Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 105164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
But still Zyros dodged the attack with ease. The fiery blade just barely sliced through her shirt, scorching the edges black. Zyros twisted to remain facing the Goddess of Fire and slammed her fist into the woman’s chest. Caris gasped and her entire body lurched forward under the force of the hit.
Nyx’s scream shattered the air and time jumped forward again as the Goddess of the Hunt ripped the heart from Caris’s chest. She pulled her hand free and Caris fell to the ground in an ungainly lump, the ring of fire that had separated Zyros from Caelan extinguished in the blink of an eye.
She dropped the heart on the ground and darted off with a mad cackle to stand beside Lore on the raised platform where her temple had once stood. Nyx appeared and kneeled beside Caris in the next second, scooping up his love’s heart in the cradle of his hands. Caelan couldn’t tear his eyes away from the flicker of fire he could still see glowing within its depths.
So very carefully, Nyx shoved the organ into place in his lover’s chest and held her within his arms. He brushed a kiss to her temple, tears streaming down his face, before he lifted his gaze to Tula.
“Do something! Don’t let her go. She stood beside you through this. You owe it to her,” Nyx shouted at the Goddess of Life.
Caelan couldn’t say that he was particularly surprised when Tula refused to even look at Nyx, let alone acknowledge his plea. The Goddess of Life simply lifted her eyes to Zyros and Lore as if they were the only ones worthy of her notice.
“Caelan,” Nyx whispered in a choked, trembling voice. “Please. She never did anything but try to help you. She’s harbored you no ill will. She even blessed your mate. Please, help her.”
He tore his eyes from the Goddess of Life to stare at the Dead God in shock. What could he possibly do to save the goddess?
But even as the question formed in his brain, he knew what Nyx was pleading for—the time he’d stolen from the dragon on the Isle of Stone. It was a strange and unexpected limitation of the God of Time. He could steal, store, and even manipulate time, but he couldn’t create more of it. His love was out of time, and Caelan had a stockpile.
“You can’t steal—”
Nyx was already shaking his head. “Not from fellow gods. But…” He drifted off, his gaze moving out of the city toward the encampment of New Rosanthe soldiers, and beyond, to where the Erya and possibly Caspagir soldiers were fighting.
The God of Time could steal time from people who were not destined to die in this battle. People who could still potentially go home to their families and live long, happy lives.
Thunder roared and the clouds broke open with their heavy burden, drenching their slice of Thia in a torrential downpour of cold rain.
Caelan hated that he hesitated. That time he’d clung to had been his safety net. He’d saved it in case something happened to his family in this battle. If someone stole the life of Drayce, Rayne, Eno, or Adrian, he wanted to be prepared to save them, to rip them back from the brink of death and give them another shot at life.
He didn’t know what was happening with his family. He didn’t know if they were safe and alive. If he gave this up now, there would be no saving them later.
“Please, Caelan,” Nyx pleaded again.
And he knew he had to do this. Caris was Drayce’s benefactor. She looked upon the love of his life with joy and pride. She gave him a gift that put such happiness in his heart. Saving her now was the only way he could ever thank her for that.
With a small sigh, Caelan raked his empty left hand up his chest, pulled free the chains of time he’d kept tucked against his heart, and held them out to the God of Time. “My thank-you gift for what she gave for Drayce. I hope you know how to make it last.”
Nyx’s smile wobbled and he swallowed hard. “I do. I can make it last an eternity.” The Dead God slammed the bundle of glowing purple chains into Caris’s chest, and she awoke on a rough gasp of air.
“She won’t stay that way,” Zyros snarled. “I’ll tear you all down. You wasted your one saving grace. Now there is nothing that will keep you from being wiped from existence.”
Caelan stood over where Nyx continued to kneel on the ground, holding his love and crying with relief. Over the pounding rain, he could hear Caris sweetly murmur to him that she was okay, and she knew that he would save her. Caelan shoved his free hand into his hair, slicking it out of his face, and lifted his sword point to the Goddess of the Hunt.