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)
He followed his instincts and pulled her close. This was what Zoey had always known. Bris was a part of Devinshea. Ostara was a part of his wife. They had not always been together, but they found each other in this life. This time it was right.
Even if it might not be for long.
He hugged her tight. “I already love you, dushka.”
She shuddered as though a sense of deep relief passed through her. When she tilted her head up, there was alarm there. “I can feel something. We have to move. There is dark magic at work here.”
What began as rain rapidly became snow given the high altitude they found themselves in. All around them was winter, with patches of green where Rhys and Ostara walked. Sasha followed them up the trail. Now he could smell the high priest and the queen. He could smell blood and fear and desperation.
“Is that who I think it is?” Daniel asked, standing beside Lee. If he felt the cold, he didn’t show it. He stood tall, his claws out. Whatever the king was feeling from the spell Myrddin had sent out, he wasn’t going to allow it to stop him.
Up ahead, Sasha could see a dark-haired man, his hands in shackles. He wore nothing that would tell Sasha he meant to come into the mountains this day. His tall body shivered in the wind.
“Is that Dev or the other one?” Cassie asked.
“It’s the other one,” Sasha replied.
“How can you tell?” Cassie held her machete like it was a lifeline.
“Because he still has his hands,” Lee said with a long sigh. “That is my father, and he’s about to open the mountain. Do you see the stone?”
There was a large white stone sitting at the base of the mountain which soared up into the clouds above them. The stone looked almost like an altar, and even from this distance Sasha could see there was some kind of writing on it. “Is it ceremonial?”
They began walking again, trying to stay out of sight of the wizard, who could use the distance between them to his advantage. He didn’t need to be close to kill them all.
“It is basically a key,” Lee explained as they started down the path. Meadow had deposited them on another mountain, the one closest to where the wizard stood. She’d found a space a thousand or so feet up, Sasha estimated. Now they had to carefully make their way to the valley. “The royal family keeps both treasures and their darker secrets in that mountain. It is considered sacred and cursed.”
“Making it the perfect place to lure in several million sluagh from across the planes,” Daniel continued. “He found a way to bring them in but not let them leave. It’s a trap for souls, and now he’s going to have the king open the door so he can send them through whatever spell he’s planning.”
“Something to drain their energy,” Sasha surmised. “We need to stop him. We have no idea how it will affect other timelines.”
“No, we do,” Daniel argued. “If Myrddin is doing this, then he’s figured out how to send it across space and time. He wouldn’t bother if he only thought it affected one timeline, and not even the one he’s invested in. We should have brought a bow.”
Lee moved down the trail, stopping briefly to point toward the wizard. “Wouldn’t work. Do you see the faint sheen around him?”
Ostara nodded. “Yes, he’s in a protective bubble. He has a shield. Such a coward. I don’t like the king, but I feel sorry for him in this moment. We should hurry.”
“Where is Shy?” Rhys asked. “He has to be holding Shy and Mom and Papa somewhere close.”
Neil raised his snout as though answering the question. He pointed a paw to his left, signaling he meant to go that way.
They were almost to the ground when Sasha saw two guards were moving the King of the Seelie Fae into position, near the sacred rock. One of them had a long blade.
Ostara raised a hand, and Sasha felt the earth beneath his feet tremble slightly.
Daniel moved in beside her. “I’m going to ask you for patience. I know you want to save whoever you can, but if Myrddin knows we’re here he might kill his hostages. We need to get to wherever he’s holding our people.”
Ostara nodded. “All right. I will wait.” She gasped as the king was stabbed through the gut and placed on the altar. His blood soaked the stone, and it felt like the heavens above them quaked.
“We have to move.” Sasha nodded the wolves’ way. “Get us there and fast. Find the queen.”
He glanced behind him and noted that Myrddin wasn’t walking. He smashed a sphere and was gone in a puff of dark smoke, leaving the guards behind.