Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 115347 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115347 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Viori gasped. “Trolls!”
Cursing inside his head, he flittered to his feet and tossed Viori a tunic. He donned his pants, then palmed a set of daggers. All the while, his mind whirled, cataloguing details. Six distinct roars meant at least six trolls. Ragdar among them?
Had the group wandered the forest and caught Micah’s scent? Unlikely, considering he’d been all over this area for days and found no sign of them.
His fear freed them from stasis? If so...
He worked his jaw. Someone had indeed flittered them from the underground maze. Someone who’d known Micah’s whereabouts.
Only two people had. Elena and Sabot.
No. No! She would not betray him, as Fayette and Diane had done. And Sabot’s sense of honor would not allow it. The male had a core of nobility; Micah sensed this. There must be another explanation, and he would figure it out. Later. Right now, nothing mattered more than killing trolls and protecting Viori.
Fantasy would not become reality again.
“Get dressed and hide behind the bed.” He flittered to the edge of the farthest ring, putting the swamp water at his back. “Do not move until they’re dead.” Or I am.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
WEARING ONLY AN overlarge tunic, Viori obeyed Micah and rushed behind the bed. Not to hide from the coming battle. She wasn’t afraid of the seven-foot-tall beasts with bulging, corded muscles and razor-sharp claws who’d once hunted their victims without cease. Beings who enjoyed eating fae.
They didn’t need immortality, like centaurs. No, they considered the organs of their victims a delicacy, often dining straight out of a split-open torso while the heart still beat. From capture to table. Allow Micah to fight a group of these brutes by himself? Hardly. She intended to help.
How dare these trolls interrupt cuddle time with her husband? The personal exchange she’d missed so badly. The shocking intimacy she hadn’t known she craved. The incomparable connection she thought she would forever seek. All found within the arms of the sexiest male in existence.
The trolls shall pay dearly.
Where had the beasts even come from? She’d seen no sign of them anywhere she and Micah had traversed.
The ground shook, signaling the enemy’s nearness. Emotion check—under control. Viori gathered her strength. Easier than ever to do. Power she’d stored up while wearing the collar suddenly deluged her veins. Good! And bad. The goal wasn’t to use so much power she slept and opened a doorway. The goal wasn’t even to create and awaken a new protector. No, she sought to control the elements only for a limited time.
Careful. Bones vibrating, she spread her arms and released the first note of a new song. A soft melody drifted through the air. Ripples disturbed the murky surface of the pond. An excellent start.
More shaking. Behind her, splashing and grunts sounded. She threw a glance over the stone and gasped. The trolls had arrived, and there were more than expected. Nine in total. They converged on Micah, going straight for the kill. Beefy arms swung this way and that, claws flared to inflict maximum damage.
Fury mixed with fear, her song cracking at the edges. Careful! If she were to accidentally hurt Micah...
With a squelching gurgle, watery arms shot from the pond, snagging three trolls by their ankles and yanking them into the depths. The trio disappeared, water churning—until it didn’t. The cresting turmoil ebbed to nothing.
Six trolls to go. A much more manageable number.
Confidence restored, Viori sang louder. Stronger power flowed through her. Out of her. A troll stumbled from Micah, doing his best to remove the axe in his sternum; another watery arm shot out to snag him. He screamed as he disappeared beneath the violent maelstrom.
Goodbye, troll. Five to go.
Her husband stepped into her line of vision, and her jaw slackened, her song ending abruptly. As much a monster as the ones he fights. He was a tower of cold vengeance. Vicious and unstoppable. He was beautiful. Even more so than usual.
“Viori?” he shouted.
She caught a note of apprehension. Not so cold, after all.
“I’m good,” she called, a new round of shaking registering. A fresh contingent of trolls on their way?
Yep. Five others stormed the clearing, swarming the king. She erupted into another song. Wait. Only four swarmed Micah. The fifth locked his gaze on her, bounded over the bed, and landed in front of her. Though her voice wobbled, she launched into another song.
He smiled, his horns flaring. She backed up a step, spotted the creature sneaking up on him and stopped, returning the smile. The poor fool. He had no idea death had come for him.
Graves stabbed a sharp, three-pronged branch into the troll. His throat, his heart and his guts. The ends of the prongs came out the other side, dripping with blood and heavy with tissue.
“Nice of you to join us,” she said.
Graves lifted the troll off his feet. An offering to the pond. Those water arms shot out, coiling around the dying foe’s wrists and ankles and yanking. Limbs ripped from his body. Blood gushed and rained.