Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Elijah could only nod and trust that she knew herself better than he did.
With a casual flick of Fionn’s hand, the ashes disappeared.
“We need to go.” Conall spoke up at the sound of sirens blaring in the background.
Before anyone could respond, however, Niamh let out a soft cry. Elijah and Echo turned to witness her slam backward as if hit by an invisible force. Kiyo bridged the short distance between them to catch her as she began to seize in his arms.
“Vision,” Kiyo gritted out, protectively cradling her against his chest.
Elijah watched on in concern as Niamh shook with incredible force in her mate’s arms. It was strange, but he’d only known the Irish fae a few days, and yet he felt a kinship toward her he couldn’t explain. The same with Rose and even Thea. It hurt him to see Niamh in distress.
“Can’t we do something?” he bit out between gritted teeth.
Kiyo scowled. “Don’t you think I would if I could? She just has to go through it.”
Finally, Niamh stopped shaking and her eyes fluttered open. Kiyo caressed her hair back from her face, the werewolf showing a tenderness Elijah hadn’t thought him capable of.
“You’re all right, Komorebi,” Kiyo murmured hoarsely. “I have you. I’m here.”
Niamh looked at him with so much love, her elegant fingers tracing her mate’s jawline, Elijah almost felt like an intruder. “I know, my darling. Thank you.”
“I hate to be rude,” Fionn interrupted gruffly, “but I can feel others coming. We need to go now. Ask questions later.”
“I’m too weak to travel,” Niamh said apologetically, wincing as Kiyo helped her to her feet.
“I’ll take you, Kiyo, and Thea first. Rose can take Echo. I’ll come back for Conall and Elijah. Okay?” Fionn looked to all of them.
They murmured their agreement.
Seconds later, Elijah reluctantly let go of Echo, and Fionn and Rose were gone with their companions.
He glanced up at the Scot who had about three or four inches of height on him and was broader and more muscular. The scar on his cheek looked particularly severe now that they were alone.
Conall smirked. “Wary of me, fae?”
“No.”
“I can smell it.”
Elijah raised an eyebrow. “You just … I … I’m still trying to wrap my head around everything. I know I can trust you, but … you’re a scary motherfucker, do you know that?”
Conall grinned, his scar stretching as he flashed his teeth like a snarl rather than a smile. That was his answer.
No words needed.
Yes, Conall MacLennan knew he was a scary motherfucker.
Fionn appeared before Elijah could say anything else and then there was that disorienting, unbalanced sensation again of moving through space and time.
He stumbled into a room, the world blurring to a stop.
The kitchen of Fionn’s London townhouse.
“I hate to alarm anyone,” Niamh said from her spot at the kitchen table where Kiyo was forcing her to drink a glass of water. “But Margaret is gone.” She wiped droplets from her lips with the back of her hand as her attention moved from Echo to Elijah. “And so is Odette. And the Webbs.”
Horror filled him. “My parents? What do you mean by gone?”
“Not dead,” Niamh hurried to assure him. “Astra has them. She has supernaturals working for her. They’re in some kind of compound. Not far …” Now she looked at Fionn. “She has them in Galway, not far from your castle.”
“She knows where our castle is?” Rose asked, shocked. “No one knows that.”
Kiyo scoffed. “Clearly she does. Why else would she have her compound there?”
Elijah was trying not to panic when all he wanted to do was fly into a rage, and suddenly, he realized it wasn’t just his panic he was feeling. It was Echo’s too. He grabbed her hand and squeezed, and thankfully she held on tight and didn’t let go.
“Not to be a prick”—Fionn eyed Niamh—“but Astra has misled you with false visions before.”
“It’s not that.” Niamh glowered at him. “She can’t get past my guard now. This was real.”
“We have to go to them,” Elijah interrupted their irritating argument. If Niamh said his parents, Odette, and Margaret were in danger, he trusted her. “Now. We need to go now.”
“We can’t go barreling in without a plan.” Fionn cut him a dark look. “Astra wants you, Rose, and Niamh. This is a trap to lure you to her. Who knows what she has in place to keep you there. We need to entrap her, not the other way around.”
“My parents are in that psychopath’s hands!” Elijah argued. “If Echo hadn’t taken my blood, that bitch would have killed my mate!”
“That’s the kind of irrational bulldozing we don’t need right now.” Kiyo crossed his arms over his chest. “Fionn’s right. We’d be playing into her hands.”
“Well, we’re not just going to stand here and do nothing.” Echo glared at them one by one. They stared back, unflinching. She huffed. “Interesting how no one’s hurrying to do any saving because it’s not your people who have been taken.”