Total pages in book: 362
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
They didn’t.
One of Nektas’s wings swept over my head as he swung around, slamming his tail into the guards. Several of them hit the trees with bone-sickening crunches. A few went through them.
Nektas stretched his neck out, a deep growl vibrating the frills around his neck. Smoke wafted from his nostrils as his jaws stretched open.
The air crackled as a funnel of silvery fire flowed into the opening, the flames hungry as they surged forward, rippling over the foyer’s walls. Gauzy curtains ignited as the guards scattered. Even with their speed, they weren’t fast enough. Their screams ended abruptly, their shadowstone armor melting, and their skin and bone turning to ash.
As the flames receded, the once-red-washed walls were painted with sooty fingers. I glanced up, smirking when I saw that the ceiling was a charred mess.
“Nice work,” I told Nektas, stepping over the smoldering remnants of swords and shields.
Nektas made a low, chuffing sound, but a sudden roar of anger ended his amusement. I looked back to see him retreating from the entryway, his onyx and gray scales shimmering under the sunlight. A flash of gold scales blotted out the sun.
“Ash!” I shouted.
He whipped around, looking to the sky as shadowy tendrils swirled around him. A sudden burst of intense silvery fire poured from the sky, devouring the trees and guards belonging to the draken’s own Court.
Moving with lightning speed, Ash crossed the distance between us as Nektas reared back, snarling. The golden draken descended through the smoke with the swiftness of a thunderclap. Nektas’s massive body took to the air in a powerful leap. The two crashed above, a maelstrom of claws and silver fire.
Ash had started past me, but I hesitated, my eyes glued to the two draken. Nektas caught the other draken with claws as sharp as swords.
“He’ll be okay,” Ash assured me, touching my lower back. “I promise you.”
His confidence calmed enough of my concern that I could turn away. My gaze briefly met his. His eyes were pools of resolve, mirroring what I felt inside.
“She could be anywhere,” he said as we walked through the whirling smoke.
We didn’t have time to search the whole damn palace. I closed my eyes for a fraction of a heartbeat. Where is Veses? The skin behind my left ear tingled as I saw… “A room of mirrors and glass.”
“Her bedchamber,” he growled.
My narrowed gaze cut to him. “I’m going to save my rage over you knowing what her bedchamber looks like so I can take it out on her.”
“It’s been decades since I crossed that threshold,” he said as we entered a hall untouched by fire. There were more naked paintings of Veses engaged in all kinds of shenanigans with various men and women. “That was when I considered her a friend.”
“You don’t have to explain yourself. I’m just being irrationally jealous,” I admitted, tensing as I heard more guards approaching.
Gripping the hilt of my dagger, I focused on the mouth of the hall, where it split. “Incoming.”
Slipping past me, Ash swooped down and pressed a kiss to my forehead. Despite his lips being cool, my skin warmed and tingled from the brief, sweet touch.
“I can taste the bite of your fear,” Ash said to the guards. His voice was somehow soft yet loud in the same breath and achingly cold as his head tilted slightly to the side. There was a shadowy half-smile on his lips as he scanned the dozens of guards. “Smell its bitter sweat.”
I kept a close eye on them, fully prepared to unleash the eather ramping up inside me if I so much as thought I saw a finger twitch.
Ash tipped his head back more. “All of you have a choice to make. Step aside and live.” His smile spread, as cold as the wind whipping through the hall. “Or refuse and die for the Primal who is too cowardly to show her face.”
“Why,” I said as the guards remained in front of us, “did I just find that so incredibly hot?”
“Naughty, liessa,” he murmured, his gaze trained on the guards.
We gave them one more moment, not a second longer. I could still feel Veses. We wouldn’t give her time to leave her Court, something I was surprised she hadn’t done already.
Ash sighed. “So be it.”
He became a blur as he shot forward, meeting the guards head-on. Distant roars shook the palace walls.
It took everything in me to hang back, watching Ash move with lethal grace. I should be right beside him, carving the path to Veses. But hand-to-hand combat was possibly the riskiest thing I could undertake while pregnant. Even if I deflected every blow, punches and kicks would slip by. My love for the babes was greater than my need to prove myself.
Arcs of pulsing energy extended from Ash’s hands, striking down guards with terrifying and awe-inspiring precision. Chestplates and armor buckled. Bones snapped. Guards crumpled, their life force extinguished as swiftly as a snuffed candle.