To Wake a Kingdom (Curse of Thorne Book 1) by Nisha J Tuli

Author:Nisha J Tuli [Tuli, Nisha J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thirteen Crowns Press
Published: 2022-08-23T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

13 days left

After two exhausting days, Ronan finally awoke, blinking up at me while I watched over him. Kianna had worked around the clock, staving off any hints of infection, and he was healing rapidly under her vigilant care.

“Hi,” I said, lying on my side, hands pillowed under my head.

He reached out to touch my cheek with a frown. “Your face.” His expression darkened. “Who did that to you? Did Mare do that?”

I hesitated, knowing the answer would set him off.

“Tell me.” His voice was soft, but there was a command in it.

“Yes,” I said as thunder flashed in his eyes. “But she’s gone.” I placed a hand on his chest, knowing he was about to get up and, sure enough, he tried. As soon as he sat up, he let out a sharp grunt and I gently, but firmly, shoved him back down. “You aren’t going anywhere.” I leaned over him. “Stay here and rest. You lost a lot of blood.”

“I will fucking kill her. I will rip her limb from limb and make her watch. I will—”

“Yes, I know. You will do all that. But first, shut up and lie down.” I smoothed a strand of hair away from his face.

“Did you just tell me to shut up?”

My casual shrug was rewarded with a dazzling smile. How could he still look so good after nearly dying?

“How do you feel?” I asked, experiencing a strange little twist in my heart at seeing him alive and awake. I never wanted to relive anything like that again.

“Like I was stabbed.”

I rolled my eyes before I gave him a serious look. “I was so worried.”

“A little wound can’t kill me, Princess. Good to know you’d miss me, though.”

I snorted. “I didn’t say that.”

He smiled again, and his eyes fluttered closed. “I feel like shit.”

Running the back of my hand down his face, his bit of stubble was rough against my hand. “That feels nice, though,” he said with a sigh. His eyes still closed, I continued to touch him, admiring the thick fringe of lashes forming shadowed crescents at the tips of his cheeks. I explored his face with my fingers, tracing the bridge of his nose and the curve of his lips. Pale from his injury, he was still the most beautiful man I’d ever seen.

After this incident, Mare’s threat had drawn closer—I could feel it perched on my shoulder like a gargoyle sharpening its claws. I needed to tell him everything, but there were thirteen days left until Mare returned one last time, and he wouldn’t be able to help me. I knew, with the certainty that the sun would rise each day, he would take it upon himself to solve this riddle that had no solution. That he would tear apart the world to find it, only to come up empty-handed. I couldn’t let him do that. He’d already brushed too close to death because of me.

He let out a soft sigh of contentment as I continued my

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