Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 129912 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129912 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
I realize what this is.
Selah is trying to get me, and she’s using someone the clan will never kill in order to stop the attack.
Irritated, Maeve punches Juniper several times, causing her nose to drip blood, but Juniper returns the blows.
“Mum! Stop!” she shouts as she finally shoves her away.
But she doesn’t. She attempts to punch her again, but Juniper grabs her by the wrist and twists it. Maeve cries out but manages to shake out of Juniper’s grasp. She hops onto the counter like a possessed creature, dropping to all fours to crawl toward me.
Juniper tries grabbing her ankle but isn’t quick enough, and when she realizes, her eyes dart to mine. “Run, Willow!”
I leave the kitchen and burst out the door that leads to the back deck. I nearly trip taking the stairs down, but I manage. When my bare feet hit the grass, I sprint toward the forest.
I hear panting and Silvera appears at my side, but when I look back, Maeve is chasing right after me, still holding that damn pick.
“Silvera, stop her!” I command.
Silvera growls and twists around, her paws pounding into the ground and her silver fur shining in the sunlight. She pounces on Maeve, sending her collapsing, but Maeve tosses Silvera off with strength only a Regal can possess.
Silvera whimpers as she flops to the ground a great distance away. I look back to see her trying to get up, but she’s limping now.
No!
Maeve is up and running again. I realize she won’t stop. Not until she’s killed me. That means I can’t stop either. Not until I think of a plan.
In the depths of the forest, I swat at tree branches and leaves. Wood crunches beneath my feet and spiderwebs drag across my skin, but I keep going, despite the shadows of the leaves making it darker the deeper I go. Despite the cramp building in my side from the sandwich I just ate. I keep going.
The darkness doesn’t last long though.
A burst of lavender and blue appears before me, and I scream when a pair of hands catch me.
“It’s me,” Korah says, her eyes dripping in color. “Go. That way.” She cocks her head left and I take off, finding the best place to hide.
When I spot a thick trunked tree with a hollow in it, I crouch next to it and suck in as much breath as I can.
Maeve stops short of The Regals as they lift their hands, conjuring orbs of light between them.
Maeve snarls at them. Her skin is changing. It’s gray now, paling. Oh my goodness. She’s turning into one of those things—like Warren! This can’t happen again.
Hassha shoots the first fireball, and Maeve leaps out of the way, barely missing it.
“Stop!” Caz’s deep voice fills the forest, and I cling to the rough bark, watching as he steps between The Regals and Maeve. “You can’t kill her!”
“She’s tainted. We must,” Hassha says.
“No, there has to be another way!” he yells, pleading.
“There isn’t,” Maeve says in a voice that isn’t her own. She jumps onto Caz like a spider, clawing at his face, punching, and snarling.
Caz shoves her off and when she lands on her back, he pins her down by the forearms. “Maeve, stop! This is not you.”
I can’t just hide here.
I run back to Korah’s side, watching as Maeve bucks and thrashes, but Caz keeps her pinned, holding her gaze.
“Maeve, please,” he pleads, voice wavering. “I know you’re still in there. Don’t let her win.”
To my surprise, her fiery eyes transition to their normal state. She stops fighting him and stares, tears accumulating.
“I—I can’t fight her, Caspian,” she whispers.
“Yes, you can.”
Maeve’s head shakes.
“Press hands to her, Caspian,” Hassha demands. “Do it now while she’s in her own state of mind if you want to save her!”
Caz presses his hands to her chest, and they instantly spark red. “What now?” he asks, voice cracking again. My heart aches hearing him like this.
Like a boy, sad and afraid.
This is his aunt. A woman who practically raised him. Treated him as her own.
“Feel the energy,” Korah says. “Listen to instincts. Trust that what you do next will save her, and it will be so.”
He blinks his tears away and clenches his jaw. The scared boy is gone, replaced by the man who fights for everything he loves, no matter the cost.
His hands ignite, burning brighter. I notice a spark of orange appear in Maeve’s eyes again. Selah is trying to tap into her mind, but Caz keeps his hands pressed firmly to his aunt’s chest, fighting Selah’s energy with his own.
The red in his palms spreads throughout Maeve’s body, highlighting her veins, her eyes, her nostrils, her lips. She throws her head back, and her mouth opens to cry in agony.
“Mum!” Juniper calls as she jogs toward us. With her are Killian and Rowan. Their guns are drawn, and their eyes are panicked.