Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 121008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 403(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 403(@300wpm)
“I’m ready,” I call out as I walk through the door. “Niall?”
He’s on the ground, his head at the oddest angle. I try to get to him, but before I can reach the young man, a hand grabs my arm. Cold flows up my skin, like I’ve been touched by ice.
“Not so fast, Your Highness,” a deep voice says.
My stomach turns as I look up into red eyes. They smolder from a cadaverous face. A face I remember. It haunts my dreams. The Planeswalker’s skin is taut across his sharp bones, like a corset that has been pulled far past its wearer’s comfort.
“What do you want?” I ask, forcing myself to stand tall.
There’s no point in struggling. I can feel the strength in the demon’s claws. The wicked talons the demon possesses are merely brushing against my skin right now. But I have no doubt they will sink into my flesh if I give him the slightest provocation.
“What do I want? Oh, so many things, Your Highness,” the demon says with a rueful sigh.
He towers over me at roughly seven feet. His body is long and thin to the point of emaciation. He stares down, his eyes pitiless pools regarding me with curiosity. I am absolutely certain I don’t want a demon curious about me. “You really are their queen, you know. Even the hag has figured that out. Tell me something. Have the twins come into their magic yet? I rather think so. I can smell the power in this place now.”
“Why don’t you ask my husbands?” I know it won’t work. Niall is dead not three feet away. The Planeswalker hasn’t come to request an audience.
The demon chuckles. “I think not. I have a contract, you see. Someone is paying me to take you off the plane. Odd, isn’t it? You’re just a little cash cow, sweetheart. I made money stealing you from your plane, and now I make money taking you back. The village hag is paying me handsomely to get rid of you. She wanted me to kill you, but I told her she didn’t have enough to pay for that. I’ll have to stay away from this plane for a while as it is. If I killed you, I suspect the warrior half might never stop hunting me. I gave the hag a spell to take care of him, but I don’t trust her to get it right. I can’t have the warrior pursuing me.”
“The intellectual half wouldn’t be too happy, either.” I’m trying not to think about the hag the demon mentioned. It’s impossible. Someone in the village wants to hurt Beck and Ci. Panic snakes through my brain. They’re in the village right now. What if the incident with Bri is really a trap? “I don’t want to go back.”
A sly smile splits the demon’s face. He shows jagged, sharp teeth. “Of course you don’t, dear. You’re a pathetic little nothing on your plane. Here, you’re a queen.” He shrugs. “It’s kind of a crappy kingdom, though. At least on the Earth plane you’ll have running water. Look at it that way.”
“No,” I say, pulling my courage around me. “I won’t go.”
“You’re going to be trouble, aren’t you?” the demon asks though he doesn’t wait for an answer. “Oh, well. We can do it the hard way, then.”
As the demon brings his fist down on my head, I wish I’d been smart enough to lie.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Beck
I feel the moment the connection is cut. It’s like someone turning off part of my brain. No. My soul. Someone cut a piece of it away, and I can’t reach for it anymore.
I can’t reach for her.
I was standing at the edge of the forest, talking to Cian and some of the villagers who found Bri’s body. The young woman was ripped to shreds. This is no accident. This is murder, and a particularly vicious one. Cian and I were discussing the possibility of an animal attack when our world was torn asunder.
I push Sweeney to run faster, and the horse seems to understand.
Behind me, Cian has his hands on my shoulders, holding on for dear life, but my brother won’t tell me to slow down. He knows what’s at stake.
Somehow, I can still feel my brother, though it’s merely an echo of what we felt this morning. It’s like a door closed between us, and it muffles the sound.
She wasn’t where she told us she would be. The minute we felt something was wrong, we took off for the miller’s house only to be told the queen never showed up. Neither has her guard.
We immediately made the run for home.
“I would feel it if she was dead,” Cian says as Sweeney eases up and stops at the back of our brugh.
“Yes, she’s not dead.” I can’t even consider the possibility. “She’s had an accident. She’s unconscious.” That has to be it.