Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 72056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
“Rogan,” I say, “what if we were here the whole time?”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
A flaming arrow lands in front of us, burning out as its point enters the soft ground.
“Honestly?” I glance around rapidly. “I have no idea. But we seemed to float through something after you changed. When we were leaving the demon throne.”
“I was just running like hell.”
“You didn’t notice?”
“Sure, I noticed we eventually ended up here. But I was running like hell with you hanging onto me. All I could think about was getting you to safety.”
I widen my eyes. “That’s it. You did this. Or we did it together.”
“Princess, I still don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, and though there’s a lull in the arrows at the moment, we need to be moving instead of talking.”
He’s right, of course. I grab his hand and run away from the arrows.
“Can you change? Can you change like you did before and get us out of here?”
“I can’t. I don’t have the strength.”
“What do you mean? How can you not have the strength?”
“You took a lot of my blood, princess. It’s going to be a few hours before I can change.”
My breath is coming in rapid puffs as we continue to run. “Shit. Really?”
“Yeah, really.”
“If I’d known, I wouldn’t have—”
“Whatever, princess. It doesn’t really matter now. Just say what you were going to say.” Rogan pants as we keep up the speed.
“Fine. I’m not sure we ever left this place.”
“You’re talking nonsense.”
“No, I’m not. Somehow we got onto a different plane.”
“Right.” Rogan lets out a laugh in the middle of his rapid breathing. “And somehow we made it into a parallel universe. In fact, maybe that wasn’t us. It was probably our evil twins or something.”
“Damn it, Rogan.” I stop running, breathe in and out, trying to catch my breath. “You’re the one who mentioned the ether.”
Rogan runs about ten feet ahead, stops, and turns around. “What the fuck?”
“Listen to me. The arrows have stopped. I don’t know why. They may start again at any minute, but listen to what I’m saying to you, Rogan. In your need to protect me, you escaped this plane. Our world. Or rather the demon king’s lair, or whatever.”
“And in your need to figure out what’s going on, you’ve gone absolutely bonkers.”
My hands curl into fists. I really hate being taken lightly like this, especially by a patronizing wolf. “I’m not making it up.”
A lightning bolt illuminates Rogan’s handsome face. His hair is stringy with sweat, and he’s paler than usual. The wound on his neck where I fed still oozes a bit.
Damn. I did take too much.
“I’m sorry,” I say.
“You should be. Making up shit like that.”
“No. I’m sorry I took too much blood, Victor. It won’t happen again.”
“Damn right it won’t.”
“But hear me out. Something happened to me when I fed from you. I shifted.”
He rakes his gaze over my body. “You look the same to me.” Then he licks his lips.
His gaze lights me on fire, especially between my legs. But we can’t get bogged down in that again. Not when the flaming arrows could start at any moment.
“I swear to God, something happened. Something shifted within me, and I think maybe it’s because we shifted. The two of us. To another plane of existence. Maybe the ether.”
He laughs then. Laughs like a madman.
Yeah, my hands are still in fists. Damn, he knows how to piss me off. “What the fuck is so funny, Rogan?”
“I guess I can laugh or I can cry. I’m not a crier, princess. I’m laughing because…I’m thinking about Sherlock Holmes.”
I drop my jaw. Is he kidding me? We’re running from rogue demons, we’re naked, we don’t have a clue where we are, and he’s thinking about Sherlock Holmes?
“You never read him?” he says.
“Do I look like I ever read him?”
“You probably just read contemporary fiction. I can’t see you reading the classics.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Rogan. I love Jane Austen, both Emily and Charlotte Brontë. I’ve even read Moby Dick.”
“For real? I couldn’t get through that brick of a book.”
“Are we really going to stand here and discuss classic literature?”
“Princess, we are. Because this is why I was thinking about Sherlock Holmes. He used to say when you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, is the answer.”
I can’t help a big grin. “So you believe me then. Somehow we ended up on another plane. The ether is real.”
“Maybe we did, princess. The question is, what the fuck do we do now?”
I open my mouth to respond, but a flaming arrow hits me right between my breasts.
“Victor!” I shriek, and then I crumple to the ground.
26
Scorching. Hot and scorching. My skin melts as the arrow burns through me.
My eyelids flutter shut.
This is the end. Already I know this. My fucking stepfather got his way. It’s the end of me, at the hand of his minions.