جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 60

DENEDENE HAD NO CLUE WHERE MARKUS WOULD TAKE THEM—BUT HE FIGURED HE’D SOON FIND OUT.As the moon traversed the darkening sky, Dene and Cronus waited in the suite for Markus to return. The demon had business to take care of before their expedition away from the castle. Something about notifying the person they were about to visit that they would be stopping by.By the time Markus slipped back through the entrance, the moon’s position told Dene it was a quarter to midnight.Dressed in dark, sleek attire that exuded mysterious sexiness, Markus filled them in on the details of their late-night trip.“I’ll tell you the exact place we’re going once we’re out of the castle,” the demon told them. “But not before.”Dene wondered what the big deal was. Who were they going to visit, and why did maintaining their secrecy matter so much?Despite being friends with his mates for so long, there were still pieces of the puzzle the selkie didn’t have yet. But not knowing just made him more eager to l

DENE DENE HAD BEEN SWIMMING IN THE POOL FOUR WEEKS LATER, WHEN THE PREGNANCY MADE ITSELF KNOWN TO HIM.Nausea rolled over him like a wave, knocking the selkie off balance. He returned to the surface and swam to the edge of the pool, where he shed his seal skin and climbed up onto the grassy surface above.He immediately regretted his decision.Being in human form only made his nausea worse. The world spun as he focused on slowing his breath. To Dene, nothing felt worse than throwing up. For someone who rarely got sick, he rarely experienced such side effects. But now that he was trying to conceive, that expectation flew out the window. On the bright side, his symptoms would only last three months, with the extra bonus of producing a child at the end.While Dene did not look forward to throwing up more often than usual, he did look forward to meeting his first-born child.“Are you all right?” Markus called out to him from his sun-tanning spot.Dene shook his head no. Mere seconds late

"He's Dead"!The hands of Ammon gripped Cronus’ garbs and yanked him through the portal, out of Markus’ arms, before either of them had time to react.The soon-to-be king fell onto the floor, his romp eating most of the impact as he landed on the marble with a thump.“DEAD!” Ammon wailed, his eyes wide with fear.Markus stepped out behind Cronus and bent down to help him up. Then he turned to councilman Ammon. ”Get it together, councilman. Tell us what happened.”He took a deep breath and smoothed the wrinkles on his forehead with his thumb and forefinger. “I’ve been waiting here to tell you the news: Torin is dead. Someone killed him.”The portal dissipated behind Markus and Cronus. They stared at the councilman in shock.“Someone’s killed him?” Cronus repeated slowly. Then his mind returned to Dene. “Wait. Is Dene okay?”“Your mate is fine,” he assured Cronus.“So he hasn’t gone into labor yet?”Ammon chuckled and winked. “Not yet, my prince. I think your heir is waiting for the las

MARKUS MARKUS’ HEART RACED AS CRONUS LINED UP THE RIPPED PAPER WITH THE MISSING PAGE IN TORIN’S SPELL-BOOK.The torn parts matched up perfectly.The three stared at the open tome laying between them in silence.“Shall we find out what it says?” Cronus asked nervously.Markus and Dene nodded an affirmative.Once Cronus binded the torn pages together again using his own magic, the blank page transformed before their eyes. Words began appearing one by one until paragraphs of hidden information revealed itself to them.The torn page contained what many in Nitehelm would call a blood contract. The signatures and seal for both Torin and Jarris stared back at them, confirming their fears. That the contract had been torn from the tome meant the evidence had been removed on purpose and not done by accident.Markus let out a low groan and jabbed his finger against the repaired page. “Now we know why it was missing.”“I guess Torin and Jarris were working together after all,” Cronus commented a

CRONUS THE DARKNESS SWALLOWED CRONUS AND MARKUS AS THEY FELL INTO THE CATACOMBS BELOW.Unable to see, the two of them careened toward the ground. Cronus clung to Markus, waiting for the best moment to cast a spell that would buffer their fall. That moment never arrived.Instead, tendrils from below wrapped around their ankles and yanked them toward the ground.The two of them crashed onto a pile of abandoned, worn tools that stabbed and sliced Cronus’ skin as he cushioned their blow with his body.He cried out in pain as his vision blurred from the shock.This is just like that dream, he realized, horrified.Markus collided into the prince, doubling his mate’s agony. Dazed, the demon scrambled to get off of Cronus. “I can smell your blood. How injured are you?”“I can still fight,” Cronus gritted out.But if things panned out like they had in his nightmare, would Cronus be able to pull through and defeat Jarris on his own?He didn’t know how useful he would be, but the Fae decided to