Semua Bab My Second Chance Mate is a Barbarian : Bab 351 - Bab 360

I'm here again to say thank you to everyone reading, and especially to those of you who've left a comment, dropped a review, or sent a Gem. I see every one of them. Writing something this long can feel like talking into an empty room, and every bit of feedback has been proof that someone's actually out there. That matters more than I can put into words. Please keep them coming.Now I want to ask you something.We're working towards the final act. Everything I've been laying down for three hundred–odd chapters is starting to come due, and before I take it home, I'd like to know what you're seeing.Where do you think this is going? What have you pieced together? What are you hoping for or dreading?And the harder question: what isn't working?I mean it. If something's dragging, if a character grates on you, if a thread you cared about went quiet, if a chapter didn't land. Tell me. I won't be offended I promise.I'd much rather hear it now, while I can still do something about it, than fi

Sera "That's us both."It went in under the ribs, into the same place the other cruel things had been, and I swallowed it clean because there was work to do and I could not afford to be selfish and because I have never in my life known what to do with truth said kindly.I stood off the bed.Get up. You need a proper bath.""No.""Mina.""No." She drew her knees up. "Go away, Sera.""Not happening.""I'm not doing this." Her voice went thin and she flattened it back out. "I'm not getting up, I'm not eating, I'm not going down to the kitchens. Just go away please.""You're getting in the water, and I'm bathing you, Mina!" My voice shook slightly it surprised me. She went quiet, staring at me. I swallowed. I was holding on to something I keep lying to myself about, and now it was affecting me."Why do you care?"'I don't know.'I didn't say that; instead, I got both hands under her arms and hauled. Surprisingly, she didn't protest, or try to stop me, but she didn't help me either. She

Sera"Get in here."She came into the small stone room and stopped. The low light had her squinting, and the first thing I saw was her hands tighten around my arms. "What the fuck?"The room was small and stone and lit low. The light was flat and gray, the smell of damp and earth. A torch flickered in the corner. And against the far wall stood an iron cage, and inside the cage was a naked woman.She was filthy, her hair matted, dried mud in patches on her skin, and she crouched low to the floor like an animal. The moment her eyes met mine, she scrambled up onto the front of the cage on all fours and pressed herself close to the bars, eager, fixed entirely on me. Her whole body was animal in the way it moved and the way it fixed on me. She did not try to speak. She only wanted to be near me.Mina turned to stare at me. Her expression was one of pure moral horror, aimed entirely at me."What the fuck is this?" she whispered. "What have you done?""It's a rogue," I said, watching the cag

Sera"Does that look normal to you? I asked, but I was too stunned to hear her answer. My gaze was fixed on the creature. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.Mina stared, her eyes wide and uncertain, slowly shaking her head. "This isn't real," she muttered to herself, as if saying it out loud could somehow make it true.She took another step toward the cage, her hand outstretched, as if to prove to herself that this was harmless. But the movement was too sudden, and I saw her too late. I opened my mouth to shout, but the words died on my tongue as the creature lunged forward.Jaws snapped wildly at the bars, the sound echoing through the cavern. Mina's hand was there a moment ago, and I felt my blood run cold. A single sharp yelp escaped my throat as Mina stumbled backward, away from the cage. I flinched back as well, my heart pounding wildly in my chest.Both of us now stood several feet from the cage, our faces pale. I could feel my breath coming in short gasps, and Mina's eyes we

SeraMy eyes felt gritty behind their lids as I walked the corridor beside Mina, her hand locked tight around my elbow.It was early, before the sun was up, and the keep was quiet except for the low murmur of voices in the kitchens ahead. I'd been up most of the night, stomach roiling, and the smell of the kitchens hit my throat and made it worse. I'd had this same sickness every morning for days now, and I'd given up wondering if the cause was the baby or the North.I didn't say any of that to Mina, who kept looking at me as though I might crack open and bleed on the floor any minute. "Eat something," she ordered when I slowed.I shook my head, swallowing down the bile, and she tightened her grip and kept pulling me toward the kitchens. I'd slept badly for five nights running, but I had not slept at all last night, and now my mind was slow and my eyes felt like two hot stones behind my lids.The bond with Fenris was still and warm in my chest, telling me only that he was alive, but i