Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 112089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
“Huh.” Nessa watched the mage. “Nice lob.”
“I know how that feels,” Sebastian told the guy. “Wanting to curl into the fetal position around these guys. I mean, it’s intense—I get it. They’re taking it easy on you, though, my friend. She won’t.” He jerked his head at me. “This next spell is very fun. You haven’t seen it before, trust me. This is old magic.”
“Who do you work for?” Nessa asked the man.
He uncurled just a little, clearly struggling to keep his dignity. “Anyone worth the air they breathe knows who I work for.” He coughed. “It’s no secret.”
“That’s why I said the question was super-easy. I’m establishing a rapport.” Nessa cocked her head at him. “Do you not know how this works?”
“Maybe this is his first time,” Sebastian said.
She nodded as though thinking. “I remember my first time. It wasn’t very fun, either. I was with this clown of a guy, and he was all fumbling hands and hole confusion…” She feigned surprise. “Oh! Are we talking about torture, here? Sorry.”
Sebastian huffed out a laugh as he pulled his hand up to point at a spell in the book. “Remember how this goes, Jessie? You need to lock in on your target and use the full range of your power.”
He was pointing at the spell Niamh thought he’d have me use. She’d read the situation.
“Well, I think I’ll just step away now.” Edgar bent at the waist and waved down at the mage. “I think I know which spell she’s going to use, and I don’t want to accidentally get hit in the crossfire. There are a lot of odd things in this room. I think collectively, with that spell, they would traumatize me for life. Good luck!” He gave the man a supportive smile and drifted away.
“Good intro,” Nessa murmured. “The vampire is really good at this. Let’s keep him, Sabby.”
“That’s a dark path, Captain,” Sebastian replied. “A strange, dark path with possibly no escape.”
A can popped somewhere off to the side—Niamh on her second beer.
“This whole situation is…” I shook my head, refamiliarizing myself with the spell. I’d only done it that once.
“It’s perfect,” Sebastian told me quietly. “It is absolutely perfect from top to bottom. I have to hand it to Niamh—she brought in all the right players.”
“You might’ve caught me, but you won’t catch the next guy,” the man said. He winced when he tried to straighten his legs. “They’re gonna get her”—he jerked his head at me—“and then they’re going to pry her—”
He was dangling in the air at the end of Austin’s hand before anyone could flinch. Austin rammed him repeatedly against the wall this time, his rage not on any sort of leash.
“Never speak about her like that again,” he growled. “If any of you so much as lay a hand on her, I’ll tear your arms and legs off and throw you in a lake.”
Fear drifted off almost everyone in the room, a reaction to Austin’s unspeakable menace. Nessa reached back, grabbing Broken Sue’s shirt.
Sebastian shivered where he stood. “Come on, Jessie, hurry now,” he whispered urgently. “This guy is already in a walking nightmare, I think, but this spell will really send him over the edge. We’re not killing him. But let’s give him a good scare so he can tell his boss how off-kilter and terrifying this place is.”
I ran my hand across my forehead, trying to focus my thoughts.
“Honestly, the mage should’ve expected that,” Nessa murmured, possibly to Broken Sue, whom she still clung to. He wrapped his arm around her back and pulled her in tightly. “We learn from our mistakes or we end up getting choked by the shifter king again.”
“Drop him, Austin,” I said as I started working my magic through the movements in my hands and body. When the man hit the floor, I focused hard on my target and said the incantation.
The spell fired across the room and sank into the mage’s chest. This particular spell was fast-acting. We’d had Edgar racing around the woods within thirty seconds, screaming that the grasshoppers were going to eat him alive.
For a moment, nothing happened, and then the man started thrashing.
“Broken Sue, can you shift into your other form?” Sebastian asked.
Niamh set down her beer and started to strip. “I have a form that’ll work right nicely.”
Broken Sue did as instructed, followed by Niamh shifting into her little nightmare gremlin form. She opened her mouth to show rows upon rows of sharp white teeth.
The man’s eyes got wider and wider. Sebastian fired off a few magical spells, casting shadows and throwing sparks of light to further throw the mage off-kilter. Niamh skittered around him, ran over his lap, and then bit into his arm.
He screamed, attempting to get up but falling over again and butting up against the wall. “No, no, no, no!”