Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 53433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
“Jeni?” I started walking toward the shoreline in the direction of the sound.
“I won’t rest until I get him back!” she bellowed.
I walked faster toward her voice. From the sound, she was just over the embankment, but when I got there, there was no one. Just me, the ocean, and the sand.
“Fucking hell.” This had to be some sort of trap. Or prison. Not heaven.
I would have to figure out how to get out of here, but that required knowing where here was. I headed back to the great temple. Concealed inside was a room where my parents had kept scrolls, pottery, and hides with written records of our people’s stories. Perhaps I would find my answers there.
Jeni
A poke in my shoulder jarred me from my meditative state, snapping me back to reality. I slowly opened my eyes to find Ansin hovering over me.
I jackknifed upright. “Did you find him?”
“No.” He sat next to me on the bed. “I have feelers out, though. Every child trafficker, every occultist, and bounty hunter knows I am willing to pay handsomely for any news leading to Draco.”
I suddenly noticed a blonde woman with bright green eyes standing in the doorway.
“Who’s that?” I asked.
“Jeni, this is Obliza.”
Obliza?
“She is the woman I told you about,” he added.
“Oh. You mean the one who might…” My voice trailed off. I wasn’t sure what I could or couldn’t say in front of her.
“I thought it would be helpful for her to inspect the house.”
Wow. What an asshole. “So you were or weren’t out looking for my baby?” I snarled.
“Of course I was looking. But I simply did not want to leave her hanging in the wind. She is much too important. So I invited her with me.”
If he’d been looking, it couldn’t have been very hard.
“I am so sorry about your baby,” she said, batting her eyelashes. “You must be so upset.”
“Get her the fuck out of my room, Ansin.”
Ansin jerked his head at the woman. “Obliza, would you give us a second?”
“Sure.” She left.
“Ansin, what the hell is this?”
“I could not afford to lose sight of her, but that does not mean I haven’t been searching.” He rubbed his scruffy jaw. “The only possible lead I came up with sounds like a stretch.”
“What is it?”
“A contact of mine, a woman who deals in the occult—antiques and such—told me there had been a man a few months back looking for a very specific blood. Blood with power, of a king.”
“What do you mean?”
“He wanted to perform a sort of ritual he believed could bring a person back from the dead.”
“Okay. And?” Why couldn’t he just get to the damned point?
“The man claimed to have come into possession of a tablet. He believed with the right blood, he could open a door to the afterlife and bring someone back.”
“So you think he took Draco?” Why?
“From what I’m told, the man is quite wealthy. Anyone who can bring him the blood of a powerful king will be looking at a few million dollars’ prize.”
“I still don’t understand what this has to do with Draco.”
“King no longer had a kingdom or subjects, but he was still a king, and when he died, that title fell to Draco. So if King told anyone about getting you pregnant, there is a small possibility the information got into the wrong hands.”
“But who would he tell?” And why did this all feel like it was coming out of left field?
“Anyone he hired to look after you during the pregnancy, perhaps.”
“The only person I remember interacting with, besides you and King, was his chauffeur—a man named Spiros. But King broke ties with him.”
The Spiroses were a Greek family who supposedly served King’s royal bloodline. I got the impression their history went way, waaay back.
“Spiros?” Ansin raised a dark brow. “That is a Greek last name. The man who was looking for blood is from Crete.”
This all sounded like a wild-goose chase, not to mention suspicious. We already knew who took Draco. “The Seers are the ones who have Draco, Ansin. I know it.”
“Did you have any luck visiting them?”
“Yes and no. I was able to travel, but I couldn’t locate them.”
“Interesting,” he said.
“Not interesting. It’s proof: They’re the ones who had Draco taken. Now they’re hiding from me.”
“Possibly.” He paused, mulling for a moment. “So what would you like to do?”
“How the fuck should I know? You’re the one who’s been alive for thousands of years.”
“I say we follow the only lead we have. We find this Spiros man.”
“Do you know where to look?” I asked.
“We will begin in Crete. While we’re there, you can knock on the Seers’ door.”
“How’s that possible?” I asked.
“They can block you from entering their home with your mind, but they can’t stop you from physically entering.”
“But their world or home or whatever you call it isn’t here. They’re all dead.”