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 then Bris is gone, and I hear a booming from the mountain as Bris joins the others, feel Myrddin’s satisfaction.
“It begins,” he says with a nasty smile.
He says begins, but what he’s really talking about is the end. The end to hope. The end to real life. Definitely the end to death because how will anyone move on if they are cut off from the light?
I know why Hell is backing Myrddin Emrys. They will be the only choice for in between spirits. Hell will fill with souls. Damned. Not damned. It won’t matter when they’re the only game in town.
“Guards, kill the seer,” Myrddin orders. “She better be a corpse when I return. I must do what I need to fully open the mountain and send all those souls to their new home.”
He rushes out of the tent like he has a job to do.
“Dev, if you’re coming, the time is now,” I whisper.
He slips into my soul space.
And I am ready.
“Arawn,” I say. “Come for me.”
In a heartbeat, I am in another place. I am in Annwn.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Sasha
Sasha stood at the north end of the palace and looked up at the sky in the distance. The mountains were likely a day’s hike away, but he feared Myrddin hadn’t needed to jog.
“We didn’t find anything in Aunt Zoey’s rooms.” Cassie had both Neil and Brendan in wolf form on either side of her. Sasha could see her claws were out, too, though the smart, brave girl had never managed a complete change. Not even on full moons. “Dad seems to think she’s not in the palace at all. He found a trail leading out to one of the gardens. Her maid says she went to have a picnic with the king.”
“I know the spot.” Lee joined them, Rhys following.
Ostara sat near Daniel on a bench. Despite the energy she’d given him, it was clear the king was still in a bad way.
That must have been one hell of a spell. He didn’t want to think about what Myrddin could do if he was standing in the same space as Daniel. If they survived this encounter, he was going to have to rethink his battle plans. Sometimes he thought Daniel Donovan was invincible, but he wasn’t, and the wizard knew exactly how to hurt him.
“We should follow Neil and Brendan,” Sasha ordered.
Rhys stepped forward. “No. My mother isn’t at some picnic. He’s already taken her. I noticed the guard isn’t here, and Bibi told me the king took only a nominal party with him. They should be here. They are not on assignment. At least not one from the king. I believe they are working for Myrddin and they have my mother. He wouldn’t have taken Shy if it wasn’t time for him to do whatever he is going to do at that mountain.”
“You don’t want to check the site to see if your mother is still there?” Sasha posed the question, though he knew the answer.
“I don’t have to.” Rhys’s eyes were on that mountain. “I know.”
“I agree with the Green Man.” Lee looked so much like his counterpart it was hard to remember this wasn’t the young man he’d raised. He stood beside Rhys, looking every bit like his twin. “We should go to the mountain. I’ll find us some horses.”
Sasha shook his head. “It would still take half a day. Can we find a witch who knows transportation spells?”
It was the only way he could think that they might have a shot. If Myrddin was implementing his plan, he would do it quickly and without hesitation. Every second they weren’t there brought them closer to losing Dev, the queen, and Shy.
He couldn’t stand the thought of losing any of them.
“Or I can take us there.” Meadow stood, smoothing out her skirts. “I can catch an eddy wind and have us there quickly.”
“We don’t have those kinds of winds this far south,” Lee explained. “Or else I would have offered as well. The winds to the north are the only place to find an eddy.”
Meadow looked slightly arrogant for the first time. It was a look that threatened to send Sasha’s libido into overdrive. If they weren’t about to go into battle. “We do not need some north wind. While I cannot both make and catch a wind at the same time, lucky for me, Walking Spring is here. Rhys, would you do the honors? Make it a fast one and large enough to carry us all.”
Rhys stepped forward, his eyes glowing green. He turned slightly toward Daniel. “I don’t suppose I can talk you into sitting this one out, Dad?”
Daniel growled and stood, forcing his shoulders back. His fangs were out now, and his eyes a deep sapphire. “They are mine.”
“Well, at least I know where I get it from. All right, then.” Rhys tilted his head back and closed his eyes, and the world seemed to shake with thunder and lightning.