my side, and I glance down, wincing at the gashes. I don’t remember how I got those. At least the blood doesn’t seem to be gushing or anything. Wait, is that why his tail is wrapped around me so tight? That’s…sweet. But it does beg the question of why he’s putting pressure on my wounds.
“Are you going to eat me?” I hold my breath, tensing.
Silence. Well, silence with beating wings, my heartbeat pounding in my ears, and my heaving breath. The tension is so thick, it’s having a staring contest with my anxiety. I’m betting on my anxiety.
“Yes.”
Ouch. Okay, so he doesn’t mince words. I shiver from those claws and talons and the brief glimpses of those sharpened teeth when he’s opened his mouth.
“So…why aren’t you doing it? Just get it over with?”
“I prefer my prey to be healthy and sweet first,” he explains.
“Makes sense.”
Still, I’m not about to go down without a fight. And not the kind of fight that involves muscles since I clearly have the short end of that particular stick. My mind is my greatest weapon anyway. And my heart.
“I’m Aradia.”
His breath quickens, growing thick and heavy around me, casting more of that mouthwatering aroma. If my legs weren’t so snugly packed from his tail, I’d be squeezing them so tight. I wonder if my name has him breathing heavier, and maybe that’s a good sign until he angles his wings, veering a sharp right.
“Do you have a name, big guy?” I wonder because they say it’s better to endear yourself to your captor.
“Yes.”
I purse my lips and tilt my head back to meet his eyes. Oh…staring at the abyss so closely may not be the wisest thing, but it’s too late. Those black fathomless pools lock with mine, and my breath catches in my chest because I’d swear the rosy pink glint in those black depths are—
When he blinks, the pink disappears. I scrunch my brow. It must have been a trick of the light or my reflection was blurry or something. Because there is no way in hell he had tiny pinkrosesin his eyes.
“Are you going to tell me?” I blurt out before I can stop myself.
“No,” he snorts, strengthening his grip.
Fair enough.
At some point,I chattered myself to sleep.
By the end, I’d practically given him my life’s story on a silver platter. I told him all about how I’ve been able to see ghosts at an early age, how I became a travel blogger known for exploring the haunted and abandoned places of the country, how I’d learned about the cathedral…and even about the monarch butterfly I’d found in the wall. I still can’t believe I thanked him for not eating me before I finally yawned and had an adrenaline crash.
Now, I’m still stirring with my vision dizzy from the flight. At least I didn’t throw up, but a little of my drool drips onto his shoulder. Oh, crap. Does that mean he will give me a half-swat? And why does that thought make my belly do a heated flip?
Somehow, the blood from my back and side wounds stopped trickling while I was passed out. Did he do that?
The motion of his powerful wings still rocks me, tumbling my belly, but as long as I don’t look down or practically any other direction but his chest…
When I turn my chin ever so slightly to the left, nothing in the universe could prevent my gaze from straying. “Oh, my…holy ghosts!” I gasp. My eyes can’t take it in. They probably never could.
Towering spires and twisted constructs materialize from the gray shadowy landscape. It’s not just one castle. It’s a labyrinth of castles. Shrouded in the nightmarish veil of endless gray, the towering structures stretch as far as my eyes can see. The horizon becomes a jagged silhouette of those castles extending beyond my view. It defies all comprehension.
