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)
He put up his hands and stepped back, his signal to cease all activity. I stepped back with him.
He was breathing heavily when he was finished. “It needs to sit for twenty minutes.”
I hissed. “We don’t have twenty minutes, Sebastian. We have to leave now.”
TWENTY-SIX
Sebastian was positive there were other, better ways to travel than clinging to the back of a very grumpy nightmare alicorn that didn’t want him there. He just didn’t have any choice in the matter.
“This is awesome,” Nessa yelled with a giant smile. Jasper’s thick arms were wrapped around her middle. Her feet dangled below her as they passed over the tops of short trees and veered this way and that to avoid the tall redwoods, which were sparser as they climbed in elevation. All he’d have to do was let her go, and she’d be done for. At least Sebastian could clutch a mane or grab a tail if Niamh tried to throw him off.
Okay, so yes, he had had a choice, and he’d selected the least awful option presented to him. He hadn’t wanted to be hugged by Mr. Tom.
The giant polar bear raced through the trees below, graceful and sleek despite his size. Behind him ran the wolves, followed by the not-as-graceful lope of the enormous silverback gorilla. The basajaunak ran all around them, Dave among them.
“Do you also hate your life right now, bestie?” Edgar called from Ulric’s grip. Ulric had drawn the short straw. Literally.
Sebastian didn’t answer. He was finally taking Niamh’s advice and ignoring the crazy vampire in the hope he’d go away. Sebastian didn’t have high hopes, though. He’d probably walked too far down that plank.
Niamh’s flanks shivered under Sebastian’s legs. Edgar put out a fist like he was Superman.
“We’re coming, Jessie. We’re coming!” he shouted into the wind. “I’m so scared, I’m shaking. I still don’t like heights. This will give me more nightmares. Better not sleep.”
They must’ve been reacting to another pulse of Jessie’s magic, which seemed to be coming faster now, urging everyone on. She flew at the front, grasped in Nathanial’s arms. Her wings couldn’t keep up with the others over the long stretch.
The shifters down below put on a burst of speed. Niamh’s oily black wings beat at the air.
They’d waited for Sebastian’s spell. He’d forced them to—or so he’d like to think. What had really happened was he begged and pleaded with Austin and tried not to piss his pants within the alpha’s hard stare.
The rest of their team had hurried to get ready while he prepared the bottle for his potion. The basandere had chosen which basajaunak would go with them and packed food for the Ivy House team, just in case. Nessa had stayed right next to him, watching the time on her wristwatch.
Still, they’d all ended up waiting, and he’d felt many sets of eyes on him while he poured the potion with a shaky hand.
He had it, though. He had it in his underwear, nestled next to the one part a man protected the hardest. Even if he fell off this alicorn, he would not drop that bottle. Since he was the one who’d be using it, he wouldn’t have to gross anyone out with where it was currently stored.
Niamh’s flanks shivered again. Edgar’s fist shook in the air.
Sebastian squinted through the rushing wind. Sunlight had bleached the horizon and the blanket of trees beneath him.
He swore to himself. He wasn’t ready for another battle, especially not one like this. He’d handled the situation with Kinsella because he knew the odds were stacked heavily in their favor. This one wouldn’t be so easy. He didn’t have an escape route planned, either. Not for himself, at least. He could only get one of his people out—and only then if the potion worked.
Niamh neighed, the sign for hang on!
She angled downward so fast that he slipped back onto her rump. She flattened out a little with an equine growl, letting him scramble up her back and clutch her mane. She’d probably hate that, but he didn’t have a choice. He wasn’t experienced in riding horses, especially not in the air.
The gargoyles followed their downward swoop, cutting through the jutting trees and reaching branches. He was thwapped in the face, but he held on tightly, not daring to look over her side and see what he was sure was the ground rushing up to meet them.
A streak of fire zipped under them. Cyra’s flying form was more agile than Niamh’s.
Niamh’s golden hooves touched down a moment later, the landing soft but the galloping afterward jostling him all over the place. Maybe flying was better. She slowed to a canter and then stopped when they reached the shifters gathered within a grouping of trees, masked from sight…which would only be helpful if no one had been watching the sky with binoculars. The great thunderbird circling overhead wouldn’t be easy to hide.