Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 113319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Jessie
I stared stupidly, not believing my eyes.
“What are we doing here, boys and girls?” asked Sebastian—no, he wasn’t Sebastian right now, not with that look. Not with how he was standing and the expression on his face. Elliot Graves had just walked into the room, uninvited.
“Arthur…” Elliot tilted his head and gave Arthur a mock-disapproving frown. “Are you trying to set up an alliance with my new favorite mage?”
Arthur didn’t get up. Actually, no one did. They all stuck to their seats like they’d been nailed down, their hands palms down on the table, looking at Elliot like they were staring a burglar in the face.
“I-I was ju-just warning her about the G-Guild, that’s all. I sw-swear—”
“What the hell is going on?” I demanded, pushing my chair back so I could stand.
Elliot swung his hands out, firing magic at me blindingly fast. I barely got up a defensive spell, one that absorbed the hit but didn’t negate the power of the blast.
It was a doozy. That bastard knew what spells I favored for my first line of defense.
I flew backward, tipping the chair onto two legs and then over. Austin tried to grab me but missed. I went crashing to the ground, my skirt pluming over me as I rolled. Austin was there, crouching next to me, helping.
“What do we do?” he asked urgently. “Do we attack?”
None of my people made a move as Elliot started talking again. I understood why. He was supposed to be on our side—they didn’t want to hurt the guy that fought and bled with us.
I shoved Austin away, angry, hurt that Sebastian had never answered any of my messages. Fighting my dress and getting to my feet, I stood there with my hands fisted and at my sides.
“What are you doing here?” I demanded.
“I’ve missed you,” he said with that cocky little smile, leaning against the doorframe. The other mages still hadn’t moved, not even trying to fight back. “I thought we had a nice little rapport in my caves. Before you destroyed them, obviously. When you didn’t allow Momar to question you about me, I figured you might want to reconnect, maybe form an alliance. But here you are with this weak lot of goodie two-shoes?” He put his hand on his heart. “You wound me.”
“Are you high?” It was all I could think to say. I had zero idea what was going on. I knew there was a point to this, I just didn’t know what it was or what part I was supposed to play.
“Nice dress. Did you come here in a pumpkin?” He laughed.
I grew increasingly angry. That bastard had set me up to be a punch line.
“Why are you here?” I asked tersely. “What do you want?”
“Simple—I want what’s owed to me.”
I put out my hands. “And what is that?”
“Why…you, silly. We’re good together, you and me. We belong together.” He gestured with his watch hand, circling the air toward me with his pointer finger. In a singsong voice, he said, “You’re really powerful…and I’m really powerful…and together we can reclaim my throne and rule as king and queen of the mages.” His grin was a little manic. “You’d have to get rid of the shifters, though. Mangy creatures. Now that you’ve used them to reduce Momar’s battle prowess and knock him down a peg, you don’t need them. You just need me. I can teach you the ropes much better than these idiots, trust me. I can teach you magic like no one else could.” He winked at me. “What do you say?”
“You’re batshit crazy, that’s what I say. What’s owed to you? That doesn’t make sense, idiot. Now get out of here. You weren’t invited.”
“Aha, but you didn’t ask how I got in. You know as well as I do that this fool has zero power. His spells are a joke, his booby traps laughable, and the potions and spell notes? Nothing to steal. I didn’t even bother. You’re the only valuable thing in this house, and you’d be the only valuable thing in an alliance. I, on the other hand—”
“Oh, shut up. I don’t care. I gave you my answer: no. Now go away.”
His smile was genuine this time. I could see Sebastian peeking through his pale blue eyes.
“Jessie, Jessie, so naïve. You really don’t know how this works, do you? The things I could teach you. But alas, I see that you are stubborn. Must be that gargoyle, huh? Here, let me show you what happens when someone turns me down.”
He pushed off the wall and fired another spell. My deflection spell this time was a new one I’d found. His spell hit it and bounced back. It fractured before hitting his defensive spell in a few spots and popping with corrosive magic. His eyes widened a little and then started sparkling. It meant he was intrigued by the spell and proud of me for doing it well.