Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 144277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 721(@200wpm)___ 577(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 721(@200wpm)___ 577(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
I’m sitting on the couch, lacing my boots up, when Tyse returns, holding a package in his hand. He smiles at me as he kicks the door closed. This motion makes his weapon bang against his hip, which I find very sexy for some reason. “Hey,” he says, walking over to me. “New clothes?”
I stand up, modeling them. “Delta sent them, along with all kinds of other stuff.” I point to the pack. “Do you like it?”
He throws me a wild grin in response. “Love it. And that pack is pretty full. Looks heavy.” He walks over and picks it up. “What’s in it?”
“Trinkets. Clothes. A notebook to record my travels.” He gives me a funny look. “From Anneeta. She’s sad she’s not coming so she wants me to keep a diary.”
“Well, I’m not sad she’s being left behind.”
I laugh. “She’s not that annoying.”
“If that little godling was coming along, I’d refuse to go.”
“You’re overreacting. She’s… a sparkplug!” I grin, using the name he calls her.
“She’s a troublemaker. And if she were comin’, she’d get us killed.”
I shake my head. Surely, he’s overreacting. But then I picture that room we had to pass through in order to make our escape from Tau City.
The room filled with dead Spark Maidens.
Because she ate them.
“Well,” I sigh. “I would not want to disappoint her, so I will keep a diary. And when we get back, I’ll let her read it. Troublemaker or not, Tyse, having a godling on our side is a fantastic twist of good luck.”
He doesn’t deny this. Just cocks his head at me, grinning.
Then I remember something. “Oh!” And I rush into the bedroom to grab the jar of copper coins. I bring it back out, holding it up for Tyse. “Guess what?” His eyes light up blue, waiting for me to tell him. “I figured out why I was dreaming about godships! Look!” I hold up a coin, the backside facing Tyse. “A ship!” Then I laugh. “Brains are so weird.”
He taps my head with a finger. “Especially yours.” Then he offers me his hand. “Ready?”
I nod, even though my stomach flutters with nervous butterflies. “I’m ready.” Then I take his hand. But while he’s picking up my rucksack and hitching it over his shoulder, I turn and look out the vast panel of floor-to-ceiling windows. Allowing myself to be knocked over breathless from the view one last time.
It’s all so temporary.
That’s been the major lesson of my life this past month. One moment, I’m a Spark Maiden living like royalty in a tower, the next I’m a sacrifice, my entire city standing against me. Then I’m in another world, with another man. And even that was fleeting. The escape from Tau City, the near-death train ride into Delta. The black-sand beaches that smell like oranges and the amazing top-floor apartment with a view so magnificent, it makes you wanna cry.
I’ll never come back here. I will never live in this apartment again.
It’s a weird, one-off thought that I can’t know for certain.
But I’m certain.
I’ll never come back here.
I sigh, my heart a little bit sad at the realization.
But I’m ready for what comes next.
As long as this man is beside me, I’m ready for anything.
3 - TYSE
“Stairs? Or elevator?” I look at Clara as we come to the end of the hallway. Elevators were a thing in her Tau City. She said Lover Boy had one that led up to his domed palace. That must’ve been where he was when I saw him that night I kissed Clara on the edge of the Tower District, trying to contain her spark. But I can’t really tell if she likes them for the convenience or not.
She looks at the elevator doors—which are gold, and metal, and have an elaborate geometric design on them. Then at the opening of the wide stairwell that leads down in a spiral. She smiles at me. “Stairs.”
I wave a hand at it, inviting her to go first. Which is something I find myself doing all the time since up-city Clara Birch showed up in my life. Ladies first. Of course, I’ve always known it was a rule of good manners, or whatever. It’s just… before Clara, I never had cause to treat a woman like a woman.
Now I do.
We descend together though. Slowly. In no particular rush. “Are you excited?” I ask.
“Kind of. Are you?”
“Well, it will be nice to get out of here. And be back in service—even if it’s for a god I don’t like. I mean, I didn’t like the Sweep, either. But that’s never been enough to stop the adrenaline rush, ya know?”
She looks at me as we keep going down the spiral. “Is that what drives it? The adrenaline?”
“Yeah.” I shrug. “It is.”
“I’m very interested in this, Tyse. Because while I did see you in action during our escape from Tau City, it’s a new side to you.”