Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 136009 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136009 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Kerrigan kept waiting for Society members to join in. For someone with real power to try to stop them. But no one did. The council members stood from their seats until they were ordered to sit again, but no one else came forward.
That was when she took another look at the crowd. No black robes. There were no other Society members in the arena. Which meant…
“He has all the dragons in reserve,” Kerrigan said as she slid the crystal blade through the gut of another guard.
Fordham elbowed one in the face and then kicked the next Fae’s feet out from under him. “Just guards in the arena. Why?”
“Aerial assault,” she said.
“Society members can voice their opinion at the forum too.”
They could, but they weren’t. That wasn’t what this was for. This was a trap.
She’d known they were walking into it, and that didn’t surprise her. Bastian wanted her and Fordham here while he had the Society dragons and riders engaged with her forces. She just hoped that he hadn’t been expecting the lack of bonds. That was their greatest strength right now.
“Good for us. Bad for our allies,” she said.
Guards would always be easier than a contingent of battle-hardened Society members. Dragons had chosen them for their power, which meant any one Society member was worth a dozen guards. Add their dragons in, and it would be a bloodbath. She just had to trust in her advance that they could handle the dragons with their own.
Kerrigan met the next guard, who was easily a foot and a half taller than her. Her eyes widened in alarm. Fordham was otherwise engaged, or else he probably would have taken on the brute.
Luckily Kerrigan had fought against people this size back in Domara. Constantine had drilled into her that her size was an asset and not just a liability. It had been the same way in the Dragon Ring, back when Dozan was king of the Wastes. Her size made people underestimate her.
This guy didn’t look like he underestimated her.
“Hey there,” she said, twirling her sword as he approached her.
He was solid muscle, all bulk. She wasn’t even sure he had magic. He didn’t seem to have a shield up and wasn’t carting around any fireballs. And strangely absent was the use of any magical artifacts.
Red Masks had been fighting dirty with them for too long for Bastian to give up on them now. Surely they hadn’t taken out all their artifacts when they’d raided that warehouse. He wasn’t dumb enough to put all his eggs in one basket, not the Bastian she knew. He was frequently playing chess while everyone else was playing checkers.
The beefy Fae male blocked the slice of her blade with his forearm. A heavy metal bracer caught the attack, and he shoved with all his considerable might. Kerrigan flew backward a few steps. The sand shifted under her feet, and she felt herself slip.
With a grunt, she dove away from his swinging fists and ended up deeper in the arena, cut off from Fordham. Bad move.
“That wasn’t nice,” she taunted.
The male just grunted. “Leatha trash.”
“Glad we understand each other,” she growled and then went on the offensive, rushing toward him at lightning speed.
Somehow he got through her defenses, smashing his hand down on her wrist. It was only force of habit that kept the blade in her hand as she went down. And then an uppercut went straight into her stomach.
The air whooshed out of her lungs as she went up before crashing down into the sand. She hadn’t taken a hit like that in a while, and with her diminished energy, she took the hit like it was a knockout. In the Dragon Ring, they would have been counting down to whether she could scrape herself off the arena floor.
This hadn’t even been magic. Just a huge guy and a well-placed punch.
“Bravo,” she wheezed.
“The Father doesn’t want you dead yet,” he snarled as he lifted her by the scruff of her collar like a puppy. “But I will kill you if you give me any trouble.”
“Sure, sure,” she said. “Only one problem…”
“No problems,” he growled.
A shadow appeared behind him.
“Me,” Fordham said as he dropped into place at the guard’s back. His hands came to either side of the male’s face, and then he twisted until his head cracked at an unnatural angle. The male went limp, dropping Kerrigan as he fell down dead.
Fordham offered Kerrigan his hand, and she let him pull her up. She dusted herself off with a grumbled, “Took you long enough.”
“Use your magic next time.”
She nodded in acknowledgment. No amount of saving it up could get her to the end of her mission if she died from not using it at all.
“Let’s skip the pleasantries then,” Kerrigan said.
As another wave of guards headed for them, she grasped Fordham’s hand, and together they both grasped that line of shadow magic and pulled together. It answered their call, united in its use as they disappeared from view and landed a moment later at the end of the council stage.