Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 151630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 758(@200wpm)___ 607(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 758(@200wpm)___ 607(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
“Forever,” Sasha whispered. “You can give us forever.”
Ostara looked to him. “You already have forever. It’s just interrupted over and over. What I can offer is a long time together in these forms. Time to rest and love and learn each other so well you can never truly be separated again. But I understand the jealous nature of the vampire.”
Sasha felt a wave of wonder suffuse him. He couldn’t help but chuckle. “Perhaps if you were another male I would struggle a bit, but I assure you my jealous nature will be tossed aside if I have to choose between it and her safety and happiness. As it happens, I don’t feel anything but the deepest gratitude for the goddess who is willing to bless us with her strength and wisdom. Ostara, I honor you, and I would bet a lot that I will come to love you since I happen to know how this works. You chose her because your soul recognized hers. You are close in values and how you love and live.”
Ostara nodded, a lovely smile coming to her face. “We are. I think she is a part of me I’ve been seeking.”
“Sasha, you have to convince this idiot to let me get him out of here,” Neil was saying. He stood by Devinshea, frowning at the high priest. “He does not need to stay in chains all night. We can get him, get Z and the kids, and get out of here. Danny’s with Z right now. I’m not sure what rooms they’re in, but we can take the servant halls and I can track them.”
There was only one problem with the scenario. Myrddin had trapped them all since no one was going to leave without Devinshea. “He promised.”
Ostara turned to the werewolf as well. “The priest made a bargain in the old ways. He cannot leave or he risks bringing the Wild Hunt down on his head and that of his family. In the past, the hunt has sometimes taken all the family line. Perhaps Herne will be kinder to a fellow ascended one, but perhaps not. He cannot take the chance. The wizard knew this could happen.”
Devinshea looked to Sasha. “He did, but he didn’t make her promise the same. Get her out of here, Sasha. Take her back to her own plane and live the life you were meant to.”
“I can’t…” The idea of leaving the royals…of leaving Rhys and Shy and Cassie and Brendan floored him. He raised Rhys.
“Of course you cannot.” Ostara stood at his side, her color so much better than before. She seemed stronger, a faint glow starting to come from her skin. “You must help your friends, but we should get Meadow out of this dungeon. The king has a reason to be patient with Devinshea and Bris. He will spend his anger on Meadow and me. Though this energy is doing me a world of good, I have been weak for a long time.”
“Get her out of here. I can handle it,” Dev said.
“Or we could get you both out of here,” Neil argued.
“And then we all get ripped apart by the Wild Hunt.” Dev shuddered. “Neil, I understand and appreciate you wanting to save me, but there’s more going on here, and we have a better shot at getting home to our timeline if we figure out exactly what Myrddin is planning. Whatever it is, it will affect us and the people we love. He has no care for this timeline. He is only in this version of my home because it gives him some kind of edge.”
Though it knotted his gut, Sasha had to agree. “This has to do with Shahidi. You did not see the way he reacted to her. He was frightened that she was here.”
Dev’s eyes were bright green, his gaze steady. “Myrddin believes he tricked us into coming here, but I know better. The universe placed us here. The goddess wanted us here so we can do what we do best.”
Neil’s lips curled up in a begrudging smile. “Fuck up all the bad guy plans and save the world?”
Dev winked. “Exactly. Sasha, you are our planner. If this were your chess game, what pieces would you move right now?”
It was hard to take his eyes off Ostara, who now stood beside him, hard not to take her hand and pull her against his body, but he was dealing with the goddess and not the woman right now. The goddess who knew him, who understood who he was. Meadow was a different story. Would she remember? Would this magic that Rhys and Shy were making change things for her? Open her mind to their shared history?
He had to focus on the now. They had chaos because of that magic, and chaos was cover, but it would only last so long. “If I am the cold, hard general or the soulless spymaster, I would ask for you and Zoey to sacrifice for the greater good of the mission. We need to figure out what Myrddin wants from the king and how to shut it down. We cannot do that if we are on the run. Queen Zoey is smart and resourceful. She will figure out how to handle this worse version of you. Daniel can listen from the shadows. You…well, sadly there are things to be learned in your position, Your Grace, though it will not be pleasant. Neil and Daniel can work with the serving class to fuck everything up and cause chaos while Rhys and Shy figure out why the mountains call to her. And I can get Ostara to a safe place and return to lend my aid in any way I can.”