Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 88025 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88025 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
“Why did they attack now?”
Gio’s smile fell away. “There’s been a protective barrier around the house and property so long as the goddesses held the powers of the Weavers. The pestilents couldn’t cross it. But you’re the last Weaver to arrive.”
Last Weaver to arrive.
Last one to receive his powers.
And boom, the barrier was gone.
The pestilents must have had someone watching the place. They knew he was the last, knew it was only a matter of time until he got his powers. Simply a waiting game.
The goddesses hadn’t waited a week to allow him to mentally prepare. They’d waited a week out of kindness to everyone else in the house.
“And they need to kill only one of us to win,” a cold voice announced.
Hale glanced up to find Grey standing over him with an assault rifle tucked into the crook of one arm while a pair of handguns was secured in a leather jackass rig strapped to his shoulders. It was hard to believe the thriller writer could also look like a total badass, but then the Soul Weaver didn’t have powers that could kill quite as easily as the other Weavers. He could apparently break a human mind if he wanted to, though.
Luckily, his glare was focused on Gio right that second.
“I thought I told you to get to the second floor,” he snapped.
Gio grinned broad enough to make the Cheshire Cat proud for a second before he turned completely invisible. “How do you know I’m not already there?”
“Goddammit, Gio! Get up there and watch Dane’s and Wiley’s backs!”
“Got it!” There might have been brisk hammering footsteps crossing the hardwood, but it was hard to tell over all the noise coming from the outside.
“Cort!” Grey shouted for his mate.
“Here!” A tall, slender Black man ran from another part of the house, gun in hand.
“I need—”
“Go. John’s here. Humans are at the front.”
Hale didn’t know if it was a matter of being able to read each other’s minds or that they were simply in sync, but Grey paused only long enough to snag a quick kiss, and then he was running for the front of the house.
That was another thing he was still trying to wrap his mind around. More than goddesses, magic, pestilents from another world, it was the idea that soul mates were real. Somewhere out in the world, there was the perfect person for him, as if they’d been cut from the very same cloth. According to Grey, an elegant red ribbon ran from each of the Weavers to their soul mate.
Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to be visible until the two people were within close proximity of each other. Otherwise, they could just follow the ribbon to Hale’s missing soul mate.
He shook off the insane thought. The idea of finding one person out of billions spread all around the world was ridiculous. Sure, his Weaver brothers had gotten incredibly lucky. Dane had already been here when Clay arrived. Baer had tripped over Wiley at a doughnut shop. Cort had been Grey’s vision rehabilitation therapist. Calder and Lucien had hit on Gio in a freaking bar.
So, what? Was Hale’s mate going to just breeze into his life while picking up tomatoes at the grocery? Wink at him while pumping gas across a crowded service station?
Stupidly insane.
But the random thoughts helped to take his mind off the pain. He was starting to feel a little better. At the very least, he was sure he had more strength in his limbs. Even if he didn’t know how to use his powers, he could at least hold a gun, right? He could figure one of those out. Help his brothers.
“Shit!” Cort swore.
Hale glanced up to see the man frantically typing into his phone. “What’s up?”
“Dane and Gio are running low on ammo. I need to take some up to them.” Cort tucked his phone away and handed the gun he was holding over to Hale after showing him the proper way to flick the safety on and off. A second later, Cort disappeared in the direction of the billiards room, which was currently doubling as the armory.
As Hale managed to push himself up on the sofa without creating massive amounts of ripping pain, Cort exited the armory and ran across the hall toward the main stairs. Hale could only guess that Dane and Gio were acting as snipers while Wiley was giving magical support to their men.
Wrapping trembling fingers around the grip of the gun, Hale clenched his teeth and shoved to his feet. He was up! Hey, it was important to celebrate small victories.
Of course, the view out the back windows looking over the yard nearly knocked his knees out from under him again. It was pure chaos. Walls of water swirled and lashed out at people while vines shot from the ground to wrap other attackers up. And was that tree walking across the yard? No, he was mistaken. It was marching while holding a pointed stick like a lance in a branch-like hand.