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)
Ostara nodded. “I can feel the remanent. The wizard figured out a way to take your magic, too, though I think he was probably trying for someone else. He was likely trying to drain Shahidi. It won’t work. Shahidi isn’t death magic, per se, though he might be able to find her by using it.”
“She’s in the temple,” Daniel said with a sigh. “She’s safe. Let’s get Neil healed up first, and then we’ll make our way there. Or rather you will. I’m going to extract my wife. If Dev isn’t down here, there’s zero reason to keep her in play.”
“It’s not going to work.” Sasha stood beside Neil and put a hand on the spear. He couldn’t heal with that silver splitting his body. “Shy and Rhys were going to allow this plane’s version of Lee to take them up to the mountains. She should be either in the tunnels or at Lee’s village by now. I’m sorry, Neil. This is going to hurt.”
Neil’s head shook. “Nothing can hurt more than watching Dev… Nothing. I tried to stop it.”
Of course he did. “It’s not your fault. This is Myrddin’s.”
And so was what he did next. He pulled the silver spear from Neil’s body, watching blood spurt from the wound as he caught the werewolf with his free hand. He tossed the spear away and bit into his own wrist and put it to Neil’s mouth, cradling him. It had been a long time since the wolf had any blood. His husband’s and Daniel’s would have been best, but the king was in a bad way. The only reason Sasha wasn’t was because he’d been inside the wards when the wizard unleashed his powerful magic.
Neil drank for a full minute, and Sasha heard the sizzle of Ostara’s magic as she gave Daniel some of her unique energy. It was very close to Rhys’s, which came straight from his father. Daniel had fed on Devinshea’s magic for years. This was what he needed. This would give him a major boost, though he would need to feed from his companion to be back at any kind of power.
“The fucker used Dev to create the spell. I wasn’t expecting it. I was asleep in the watch room.” Guilt coated Neil’s confession. “I was planning to wake up and get Dev back in his torture gear before they showed up, but they returned long before dawn.”
How long had Neil been hanging there?
Daniel took a long breath and his fangs were out, eyes glowing blue as he inclined his head to Ostara. “I thank you, goddess.”
“He stayed so he could spare me.” Meadow’s eyes stared up at him, shining with tears. “He could have run but he made a deal with that wizard so I didn’t…”
He knew exactly what Devinshea saved her from and what he owed the male. “We will find him. We will figure out how to help him. We need to find his hands if we’re to have any chance at giving him back his magic.”
King’s blood could work miracles. They would find a way to get Dev’s hands back. They had to. Devinshea couldn’t lose his magic. His family depended on him.
“He destroyed them,” Neil said dully. His side was already healing, and he looked so much better color wise, but there was a hollow look to his eyes. “Myrddin burned them for the spell. He wanted to make sure Devinshea can’t work any kind of magic ever again. He’s going to pull Bris off his soul and send him into the mountain. He thinks he can do it. All he needs is the king and Zoey. I think he realized how much power he held when Dev made that deal with him last night. He thinks Dev will make another deal to spare Zoey’s life, and because we’re in Faery it can be enforced through Dev’s line.”
“Yes, that will work on Dev and Bris alike,” Daniel agreed. “They’ll do whatever he wants to save our wife, and they won’t play around if they think for a second the Wild Hunt could tear apart our children. But he didn’t work a spell to make a deal. He did that to find Shy. Why the fuck would he need Shy? Does he want her to talk to his victims?”
“She’s more than a medium,” Sasha said, looking around. The dungeon was quiet, but he could smell blood. He caught a glimpse of bodies in the background. Neil had defended the high priest well, but Myrddin’s magic likely swayed the outcome.
“She is so much more than a medium.” Meadow stood beside him, her small hand finding his and giving him a squeeze. “Ostara knows her. Well, she knows what she is, what she was. She contains the best parts of Arawn’s magic. She is both death and life magic. At one point in time, she was the Cauldron of Rebirth. She could feed armies, revive the dead, turn the wheel of time. She was…is the power of life reborn.”