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)
Vakeeli is not a home. It’s just another version of hell.
I can’t believe I thought life would be better here.
Caz leaves the room, and I close my eyes as the ache in my chest grows just a little bit stronger.
EIGHTEEN
CAZ
I need to get outside for some air so I can think.
I find a pack of blooms in one of my coat pockets and leave the manor after double checking my transmitter in my study.
No contacts from anyone. Not even The Council.
Good.
I don’t know why I think I’ll magically get a contact from them and be forced into more bullshit. The fact that I haven’t heard from them in several weeks means the Regal’s threats to them have weight.
A chuff rises behind me, and Cerberus runs my way, getting in an even stride with me.
“Can’t sleep either, boy?” I ask, making my way toward the nearest village. The walk takes me twenty minutes, but it does nothing to clear my mind. All I can think about is what Hassha told me. The truth about Selah—about the past.
How can it be that the person who created this world is so wicked and vile? After dealing with these Regals, I can’t take their word for anything. For all I know, they are the evil duo and Selah was trying to protect us all.
I see the world now, full of violence and destruction. They did nothing about it. What kind of creator would fucking hide?
I don’t stop walking until I’ve crossed the cobblestone streets to reach the library. A gas lamp is lit inside near the service desk, the building cool and dark inside. The scent of paper and stale blooms waft through the air as I make my way past the aisles, searching for mythology.
They mentioned this Yuri Regal. Apparently his power was handed to me. Why? This doesn’t make any sense. Why me out of every person in this world?
I peruse the shelves as Cerberus stands beside me and keeps an eye. When I find what I’m looking for, I take the book to a nearby table, switch on a lamp, and read it.
No mention of Yuri. Only Korah, Hassha, and Selah.
I go for another book, this one on mythology. This was always a limited study in Vakeeli. Most considered it a fairytale; however, there were Mythics who believed in gods from other realms. Many said they’d seen the gods themselves—that they’d traveled far away to witness them.
Some were told stories, and they cherished them as they grew. I found it fascinating enough to skim passages of it when I was younger, but I distinctly remember my mother reading about mythology. I’d ask her what it was about and what it had to do with us.
“You see that?” she’d asked me one day, pointing to an oversized three headed dog in a book she was reading. “That’s Cerberus, one of the guardians of the Underworld on Earth. They stop the dead from leaving.”
“The underworld?” I asked, confused.
“Yes. They were known to be quite vicious.”
I glance at my own Cerberus who lets out a little whine.
“Yeah,” I whisper. “I miss her too.”
I sigh, flipping through the book until I come across the god Kronos. He is known as the god of war on Earth. There isn’t much on him though, or the Gaea creator Korah deemed as her mother.
All of this effort is a waste. Even if there were more books about the gods here, what would it solve? There’s hardly even any history of The Regals…and maybe they wanted it that way.
I slap the book closed and click my tongue for Cerberus to follow.
It’s when I’m nearly five minutes from the manor that I feel a tightening in my chest.
I said stop! Let me go! Caz!
My heart drops. “Willow.”
I snatch my gun out and run.
NINETEEN
CAZ
I burst into the manor, ready to storm up the stairs until I hear an abrupt and familiar voice.
That’s when I feel the static in the air, the weird crawling sensation going up my arms like a million tiny bugs.
“Over here, Monarch Harlow.”
That voice. It sends ice down my spine. I pause on the middle of the staircase just as someone steps around the corner in a silver cloak.
Arie.
At the bottom of the staircase, Cerberus growls at him, baring all his teeth.
“Cerberus, go,” I command.
My wolf continues growling but slowly retreats, ducking out the front door.
I take the stairs slowly while Arie slinks away and disappears into my office. I’m ready to kill him and anyone else willing to fuck with me in my home, but as soon as I step into my office my heart drops.
The entire Council is here—Callista, Arie, and Vassilis. So is Willow, only she’s not standing by herself. Vassilis is right behind her, one arm strapped around her chest and the other hand holding a double-edged knife. The sight of that blade pressed to my mate’s throat sends a bolt of fury through me.