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’ll be happy when this is over,” she says, picking up her drink and chugging. “Killian and Rowan have been going nonstop with training. Between that and assisting in the village, I’m exhausted, Willow.”
“I know.” I cap her shoulder with a smile. “Hopefully by the day after tomorrow, Selah is defeated and we all can breathe a little.”
Juniper scoffs. “Yeah, if we survive it.” She stands from her stool, and Makoto collects her empty cup.
“Would you like tea, Juniper?” he asks.
“No. I’m okay, Makoto. Thanks though. Lunch was great.”
Maeve trots into the kitchen. It’s a midday, but she’s still tending to the garden to make sure everyone has enough to eat. Her scarf is black today, the lenses of her sungoggles darker than the pair she wore yesterday.
“Love of Vakeeli, this headache has been merciless.” Maeve sighs as she sets the basket of vegetables and fruits down. She stands in front of a trash bin, dusting the remaining dirt off it.
“Mum, you know The Regals can just snap their fingers and feed the whole tribe and us?” Juniper studies her mother. “You don’t have to work so hard out there.”
“That may be so,” Maeve responds, removing her gardening gloves, “but that is not how I was raised. I was taught to feed my guests and nurture them. Besides, it’s better that I keep busy with this. Caspian doesn’t want me in the war so if feeding the people allows me to contribute, so be it.”
“Suit yourself.”
“It’s nice what you’re doing, Maeve.” I pick up my plate and start to carry it to the sink, but Makoto shoots out his hand to grab it.
“You know that is my job, Lady Monarch.” I smile as he does. When he turns for the sink, Maeve walks past both of us to enter the pantry.
“Will you be fighting, Makoto?” Juniper asks, eyeing him as she rests her lower back against the counter.
“It will be my honor to serve the monarch,” Makoto answers.
“Are you not afraid?” she wonders.
“Fear is unacceptable,” he returns. “I was taught by my commander to never reveal it. The enemies smell it before you even reach the battlefield. And in this case, I have no doubt they’ll sense it from many miles away.”
His words cause a tightening in my chest. A wave of nerves hits me, and I shift my weight from foot to foot.
A thud sounds in the pantry, and I look to the cracked door.
“Mum?” Juniper calls, pushing off the counter with a confused frown. “Everything all right in there?”
Another thud sounds, and then a hissing noise splits the air. Juniper’s face collapses and I gasp as Makoto drops the dish in the sink, water still running, to hurry to the pantry.
“Maeve!” he calls, slipping inside.
I run with Juniper toward the pantry, but the scene before me makes me freeze.
SIXTY-NINE
WILLOW
Makoto is fighting with Maeve, trying to wrench the pick she was carrying out of her hand.
“Makoto! What are you doing?” Juniper screams.
“She stabbed herself!” he yells. It’s now that I see the blood on the center of her chest along with a deep gash.
A hand grips my shoulder and yanks back. Caz replaces me, pushing past Juniper to storm into the pantry.
Maeve continues hissing with blood spilling down her chest. As she swings about, her sungoggles are knocked off and I cup my mouth, stepping farther away as Juniper raises an arm in front of me.
Maeve’s eyes are not her own at all. They’re flames…just like Selah’s. When her eyes find mine, she stops fighting and her head goes into a familiar tilt—an unnatural one that makes my blood run cold.
“Maeve,” Caz shouts, but she’s not there. Not right now. He grabs hold of her, shouting her name again, trying to snap her out of it.
With a swift spin, Maeve breaks free from Caz’s and Makoto’s hold and shoves them out of the pantry. I leap out of the way with Juniper, both of us slamming to the ground just as Caz and Makoto fly across the kitchen.
Glass shatters and I look back, spotting the jagged gap in the window. The men are no longer inside.
I don’t have time to react, to think, or even draw in a full breath before Maeve is stepping out of the pantry with the pick in her hand.
She stares right at me, sneering before she brings it in the air and rushes me. She grunts as she attempts a swing at me, but from her position on the ground, Juniper kicks her mom in the stomach. Maeve’s back slams into the edge of counter.
Juniper rises to her feet, snatching out one of her daggers and curling her hands around it as she forms them into fists.
“Mum, this is not you!”
Again, Maeve cocks her head, and her neck cracks as she glares at me with those flamed eyes. She tries dashing for me again, but Juniper stops her, kicking her once more.