Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 92232 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92232 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
“You will know when you see it.”
“Would it not work better if one of us works with a marked sister each?” Annaniah asks.
“No, finding his mate will require Venus and me to work together. Don’t worry. Once we find her, I will help you. I will hold the time in space open for all of you,” Yanique replies.
“I am nervous,” Annaniah whispers.
“If you don’t want to do this, I will understand,” I say.
“There is no need to be nervous. We will all come out of this as we should,” says Yanique.
“How do you know this?” Zandra asks, eyeing our sister.
“As I said. I don’t have time to explain. Come quickly.
“It must be now. Our nephew grows stronger in this place. Venus will not be able to hold him for long while we are here. We need to act before he drains her power and we can’t do this.”
Yanique rushes to grab my hand as she moves us to the center of the room. I push through the pain and join hands with her.
“Follow my lead. Repeat after me,” she coaxes as she squeezes my hands in hers.
I nod and follow her words. Wind begins to pick up around us as we chant. Light beams up from the floor and surrounds the two of us.
Suddenly, it’s like we leave our bodies. Wind whips by my face as we seem to rush through time. We stop abruptly in a room. It’s not like those in our village. It’s warm and the walls are a soft-pink color.
There are cries coming from a wood-crafted vessel. This is a nursery. A pale woman is looking down at the child, cooing.
“What is this?” I say to Yanique.
“It’s the beginning of her life.”
“His mate?” I ask sadly.
“Yes, my sister. He will walk the earth alone for many centuries before he finds her.”
“Is this woman her mother?”
“Yes, and no. This child is not of her womb.”
An olive-skinned man with dark hair enters the room. He’s dressed oddly and his hair is in short waves. Nothing like Kendrick’s long, curly, dark locks.
He’s wearing a black overcoat with a white shirt underneath and black trousers. It sort of looks like the formal attire they wear in the city to the balls, but not.
He moves to lift the child into his arms. He looks down at her with such pride and joy on his face. He kisses the top of her head and begins to sing in a language I do not understand.
“But this is her father. She is from his loins,” I say knowingly.
“Yes, she is his child. He has tried to fool the gods, but they will have the last laugh.”
I look closer at the child’s ears and gasp. She will not be pale. She will be quite brown, in fact.
“Come, we have to find your entry point in time. That is where Zandra and Annaniah must help me loop time.”
“And you? The others?”
“We will all go where we are needed. The gods have chosen.”
We begin to chant anew. At once, we’re whipped through time again. My hair blows at my back and my face feels cool. I feel like I’m racing against the clock.
We stop again, finding a young girl in the same pink room. Only this time, the room has a bed and desk. A young girl sits on the side of the bed with her head down.
“Is she in tears?”
“Yes,” Yanique bites out. “They force her to stay hidden. She has no friends and she’s not being trained to understand her powers. Life is quite confusing for her.”
“Does Kendrick know of this?”
“No, as the gods wish it to be, he still does not know of her.”
The same man walks into her room. He looks older and is dressed in the same odd garments. This time in gray and white.
He has a frustrated expression on his face as he moves to sit beside the girl and places a hand on her back. She looks to him, but I still can’t see her face.
“One of these days, you’re going to understand that I’m doing this for your safety,” he says to the girl. “This is my fault. I should never have allowed you to go to that school. Even six months was too much.”
“But Daddy, I just want to go to prom. I didn’t think anyone would ask me, but someone did. I really want to go with him. Please?”
“Ray, I can’t allow that.
“Why not? Because of your Mob friends?”
“Ray, don’t.”
“Or is it because of those bikers? The ones who snuck in that night to see you.”
“You know nothing about those things. I don’t want to hear those words from your mouth ever again.”
“I don’t care about your business or your friends. I just want to go to prom. This isn’t fair.”
“Life isn’t fair, Ray. After all your mother and I had to go through to have you, the last thing I’m going to do is sit here and argue with you.”