Series: Lords of Rathe Series by Meagan Brandy
Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 95227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
“Our father was a great king,” Sinner snaps.
“I’m sure he was, but I wouldn’t know, now, would I?”
Creed glares, but his head jerks toward Legend when he starts to stagger.
My arms shoot out to steady him, but Sinner gets there first.
Legend’s eyes close and he accepts his brother’s offered shoulder, pulling in a long breath.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Sinner beats me to the question.
Legend just shakes his head, a low, brittle laugh leaving him as he pushes off and shuffles to his own two feet again. “Nothing. I’m fine.” His ocean blue eyes find mine and he offers a small smile. “Keep going, monster.”
My eyes narrow but he tips his chin at me. “Isle’s Kiss,” he presses.
Right.
“Once the ‘poison’ finds what it’s looking for, it starts pulling.” I drag my fingers through the air, mimicking the motion. “One vein at a time, like it’s unraveling you from the inside out. You don’t notice at first—just a heaviness in your limbs, a little heat under the skin. But then it’s like a pack of wolves are born inside you and they’re gnawing and clawing their way out. Your veins are ripped open on the inside and the blood starts leaking. First from the nose, then the eyes, then the mouth. Eventually, it pushes out everything it can reach. Even between the legs.” I smirk. “Not pretty. But satisfying to watch.”
All but Legend stare at me like I’ve sprouted a second head.
“What?” I shrug. “People killed me every day for sport. You get bored. You pick favorites. And when Isle’s Kiss took root in someone, it dragged on for hours. Plenty of time to watch them scream.”
Creed’s jaw locks. “How do you fight against it?”
“You run as fast as you fucking can and hope it didn’t already wrap its thorns around your heart. Because if it did…it’s lights out.”
He keeps running his mouth. “If it can be created, it can be destroyed.”
“Of course it can. The island’s enemy is its counterpart.” When they don’t guess, I give them the answer. “Fire.” I push forward, and their footsteps follow.
I almost trip on a root reaching out of the ground but catch myself before anyone sees.
“Why wouldn’t you just open one of your fancy portals here again?” I complain, stepping away from the living tree, shaking what looks like soot from my fingers. “You dragged me halfway across your little kingdom this morning. Seems like a waste of legs.”
Legend’s laugh is low and amused, and before I can dodge, he nips the top of my shoulder, his teeth greedy. Heat flares across my skin and I’ve got the sudden urge to tell him to bite.
I want to feel his teeth sink into my flesh, I want him to claim me and—
Shit. This thing between us. It has a fucking heartbeat.
“We walk because…” he murmurs against my ear as his hands slide to my hips, lifting me over the shimmering sludge like I weigh nothing. “Portals disturb here. Their young are among these lands, and their mothers are very, very protective. A portal has a certain scent marker, and it smells like a threat to them. If you walk their lands, letting them scent you, they trust in your intent. If you pop in, what is to stop you from taking their little ones and popping out?” Another nip. “Assuming you can escape before they get to you. And if they see you as a threat anyway, well…it’s bone to ash, baby.”
“That’s comforting,” I mutter as my feet touch solid ground again.
He smirks down at me, hugging me to him before stepping away.
“Fool,” Creed grumbles behind us.
“Jealous?” Legend fires back.
“Disgusted.”
“Same thing, brother.”
Knight glares. “Focus.”
Right. Flowers. Murder. Death.
I turn toward the scorched rock face ahead. The wind shifts, carrying a faint metallic sweetness I remember too vividly—the scent that drifted through the caverns on Exile, clinging to my hair, my clothes, my nightmares.
“Dragons?” I guess, voice low as a rush of something I can’t name washes over me.
“Dragons.” Legend confirms. “Welcome to the Darkadia, home of the dragons.”
“Maybe we can say hi to Benny boy while we’re here.” Sinner jokes, and London slams him with a wave of magic, knocking him to his feet with a laugh.
“Leave my best friend alone,” she pouts. “He’s adapting.”
My feet carry me up the final hillside even faster, excitement coursing through my veins.
A few more miles and then I see it. My lungs open up as a sense of calm washes over me.
I’ve never seen this side of Rathe before, having only entered near the royal estate, and the sight before me is…wow.
Darkadia is like nothing I’ve seen before yet somehow feels familiar.
Black cliffs jut up like broken fangs, steam curling from the cracks where the underground fires breathe. The sky itself feels different here—darker, sharper, threaded with old magic that doesn’t exist on Earth’s polite little campus.