Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 136061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 454(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 454(@300wpm)
I flinched and then watched as Jedrek’s form went airborne, Hannon having gotten his feet under the suddenly limp wolf and launched him away. The body hit the rope and then spun away and down, into the lava.
My mouth dropped open.
“Welp,” Hadriel said with a crooked grin. “That settles it. Don’t fuck with Hannon.”
“Thank the goddess someone finally dealt with that idiot.” Micah walked off to the side, readying to shift. “I’ll always think of him as a possum, though.”
Weston gave a huff and turned back, quickly getting off the bridge.
Hannon met me back on my side. “Sorry, Finley,” he said softly, putting a hand on my shoulder. “I wasn’t thinking beyond trying to save myself.”
I shook my head slowly. Shock was still my prevalent emotion, but a bit of sadness and guilt were creeping in.
“You had no choice,” I said, looking down into the pit. “We should’ve forced him to shift earlier and had Weston take charge of him.”
“You didn’t know to do that.” Hadriel patted me. “He was a weasel, Finley. You’re better off.”
Much better off, my dragon said.
But I couldn’t help a prickle of guilt. He was seriously the worst, and I hadn’t ever liked him, but I should’ve gotten him out of here, at least. I should’ve taken better care of the situation. Leaders saved even the assholes. If I wanted to stand at Nyfain’s side, I’d need to learn to look after all the people, even the Jedreks.
“It was my fault, not yours, Finley,” Hannon said, his hand still on my shoulder. He could read me exceptionally well. “He didn’t want to leave, anyway. You can’t force someone to want to survive. You did what you could, and ultimately, I did what I had to. And you know what? I’m not sorry. He wasn’t to be trusted, and you’re safer this way.”
Hannon was right. It was hard to save someone who didn’t want to save themself.
“If he didn’t do it now, I was planning on doing it when you weren’t looking,” Vemar called, zero remorse.
“Come on.” Hadriel patted me again. “We need to get going, or we’ll all end up like him.”
Yes, we need to get going, my dragon said. We have to get out of here. He isn’t worth us all dying for.
She was right. They were all right. And in my heart of hearts, I had to own that the guilt wasn’t entirely because I’d failed to get him out. It was because a part of me felt relieved. After everything he’d put me through, a part of me hadn’t wanted to save him at all. A part of me had wanted to leave him behind. I felt guilty for being relieved that someone else had solved the problem of Jedrek.
I felt guilty for not being a better person.
Eventually I’d conquer my remorse about all this. I’d make peace with it. But right now, I needed to look after the living.
“Okay,” I said, taking a deep breath. I pointed at those who couldn’t change. “Who wants to go first? I’ll tie you up with the dragons’ clothes so that it’ll be a little easier to take you across.”
“I’ll shift, milady.” Leala handed off her whip to Hadriel, and I was too frazzled to ask what the fuck? before she reduced down into a sort of…monkey thing. Or a lemur. She had large brown eyes that looked too big for her face, ringed in black, with a small snout. Her body was brown with white areas, and her small, furry feet ended in little black claws.
“What is she?” I asked as she started slowly for the bridge.
“A slow loris,” Hadriel replied, stepping up to me with the whip outstretched. I took it, and he turned around so I could use it to secure his wrists. “Don’t let her dainty size fool you. They are one of the most venomous mammals. Their poison can suffocate. Not human-sized creatures so much, but still, a nip would give you a bad day.”
She worked her way out onto the bridge and then stopped moving.
“The bitch is, when they sense danger, they often freeze…” His voice trailed off.
Hannon didn’t hesitate. Smiling, he stepped onto the bridge and scooped up a frozen Leala. She scampered up his shoulder and clung to his neck.
I secured Hadriel as Vemar shifted into a gorgeous, glittering blue dragon and leapt off like he had no fear of death. Then again, he probably didn’t.
I threw Hadriel over my shoulder and marshaled my determination. Vemar landed as Hannon returned to the business end of the bridge and grabbed a pretty little faerie, holding her to his chest. I gave him a head start over the bridge, the faerie thrashing in his arms but not nearly powerful enough to cause him a problem. Leala re-froze on his shoulder.