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)
“Do not think Daniel is coming for you,” he says with gravity. “I used a death magic spell earlier today in order to locate someone important. It is much like the one that nearly killed him all those years ago, though I wasn’t close enough to really do the deed. He would need Devinshea and the god attached to Devinshea’s magic in order to get any kind of strength back. I like to think he’s lying on the ground somewhere, half dead and thinking about all of his choices. He’ll know that’s where he was when his precious blood died. You’ll note that I made it impossible for Devinshea to ever do magic again. He’ll be grateful when I put him down.”
He turns my head and I take in what he wants me to witness. The king is in his shackles, his hands over his head, feet barely on the floor. But he’s not alone. At first my eyes… They don’t work because I can’t be seeing what I’m seeing. Devinshea. My faery prince. He’s bound to a pole, chains wrapped around his body, and he’s covered in blood. So much blood. His shirt is off but I can’t see a patch of clean skin.
And that’s when I realize something is wrong with his arms.
They stop in bloody stumps. His hands. Those hands that caressed me, that stroked over my skin and gave me comfort… His hands are gone.
“Do not look, Zoey,” the king says in an oddly tortured tone. Like he feels my husband’s torment. “He would not wish you to see him this way.”
It’s his words that spark me to movement. Because Devinshea would not want me here in danger, but he will not care if I see him. He did nothing wrong. The wrong was done to him and I promised. I fucking promised nothing would keep me from him. No sickness. No fucking wizard.
I shove at the guards and rush to my husband, tears making the world a watery mess.
“Devinshea?” Goddess, is he already dead? I don’t know what I’ll do if he’s already gone. And Evan is gone and Fen is…
His eyes open, and I can see the weariness there. “My goddess. How I wish you were not here.” But he manages a smile. “Have I told…how much I love you? How good it’s been to be your husband?”
Tears stream from my eyes because this sounds like good-bye. “Don’t you dare.”
“My love, I don’t have a choice. He brought you here to force Bris to leave me,” he whispers. “He knows Bris would stay until the end and give him nothing without some threat.”
In that moment, I don’t care. For all I know Danny’s dead and Neil’s gone. For all I know I’m the last one left and I don’t… I want to be with them. I want to go wherever they go. Please don’t leave me here alone. “Tell Bris to stay. No matter what he does to me. Stay and we can go together. All of us.”
It’s what we planned. To live together. To go into the next turn hand in hand. To spend as little time apart as possible.
Dev’s eyes are a dull green, and I realize how close he is to that next turn, to rounding the corner and fading into something new. “No, my love. You have to stay. On this Bris and I are in full accord. When the time comes, we will sacrifice for our goddess. And our daughter.” His eyes fill with tears. “You have to stay alive for Harriet.”
I shake my head. “He won’t let me live.”
“I will.” Myrddin stands mere feet away, and it’s all I can do to not attack him. I only don’t because it won’t do any good. “I made a deal with a Fae royal. Two, really, and Devinshea kept up his end of the first one. It was why he was sitting there waiting for me when I returned to this timeline this morning. After dealing with the situation on the Hell plane, I realized I’m hesitating because I want to meet my son. It’s selfish and all too human of me. No more. I have what I need and I’m going to do what I promised I would. Free us from the celestial planes.”
“What deal?” I demand, wondering exactly what Devinshea and Bris have offered in exchange for my life.
“If I don’t harm you, Bris will leave the body when I command,” Myrddin explains. “Once Devinshea is dead, you will be allowed to leave.”
“No.” Devilshea twists his body on the rack, turning to his counterpart. “You cannot trust him. When you are dead and she is dead, who will call the hunt on him?”
“It’s recorded in Hell,” Dev replies. “I am not a fool. I would not agree to the deal without a satan present. Myrddin is only half demon, but the rules apply. The satan will check on Zoey and if he cannot find her, he is empowered to call the hunt.”