Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 132138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 661(@200wpm)___ 529(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 661(@200wpm)___ 529(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
I give myself over to the fight. The Seelie warrior king is in the midst of battle. He obviously prefers to fight over using his power, but he can call on it if he needs to. In such close quarters any weather the Storm Lord brings down on the enemy will come down on our own heads, too. Shim is the same. He can start a fire, but it will engulf our own troops. Shim’s power will be used for another purpose.
As long as the hags live, no one will be safe. Torin can fall, but if the hags somehow get away, there will be no peace for any of us.
My body moving like a well-oiled machine, I tear through the guards. I allow the fierce joy of battle to push me like a wave toward the palace.
I send a corpse to protect my brother and then another. I will feel infinitely better if I know Shim has someone to watch his back even if his new guard no longer has a head on his body.
I stop when I see a familiar face holding a small body in his arms. Max Harper is covered in blood, but he stares down at the phooka.
“I don’t understand,” Max says, glancing up at Lach. “He leapt in front of me. Why would this creature do that?”
The phooka’s eyes are half closed, his blood draining quickly. I can sense the creature, who should have lived for centuries, is close to death. His tail twitches slightly, an unconscious move. “Imprinted on you early, you bastard. I’ve been with you most of your life. I was your pet and the hawk who followed you and the horse you complained about but always fed so well. I know you, Max Harper. Hard on the outside and such a soul! It was an honor to share a piece of you.”
Max stares down. “I didn’t even know.”
“You didn’t have to.” The phooka looks up at me. “And don’t use me, Death Lord. My time is come. Did you know there’s peace in the after? The Summerlands are real. I feel it.”
The phooka lets go, his soul flying wherever souls fly. I’m not sure, but I learned that death isn’t something to fear. It’s simply a power that resides in me and once the war is done, I will learn to use it in a gentler way.
But now I use it to save Harper. I command one of my soldiers to leap in front of the horse trainer and take the blow meant for him.
Harper gets to his feet, the sword in his hand. “Thanks.”
“Don’t waste his sacrifice.” The phooka was an odd creature, a thing that could cause great chaos, but love sent him on a different path.
A million thoughts race through me. Love. Ambition. Protection. Possession. They can all be used for good or bad. Love nearly cost me my wife, my need to protect her so great I discounted her own soul.
Love is merely a tool, and how a soul chooses to use it becomes the measure of the man. The phooka chose wisely, and I’m determined to learn the lesson.
I call my army of dead as I run to my brother. It’s a gamble, but she will need everything we have.
I am ready. Pull them back. Her voice is a sweet whisper through my soul.
I open myself, giving her everything, heart and soul and life and power. It wells up and surges across the distance between us.
Shim shakes and, in an instant, my brother falls, a limp body on the ground.
I get to my knees and pray I can save him once more.
Chapter Forty
Brownyn
The hags are upset.
“How is she so strong? She should be hanging like a carcass by now.” They stand back as though assessing whether or not I’m a threat.
I am the least threatening thing in the damn room. As far as I can tell, I’m in the dungeon. This seems to be the hags’ special room. I woke up here, bound to the wall. I try to see what’s around me. To my left it looks like there are shelves and shelves of herbs and various scary items that they probably use to do bad things. And there’s a pot in the center that’s already bubbling, already preparing to stew.
“There’s something very wrong with her.”
I have to cover a smile because the hags are confused. All through the long night they tortured me, leaving me a limp, sad thing. And then the bondmates answered my call. Over and over they sent small bursts of energy. But more than any amount of life force, what they truly sent to me was hope.
I hold myself up. I can feel my men. They’re a soft hum in my soul, buoying me. They are out there now. I sensed them the moment they dropped from the eddy cloud and the battle began.