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)
“I’m confused. I thought the wizard was eating souls,” Lee points out. “That’s what he told the king. He convinced my father he could take back his power by eating souls.”
“Most of my research says the soul is sacrosanct.” Cassie spends a lot of time with the academics. And Evan and me.
“The theory is the soul can’t be destroyed,” I explain. “But naturally Hell tries, and so does Myrddin Emrys. At least that’s the working knowledge we have. However, it goes against the reports we have about Myrddin taking pieces of his witches’ souls when he needs to keep them in line. That’s one of the reasons Rhys’s twin and their sister are on the Hell plane right now. Looking for Liv Carey’s.”
“Well, the tales here are that the king eats the souls of those he kills,” Benny says gravely. “It’s why so many fall in line. It’s one thing to die. Quite another to be utterly destroyed. But it weren’t the king calling to me. It was something beyond the wizard, too. I wanted to go somewhere, to join them.”
A chill prickles along my spine. “Did you want to go to the north?”
He nods. “To the mountains. They sing to me even now, but I like it here. It’s quieter here. Much.”
I turn to Rhys. “He says when he died, he was called to the mountains.”
Lee nods. “So this is about the sluagh. What if he’s been sending the dead to the mountain and trapping them, forcing them to become sluagh? To what end?”
“I’m not sure, but we need to figure it out,” Rhys says, starting in on another muffin. “Or we could stay here for a couple of days.”
I turn to stare at my husband.
His eyes go straight to my breasts, and I realize I need to sink down a little more. “Well, it is our bonding time, my goddess. And you don’t have to do that on their account. You’re a fertility goddess now. You’re supposed to walk around in your gorgeous skin knowing no one will touch you or they risk the wrath of the god.”
Lee actually bows his head and looks serious for a moment. “He is not wrong about that, Your Grace. I am irreverent at times, but you bless our sithein with your presence, and you should understand that every Fae here will consider you holy.”
“Except your father and Myrddin Emrys,” Cassie points out. “And anyone who happens to be under their spell.”
“Don’t know about dat,” Benny says. “I think the rites disrupted the spells. It’s why I flung that shit the wizard’s way. For the first time in years I could feel again. I never had the whole can’t talk spell, but everyone in the palace and on the grounds were under the pall of the king. It made things dull and kept us submissive. You will scare the crap out of them all, Your Grace.”
“Because we brought the temple back to its beauty?” I ask.
“Because you bring hope,” Benny corrects.
“You bring hope,” Lee replies at the same time. “You are a rallying cry. You are a pause in the misery that allows my people to remember who we are, what we can do when we are together. This temple is the heart of the Seelie Fae. Not simply of our sithein. The Green Man is a reflection of who we are as a people, and when he becomes corrupt it is up to us to fix the problem. You are revolution, Your Graces, and that is why I know you will cut this short and come with me to the village.”
Rhys growls and frowns my way. “I don’t like him.”
But he knows he’s right. I know how to calm my irritated sex god. I look to Lee. “Go and get everything ready. We will join you in half an hour.”
Rhys growls.
“An hour,” I say with a sigh.
In moments we’re alone with the exception of Benny, who is still staring at the sun.
“Do you see a light?” I ask.
His head tilts down, long white beard against his chest. “Of course. I see several. You are the strongest.”
I give him a smile because I’m absolutely certain he’s flirting with me. As I’m a naked, newly married woman, I can’t blame him. “That’s sweet. I’m talking about a light you can move through.”
“Yes,” he says with a nod of his head. “You’re talking about a door. You’re talking about the first door, the oldest one.”
A pretty way to put it. “If you go through, you begin again in some way.”
“Is it hard, goddess?” he asks, and he’s staring at me with wonder.
I feel Rhys’s hands on my shoulders, but he doesn’t do anything. Merely lets me know he’s with me. “Hard?”
“To be the door and never know what’s behind it? You do, you know. You know. It’s in your heart. You’re confused because it’s been so long.”