Total pages in book: 197
Estimated words: 186911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 935(@200wpm)___ 748(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 186911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 935(@200wpm)___ 748(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)
“I...” My eyes filled. “I will. Thank you, Mama. I love you. All of you. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“We love you too, now go.”
I didn’t waste another minute.
Racing upstairs, I rescued all the weapons Alisdair gave me on the way out, slung the bow and quiver on my back, and then I ran back downstairs to the kitchen to get some more. Only when I positively clinked and jingled did I kiss Savia and the twins goodbye, then head out the door.
The streets were no better than they were before, but I kept low and out of the way of the chaos, racing to the square with one thought in mind—saving Alisdair.
I’m coming, my love. You’ve waited hundreds of years for someone to finally see the truth. Just wait a little longer.
The newly born faeriken ignored me. They were all too busy fucking, fighting, or unleashing pent-up rage on their enemies. Most of the people out on the street were women, and most of the bellowing victims they were chasing with rage in their eyes were men.
I rounded a corner, turning down an alley that was a shortcut to the square, and I saw the bloodied, clawed-up mass that used to be Mykel Starsinger. I didn’t know if Shadi caught up to him, or if the other women he forced himself on did. Either way... he wouldn’t be forcing himself on anyone else in the Burning Plains.
I backed away and went down another alley.
Up ahead the statue of King Salman loomed high over the darkened horizon, lit up by the fires burning in the square. He loomed, but not as high as he should—thanks to the stone head I skirted tripping out of the alley.
Someone knocked the thing clean off his inaccurately broad shoulders, and then they vented on the rest of him, blowing chunks of stone off his legs, arms, and abdomen. As angry as those gathered here were at Alisdair, it seemed a few of them knew who the true enemy was. Part of me wondered if any of them got their hands on the real thing.
But I couldn’t ask... because the square was empty.
“No!” I whipped around, eyes huge in disbelief. “Already? How have they found a way to Lumenfell already!”
“Did you say Lumenfell?”
I jumped, backing away. A figure had appeared before me—a woman, I assumed, from her light, musical voice. But assume was all I could do. Something was wrong, I couldn’t quite... look at her.
My gaze traveled in her direction, then flicked away, flicking on Salman’s head or piles of tattered, bloodied clothes that would come with a horrible explanation. The most I could make out were the leather tips of her boots, and a flash of auburn hair. But truthfully, her hair color could’ve been a trick of the firelight.
“That’s an impressive concealment spell,” I stated, blunt as ever. “Those are supposed to be rendered useless when the caster draws attention to themselves. Hmm, just like in reality, I suppose.”
She laughed. “One’s magic is only as limited as the books they read and runes they know. Thankfully, I have never been limited.”
I tried to study her as much as the corner of my eye would let me. “There were people here. They were planning to go to Wind and Wild. Where are they?”
“Wind and Wild of course.”
I tensed, chest tightening around my thumping heart. No! Alisdair!
“But you didn’t say Wind and Wild.” She circled me, forcing my eyes to spin wildly in my head until I squeezed them shut. “You said Lumenfell. You’ve been there before.”
It wasn’t a question.
“Yes, I’ve been, and I’m trying to get back. Were you here when they left?” I asked. “Can you tell me how they did it?”
“I was here when they left, and I’m how they did it.”
Alarms chimed in my head, clenching my teeth. Mama was very clear when she said the person whipping the mob into a frenzy was a she.
“The better question is who are you?” her voice whispered into my ear, making my skin crawl. “There is no rage or revenge in your soul, so what business do you have in Lumenfell? And don’t lie. I do so hate being lied to.”
“Why would I lie? I will happily say to your face, or next to it, that I need to get to Lumenfell to stop a mob of feral idiots who are about to make a huge mistake. Alisdair isn’t a monster, he only looks like one, and the reason he does is because of a curse no one truly understood... until now,” I said, voice shaking. “I know how to save him, Wind and Wild, and all of us from the beast curse, and that’s exactly what the fuck I’m going to do!
“So get me there, right now, or I’ll beat your ass, and trust me,” I barked, “I don’t need magic or sight to do it!”