Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 114925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 575(@200wpm)___ 460(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 575(@200wpm)___ 460(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
“On my signal,” Cyrus announced, “we fight to kill.”
A shudder rocked me. A choked noise left the lord-in-training.
“Y-yes, sir,” Winslet said.
Domino appeared from thin air. “There’s a problem.”
I yelped, causing panic in my fellow trainees. Winslet fired off a shot, nailing a feeder in the shoulder. He didn’t fall, but he did jerk and growl, stalking after us as we continued.
“Was that the signal?” she demanded, swinging her gun this way and that, ready to launch another shot.
“No,” I said, setting my eyes on the librarian. How I hated his updates. He had yet to arrive with good news.
“I decoded a portion of my book,” Domino said. “Without divine intervention, you’ll be the only survivor. The glowers who remain in this world can’t help. Priority one is dismantling the invisible barrier CURED placed around the fruit field.”
So we were on our own. My heart thudded as I motioned for the librarian to tell me the rest. There was more, guaranteed. How would I survive but no one else?
“There’s a sole path to victory, keeping you all alive.” From his expression to his stride, iron control descended over him. “You must ingest your piece of the Rock.”
That didn’t sound so bad. Like Cyrus had said, it would give me strength. So why the attitude?
Though I wanted to ask that and a thousand other questions, I stayed silent and dug the piece from my pocket. Unlike the crumbles I’d ingested before, this one was completely solid with no give. Although, in the warmth of my hand, the stone softened, becoming malleable.
More feeders stepped closer to us, growing as gleeful as the laughter I’d heard.
“If you do this, you will alter your fate,” the librarian said, solemn. “You’ll walk a new path, and there’ll be no going back to the old one.”
I stiffened. Now that sounded ominous, as if I’d been on a great road, and I would suddenly find myself on a route fraught with unimaginable horrors. “Explain,” I mouthed.
His gaze darted for a split second. “We will be bound together, you and I.”
Okay, what did that even mean? Marriage? I sputtered, trying to form a refusal.
He acted as if he’d heard my thoughts. “Our connection will run deeper than a marriage. To defeat this many feeders, you need the skill of a librarian, and I’m the only one willing to aid you in such a way. The only one with permission, as you heard Ember give me.”
A valid explanation, yet I still struggled to understand, especially since his somber tenor revealed his reluctance. He didn’t wish to do this, and yet he intended to do it, anyway.
Wants you for his own.
Tremors rocked me on my feet. How would my brand-new boyfriend react to a full-on bond with the librarian he’d asked me to ditch? I couldn’t, wouldn’t, do that to Cyrus. We’ll find another way.
“There isn’t another way to save him,” Domino stated, again reading my thoughts. “The passage in my book was clear. Doing this is the only chance he has. Yes, you might lose him anyway, but that will be his decision, not yours.” He canted his head. “Shall we proceed, Arden?”
Yes. No. Indecision tore at me. I needed time to think but so few seconds remained.
“Why?” I mouthed. He risked his own future, and it couldn’t be for the reason Cyrus had suggested.
“I’ve seen ahead.” He lifted his chin. “You . . . matter to me.”
In a mentor/mentee way, right? Surely. The same way he mattered to me. But if the situation were reversed, I couldn’t say I would create a mystical bond with him.
“Get ready,” the high prince stated. “As I count down from ten, move away from each other.”
We’d run out of time.
Cyrus glanced at me, his resolve severe. “Whatever you must do to survive, do it. I don’t care what it is, Lady Pink. Survive,” he repeated.
“Same, sugar bear. Same.” Very well. Decision made. I glanced at Domino and nodded. We shall proceed.
Projecting no emotion, he waved his hand in a bid for me to do what needed doing.
Bottoms up. I hesitated a split second before tossing the piece of the Rock into my mouth and gulping. Only then, after it was done, did I realize I’d maybe kinda sorta, like, consumed part of a god. Did I regret it, though? Not even a little bit.
I waited, uncertain, nervous, and hopeful. One second passed. Two. No change, other than a slight twinge of yearning for what could’ve been. How long until something happened?
“Sheathe the guns. Withdraw a short sword and the injector,” Domino instructed.
Though I trembled, I obeyed, tightening my fingers around the hilts of each weapon.
Cyrus began the countdown. “Ten. Nine. Eight.”
With each new number, we increased the distance between us.
Our audience threw back their heads and released a chorus of shrieks and pops bubbling with anticipation.