Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 42412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 212(@200wpm)___ 170(@250wpm)___ 141(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 212(@200wpm)___ 170(@250wpm)___ 141(@300wpm)
The mouth at my throat suddenly ceased its hungry movements, and Kolis stiffened. Through half-open eyes, I saw the essence rising to the surface. Dark crimson shadows appeared under the skin of his shoulders and swirled down his arms, slipping under the golden band.
He shifted, and my head fell back farther. My gaze swept over the Hall—
Something snagged my attention. The doors to the Great Hall. They were open. Hadn’t they been closed before? And Attes…
I saw the pool of blood.
But Attes was gone.
And now, the doors… They were closed.
A faint buzzing sensation erupted along my waist and back. I could feel it, and the sensation quickly increased until it felt like I was being stung by a hundred angry hornets. My jaw locked, and my fingers spasmed. A searing ache bloomed beneath my skin, tightening and throbbing—
Oh, gods. It was his essence.
A tremor rocked me as I felt my flesh starting to blister and burn. I tried to use my legs to break his hold, but my feet slipped over the tile. I kept my jaw locked. He wanted me to scream, and he’d already gotten one from me. And more. He’d gotten my pleas, begging him to stop. He wouldn’t get anything else.
I could handle this.
I had to.
I stared blindly as fiery agony crawled across my skin, causing every nerve ending to burn. Pain- and panic-fueled desperation flooded my senses. Darkness flashed across my vision. My limbs jerked as if attached to invisible strings being pulled. I couldn’t take it. It was too much. The scent of charred flesh rose. I couldn’t breathe. My chest compressed. I couldn’t handle this.
I wanted it to be over.
I wanted to die.
And that was proof that I wasn’t strong. That I hadn’t grown. It felt like a facade, and that shattered my very being.
I screamed.
Again.
I screamed, tearing up the inside of my throat—
Sharp, sudden pain lanced through the blistering agony. It exploded, shooting upward and spreading across my jaw as Kolis tore his fangs free. A ragged, low whine escaped me as he jerked his head up. His features were blurry—all but his lips. His red-smeared lips.
Kolis’s head cocked, and then he cranked it to the side. “What the—?”
A streak of crackling, silver eather raced above my head, slamming into Kolis with a loud crack. The impact tore me out of his grip. I hit the floor, sound and light giving way to blissful nothingness. A heartbeat passed. Maybe more. Then I felt the essence thrumming weakly, stirring me from the abyss. Sound returned in muffled fragments of shouts, crackling energy, and rattling and thumping noises. The doors to the Great Hall… Someone was banging on them. Air surged into my lungs. Sensation came next. A deep, throbbing ache bloomed in my throat. Burning pain seared the left side of my waist and back. My eyes fluttered open.
“Step away from her,” an unfamiliar voice demanded, the rich tone carrying an accent that reminded me of Cas’s but was stronger. “Now.”
“Or what?” Kolis huffed that cold, brittle-as-dry-bones laugh. “What are you going to do, Theon?”
The breath I took—the too-thin and too-shallow breath—halted.
Theon?
The Primal God of Accord and War? Could it be that Theon?
I tried to force myself to move, but I was stuck lying on my stinging back. All I could manage was to turn my head, and the effort blurred my vision, making everything swim. I blinked until the haze cleared enough for me to make out the shape of a tall, broad-shouldered man dressed in dark clothing. His skin was a rich brown, and his hair hung in tight braids beneath a bronze-and-black helmet. My eyes couldn’t focus enough to make out his features, but I knew it was him.
A bolt of silver eather arced through the Hall, and stone cracked to my left, sending a cloud of dust into the air.
“I’ll make you,” Theon said, wisps of mist spilling from his fingertips.
“Oh, that I would love to see.”
Theon’s arm shot out, and a burst of eather left him, streaking through the space between Kolis and me.
“Guess what? You missed.” Kolis’s laugh was deeper, thicker, and echoed through the chamber. “Want to know what else?”
“Not really.” Theon’s head turned slightly.
I thought he might be tracking Kolis, but I couldn’t lift my head from the floor to see if the true Primal of Death was moving.
“You’re a fool,” Kolis said. “To have come alone.”
My gaze flickered over the blurred shapes of couches and lounges. I couldn’t see anything in the shadowy alcove.
Theon said nothing.
“You’re taking a huge risk facing me alone. You think you can take me?” Kolis asked, moving into my line of sight. “I expected you to be less reckless.”
I felt a sudden dull throb of awareness.
A…a draken was near.
I didn’t think I had enough essence left in me to tell who it was.