Page 91 of The Orc's Captive Bride
Khorrek stood alone on the wall. Six dead. Six warriors who’d survived everything only to be destroyed by Lasseran’s greed.
It won’t happen again. I won’t let it, he vowed,but the promise felt hollow.
What could he do? One orc against the High King’s power, and centuries of tradition and dark magic.
Not one orc. Declar would spread the word, and if anyone could find an answer, it would be his beautiful, brilliant mate.
He turned and headed back towards the palace.
Towards the library.
Towards Thea.
CHAPTER TWENTY
The symbols blurred together. Thea blinked hard and rubbed her eyes, then put her glasses back on. The symbols were still blurring.
I need sleep. Proper sleep. Not just passing out face-down in ancient texts.
But she couldn’t stop, not when she was so close. She could feel the answer hovering just beyond her reach, like a word on the tip of her tongue that refused to materialize.
The library was dark except for the oil lamp on her table. The shadows pressed in from all sides.
Vorlag had left hours ago, insisting that she get some rest, and promising to return first thing in the morning.
She’d agreed—lied—and kept working the moment he was out of sight.
The text was right there. She’d translated most of it. She understood the structure, the grammar, and the historicalcontext, but something was missing. A piece that would make everything else snap into focus.
“You’re going to go blind.”
She jumped, her elbow knocking into a scroll, but Khorrek caught it before it rolled off the table.
“How long have you been standing there?” she demanded.
“Long enough to watch you try to read the same line fifteen times.”
“I’m not—” She stopped, and looked at the text. He was right. She’d been stuck on the same phrase for the past twenty minutes.
Damn it.
“You need to eat,” he said.
“I’m not hungry.”
“You didn’t eat dinner.”
“I had bread.”
“Three hours ago. And it was half a piece.”
She waved a hand dismissively. “I’ll eat when I figure this out.”
“You’ll collapse before you figure it out if you don’t take care of yourself.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re exhausted.”
