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)
And it’s up to me to figure out what she needs to move on. We’re connected somehow, but that is a problem for another day.
Today I have to deal with Myrddin.
“Are we rested up?” I ask.
And Brendan starts to growl.
I look down and the hounds move in front of me, hair coming up on their backs.
“Shy, when I tell you to run, you do it,” Rhys commands.
“I’ll get her out of here,” Cassie promises.
“Follow the signs back to the temple.” Lee stands beside his brother and then moves so they are back to back. Like they’ve done this before. The trouble is we’re at a crossroads where three different tunnels meet.
It would be super nice to have some big-ass power right now. I want to throw up a shield around us but I’m still just me, and the power bubbling inside me doesn’t cover the living world. My hands are useless as my adrenaline rushes to the surface.
“Who’s there?” Lee takes a couple of steps forward, into the tunnel to our left. He tilts his head to speak to Rhys. “This tunnel leads back to the palace. It’s how we get into the servant quarters.”
“Is it a friendly?” Rhys asks, not taking his eyes off the tunnel in front of him.
“I don’t know,” Lee admits. “Who is there? Identify yourself or we’re going to have a problem.”
A light appears in the darkness, small at first but getting bigger.
“Shy, run,” Rhys says.
I can’t leave him. “What if it’s coming for you?”
“Run, baby,” he pleads.
But the light is already there, and it has one target. Me.
The ball of light hits my chest and, in a blink, I’m transported.
Cold winds whip around me, and I am alone at the bottom of the mountain that hums for me. Hums? More like screams. What was a mere whisper in those woods is now a roar.
The dead are here, and they are restless. They want. They need. They will do anything to get out of here.
I put my hands to my ears in a useless attempt to stop the screaming.
“Well, I rather thought this place might bring you low.”
I look up and my horror is complete.
Myrddin Emrys stands in front of me and he has Devinshea Quinn wrapped in bindings. He’s covered in blood, and I feel horror splash across me as I realize why.
His hands are gone.
Myrddin cut off his hands.
The screaming pulses through me, and I faint dead away.
Chapter Thirty
Sasha
Sasha held Ostara’s hand as he rushed through the too-tight tunnels and into the king’s viewing room. He expected to see Devinshea there, tied back up after a long night of healing.
Instead he saw Neil where Dev had been. He wasn’t tied to the post, however. He was upright, his head slumped forward, his body covered in blood and a long silver spear sticking out of his torso. The spear held him to the post. The shackles where Dev had been hung were empty, dangling over Neil’s still form.
There was blood everywhere.
Ostara gasped and started to rush for the door they found yesterday.
He held her back, fear flooding his system with adrenaline. “We don’t know who else is in there.”
“He needs help,” she insisted.
“And we will give it to him, but we can’t help him if we’re immediately attacked.” Neil’s body was moving slightly, breath entering and exiting his body. He was a tough kill, and whoever had tried hadn’t finished the job.
Sasha noticed the altar someone had placed in the middle of the dungeon. Myrddin had been hard at work, and he hadn’t waited until dark. What made him lose his patience?
“What happened?” a deep voice asked.
He turned and Daniel was there, his face ashen. His shoulders were slumped like he was tired beyond measure. “My king, where have you been? You didn’t come to Bibi’s last night.”
Bibi had promised she took the king to the queen’s chamber and that he would be safe there until morning.
“It was a bit crowded. I stayed in another room until I took a meeting this morning. Where is Dev and what the fuck happened to Neil?” The king stood in front of the mirror. “How do we get in? He’s alive but he won’t be for long. That’s silver, and we don’t know what kind of spells Myrddin worked. Something big from the looks of it.”
“I suspect Myrddin took Devinshea, and it looks like Neil tried to defend him. He was probably angry that Ostara got away,” Sasha explained. He hadn’t seen anyone moving. He would be able to tell better if they were alone once he was in the room. The wall cut off his senses. It was time to get in, get that spear out of Neil, and figure out what the hell had happened. He pressed the door open. “Stay behind me.”
Ostara rushed past him. It was fitting. Marta never listened to him, either. If she thought she could help, she would risk everything.