Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 69711 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69711 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
My pacing has brought me to my mother’s set of rooms in her tower. I wait for my memory to play tricks on me, to hear the haunting music as she plays the hriox, making it weep. But for once, all is silent. I don’t need the pain of old ghosts. I have my Omega’s—and my own.
After our argument, I climbed to the tallest tower and prepared to hurl myself into the wind. I'd spend the day flying, terrorizing the villagers. Teach them not to look to a demon for help or comfort.
But I cannot bring myself to fly from the castle and leave Renee behind. What if she needs me? What if she's cold?
The day is chilly and overcast, with low, grey clouds. The slopes of Mount Vracor sparkle under a coat of frost. My Omega’s wardrobe is not heavy enough for these frigid temperatures.
I summon the jynx and conjure a set of thick fur robes—one white, one pale purple like the snow—to send to her.
I avoided her this morning, so I don’t know if she ate enough of the morning repast. I order the jynx to prepare her favorite foods, including the leeberry-flavored pastries she loves so much. Only when my servants report that they have given her the gifts and food, and built up her fire, do I relax.
I settle into my chair, the tips of my claws drumming the elaborately carved armrests.
Should I send for her? I could bid her sit on my lap. She would pout at first, but after a few minutes of my playing with her body, my scent surrounding her, she’d be slick and eager, desperate to have me. When we were in heat, everything was easier.
If I had just heeded my father’s advice and maintained a cool distance between us, none of this would have happened. Females are happier in subservient roles, with firm boundaries.
But as soon as I think this, I hear the sad songs my mother used to play, underscored with her weeping. If my father’s way was right, why did it lead to so much sorrow?
A distant roll of thunder heralds the ground’s tremors. The earthquake is minor, barely shaking the room, but when I stride to the window, thick plumes of smoke spiral from Mount Vracor’s summit.
The volcano is awakening.
More tremors rumble beneath my feet. Heart thumping, I race through the castle. Renee should be secure in her rooms, but if anything falls on her or she loses her balance, she could be hurt.
When I reach her chambers, I stop short. The fur robes are piled up outside her door. Beside them rests the tray of leeberry tarts the jynx prepared. My Omega is rejecting my gifts.
Another mini-quake shakes the hallway. The turmoil I feel inside is finally making its way to the volcano. It could not happen at a worse time.
I stamp on the stone and wait for the door to slide open. Nothing happens. I slam it again and again before pounding my fists on the door. “Pet?”
“Shoot, he's here!” she exclaims. Who is she talking to? Her voice is hushed, muffled by the closed door. The blood is roaring in my ears.
She’s locked in but nothing will keep me from her. Unwilling to wait for the jynx to come and fix whatever’s broken, I tear at the hinges and wrench the bronze slab aside. It knocks the pile of gifts over and crashes to the ground. Renee shrieks.
My heart hammering, I peer inside. Everything is dark except for a giant glowing circle spun by blazing magic. A portal. Beyond it, the room is furnished unlike any in my castle. The seamless stone walls of an unfamiliar palace.
Renee stands before the whirling gateway, in the dress I designed for her the day we spoke with Khan and Emma. She turns and looks at me, her eyes wet.
“Quickly,” someone hisses from inside the portal. A small Hoo-man with a pale face and golden hair—my skin prickles as I recognize Khan’s queen—beckons to my Omega.
“What is happening here?” I shout. “No!” As Renee turns, I race to catch her, but I’m too late.
She steps through the portal a mere instant before I crash against the invisible barrier.
“What’s happening?” Dazed, I reach for her, but the magic repels me. I stagger back, my wings flaring out to keep me upright. “Pet!”
My Omega scuttles further inside before turning to face me. I hammer the portal with my fists but it’s futile—they just bounce off.
Renee flinches back, her green eyes wide with fear. Is she afraid of me? The notion is like a blade in my gut.
“Don't worry,” Emma says. “He can't enter. I had the magicians set it so only one being can step through.”
I fumble for the portal's edges as if I could pry it open, but there’s nothing to hold. The ground rumbles again, but I barely hear it over the discordant twang in our bond.